The day has finally arrived.......Woo Hoo!!!!
After months of searching & planning we were heading off on our first Bali adventure for 17 nights.
Unfortunately we are leaving our gorgeous 4 legged babes in dog kennels which we have never done before and I worry as my old girl who I've had since she was 9 weeks, is now 15 years old and struggling a lot with her sight and hearing, as well as a little doggy dementia.
I try to stay positive and make sure I download a pic of them both to the "tablet" so I can see them every day. A bit sad but hey, that's who I am. I pray that nothing untoward happens to them while we are away, especially Kita.
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| Kita, my old 15 year old girl |
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| Izzy, our wayward 2 year old |
Our Air Asia flight is leaving at 4.50am, so we thought we'd sleep late the day before and stay awake till our airport pick up at 1.45am. Good in theory, not in reality. By 11.30pm on Sunday night all I want to do is crawl into bed, who had thought up this crazy idea.....?
I hadn't even managed to sleep in on Sunday.
We get to the airport in Perth before 2am and there is no one around, luggage checked in we look at each other thinking "now what do we do?" I'm not really sure why we thought we were meant to get to the airport 3 hours before our flight but I certainly wouldn't bother again at that time of the morning.
Hubby says he's never catching that flight again, he he....we'll see what happens when the next cheap air fare comes around!
The flight took off on time and was not full, so we had the 3 seats to ourselves. I was surprised to see so many families with little ones on a flight at that time of day, but maybe like us they'd booked their original flight at 1.20pm as we had.
We fly into Bali from the east in daylight and although I knew the airport was next to the sea, I didn't realise just how close.
I hold my breath as we land, do they ever over shoot the runway?
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| Not our plane, but it still freaks me out how close the runway is |
It's 8.25am and within a very short time we are out the door, off and racing to the finish line at the VOA counter (well some passengers were, anyway).
Obviously they read TA. There were a few booths open and no queues at any of them. Paid our VOA and off to immigration within 3 minutes.
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| Thought this might be helpful for first timers |
I keep thinking, "what is that sweet smell"?
Is this the "smell" that everyone talks about when they first arrive in Bali?
Having read about this many times, I've have had visions of some foul "durian type" smell stinging my nostrils and making my eyes water upon my first encounter. Oops, how wrong was I?
Many apologies, amazing how the imagination can run wild without the facts.
We get through immigration and are collecting our luggage within 15 minutes from stepping off the plane. I thought it was going to take ages.
Around we go to the money changer - rate was 9,300IDR to $1AUD, not too bad from my last check before we left. I change $100AUD and she counts it with me, my eyes are enlarging by the second.
OMG all this paper and all these 0000's. How am I gonna get my head around this much money....? Half of it looks the same and it's so thin.
Suddenly makes you realise that our plastic money here in Oz isn't so bad after all.
The week before we leave, I decide to arrange for the driver we had booked for 2 day trips to pick us up for the hotel transfer.
I know a taxi is heaps cheaper, but I'm always happy to pay for that very first airport-hotel transfer in a new place. Then I'll get taxi's next time.
We see a driver straight away showing a sign with my name on it and he tells us he is Ketut the cousin of Made who is "sorry he cannot be here to do the pick up as his daughter is unwell".
Well it is Monday morning after all... :)
Trevor is looking at me as if to say "you stuffed up", when I say "no worries we are happy that you have come instead". Maybe hubby should read TA more often.
Ketut offers to go and get the car and within another few minutes we are on our way to the Kumala Pantai.
I've become like Linda Blair in The Exorcist - able to rotate my head 360 degrees, rambling away as I see things that I've read about or seen on some map or a hotel where "so and so" stayed.
Hubby says he is like one of those "noddy dogs" in the back of a car window every time we change gears or change lanes to avoid scooters.
I can feel a few massages are going to be in order after this.
We arrive at the KP and I think I'm doing well and have the money out ready to give Ketut, to my horror he looks at it and starts saying something about Made said.....I look at the money again and think "what's wrong?"
Trevor is trying to do the drop off 4 zero's and says it should be around $10 AUD, then it dawns on me I am trying to give him 10 alright, but only 10,000 rupiah instead of 100,000. How I wish the ground would open up and swallow me. We sort out the right money and send him on his way, thankful he is probably used to stupid first timers trying to pretend they know what they are doing with Indonesian money.
Unfortunately our room is not vacated (and wont be till 12.00 midday), then it will still need cleaning, bother. So much for being able to get in for a "Nanna-nap".
I manage to scramble around in my luggage and drag out some shorts to change into. It's only 9.30am, so we leave our luggage, grab a camera and set off through the grounds of KP towards the sea front to start exploring.
Sitting down at the restaurant we decide not to have brekky as I can't keep still. While hubby is fiddling with his phone, I spy my first squirrel running up and down a tree. They really are so cute to watch.
We set off towards down the beach road and within minutes I know I will be needing a bit of A/C relief sooner rather than later. I'm thinking we may as well go to Discovery Mall to get our phone cards etc, as it is the only A/C shopping mall I can think of at the time.
Wandering along the beachfront hearing a few calls for us to stop and look at what's on offer, I can't help grinning. It's so easy to smile and say "no thank you", no one takes offense, no one hassles.
We wander past the Jayakarta, Niksoma, Puri Raja and Melasti, I think I'm starting to get some bearings now having used this link as my bible during planning.
Not sure about the large block of underdeveloped land between the Melasti and the Padma.....how dense is the vegetation in there? WOW!!
We grab a Bluebird taxi just past the Padma, and pay less than 20,000 IR or roughly $2 to Discovery, laughingly thinking you can't even open the door to a taxi for $2 in Oz. Sort out my sim card and as hubby is having issues with trying to get his phone to work on international roaming, he decides to pick up a phone and sim card as well.
My stomach is rumbling and we settle down at Sugar Mama's for a cold drink and my first Nasi Goreng of the trip. I had this lemongrass drink that was really nice till you started crunching on the little bits of lemongrass stalk they had added. (I tried the lemon mint drink on another occasion and it was also really nice except for the bits of mint that blocked the straw).
After lunch we walk up to Hotel Santika Premiere Beach Resort for a look around as this is one of the hotels we are contemplating staying in for our last four nights. The grounds and pools look lovely.
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| The Deluxe room's pool |
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| The Premier Deluxe room's pool |
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| I know what room I want if we stay here |
We continue through the resort and out onto Jl Kartika Plaza and turn back towards Discovery all the while watching out for big holes in the footpath. Inside for a bit of relief from the heat, hubby finds some really comfy "thongs" declaring the ones he's wearing will be in the bin later & change some money. Rate here was IR 9,600 to $1 AUD.
Think it's time for a taxi back to KP as we are starting to get a little weary.
One thing off TA sticks in my head "always use the Bluebird taxis", well that's fine if you think the other taxis will be painted a different colour.
We stand there trying to work out which one of the "blue" taxis is "Bluebird" while two men start yelling at us to get into the taxi at the front of the line. We almost did until I realised it wasn't a Bluebird taxi and then the taxi driver starts yelling at us asking us where we are going? Trevor says how much to the Kumala Pantai and he says "50,000".
Next thing the other two are yelling again and we bolt for the 2nd taxi before someone else has a shot at us. Getting in it hits me, "oops, not a Bluebird taxi either". We have seen taxi and tuk-tuk mafia in Phuket, so we are not sure if this was something similar or what.....?
Trevor asks him to put his metre on and he asks "how much did the other guy ask" I tell him 50,000 and he snorts, I also tell him, I know it should be around 20,000, hoping we have a straight run back to the KP. We are lucky and the metre reads just under 20,000.
Trevor produces 50,000, before I can stop him and of course the taxi driver says he has no change. I'm madly trying to find one of those "green" notes and the taxi driver laughs and hands me one. I then ask for the other 10,000, knowing full well he has one. I give him a silly laugh, and get out the taxi, now I know why one waits for a Bluebird.
It's around 1pm by now and with fingers X'd we check whether our room is ready.
Yeh!!! We sign in and get shown to our room, luggage right behind us. The porter shows us the room features, where and how things work and after a small tip I take a few photos before we mess it up. Then it's off to don our swimsuits and hit the pool.
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| Kumala Pantai SG-02 |
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| KP Junior Suite |
After wasting a few hours at the pool we remembered we had to go up to Bintang Supermarket to grab mixers, beer, nibbles and band-aids (I always forget to pack something).
So off we head out the entrance of KP towards Jl Arjuna. The treacherous footpaths abound as well as some interesting shops, but it's getting late and I want to get our supplies and get back to find a good possie to watch the sunset.
We get almost to the crossroad of Jl Raya Legian and Jl Arjuna and can see and hear some form of ceremony, traffic is being directed and if I don't watch my step I'll be down the nearest hole.
We manage to get around the corner in one piece, (I thought I was going for a ride on a scooter at one point) as the footpath turned into the road. We think it was a celebration, but unfortunately no-one could tell us.
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| Traffic being directed |
Still buzzing we continue on our sojourn to the supermarket, passing "Silverberry" on our left, I get all excited but then remember the time, adding that to the list for another day.
Bintang Supermarket is pretty much what I expect, a hive of activity and yet so easy to get caught up browsing the aisles to see what's on offer. I think it's really funny how you have to arrange some goods you wish to purchase (my band-aids) and get given a little docket that you present at the cashier and they bring your item.
Goods purchased we head back outside thinking we would get a taxi back to the KP, but the taxi drivers don't want to turn back towards the intersection and say it is probably still blocked.
Sorry Trevor, you just got to walk, no matter what I promised. By the time we get back we are a little hot and bothered again and have missed sunset, so we open the duty free and sit on our patio enjoying a pre dinner drink.
Feeling a little refreshed we decide to head out for dinner, but where...?
We walk out to the beach front and up to Lanai, no table near the front or upstairs, so we put that one down for another night. Check out the menus at Zanzibar and Blue Ocean but I can't decide.
Heading in the other direction we pass Seaside and keep going eventually ending up at Mozzarella by the Sea. I think hubby decides to eat here as he is already sick of walking.
We score the little table on the end at the right closest to the beach road and our order our first cocktail. Margarita for me and Long Island Iced Tea for Trevor. A group of four people arrive at the table next to us and although the tables are fairly close we do not feel as if we are sitting on top of each other.
Looking out to sea, we ask each other the question. What do you think of Bali so far...?
We recount the events of the day with much laughter and realise that we have been awake for hours and although we are quite tired we have had a great start to our first Bali adventure.
We share seafood wontons & spring rolls for entree and for main I choose the Schnapper Bumbu Bali and Trevor has a seafood platter type dish, (he never remembers what he has and it only dawns on me half way through our trip that taking a photo of his dish is the only way I will remember it as well).
The service was great, the food was delicious (although I do think the cocktails are a little weak), but we'd definitely be happy to eat here again if only there weren't so many other restaurants to choose from.
We slowly meander back to the KP along the beachfront, laughing at the sellers with their little "lights" and things they shoot into the sky. It's magical walking along here at night, listening to the waves crashing on the shore, feeling the warmth of the wind gently lifting your hair and smelling the sea, you do almost feel at one with your surroundings.
I have to say "almost" as there are still some scooters heading home along the road which disturb my musings.
Back at our room we sit on the patio enjoying a relaxing nightcap, listening to the frogs and geckos when a group of about 8 new guests arrive in the rooms opposite us and decide to jump in the pool for a swim. Oh well, it was peaceful for a short time but as the mozzies are trying to make a meal out of me, I think it's time to call it a day.
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| One half or our patio |
I awake and for a second have no idea where I am. It's really dark and the A/C has gone into overdrive. Make my cuppa, grab my book and head out to the patio to thaw out. Those pesky mozzies are on the prowl again, so I can see I'll be swimming in mozzie spray when I'm not swimming in the pool.
I look up to the sky, it looks like a promising day even though its a little overcast. I realise it's actually after 8am, what a novelty for me to have slept in so late.
It's pleasant sitting here greeting many other hotel guests and staff as they go about their day or walk past on their way to and from breakfast. These Junior suite ground floor rooms at this end of the pool are not as private as the ones down the other end and I would probably choose to stay at that end away from the pool bar if I was to stay here again.
Eventually I go and wake Trevor up and suggest we might want to get a wriggle on. We are heading over to to view the villa that is booked for a forthcoming close friends 50th birthday trip in January 2013, but I want to have breakfast first.
We grab a table near the beach front and manage to get half way through eating when some big drops of rain land on us, within seconds it turns into a down pour and we bolt inside. I didn't even manage to take a photo of the beach.
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| That didn't take long |
The rain stops so we head out to grab a taxi to the villa and I realise I don't have the actual address although I know where it is on a map. We walk south along Jl Werkudara dodging puddles and taxi's spraying water hoping to find a place with wifi and manage to see a sign for a cyber cafe upstairs.
By now I can't actually recall the name of the villa either, so we are fortunate Mr Google is being kind to us and I manage to find the website without too much trouble and print off the address and a map.
We've still got a bit of time up our sleeves and notice Mugshots is just around the corner, I think I need a decent coffee. I love the cold towels that you are given when you place your order. Coffee was great, free wifi even better and the toilets nice and clean.
We grab a bluebird taxi to Villa Asih on Jl Sriwijaya, and on the journey decide to head over to Sanur once we're done. Jl Sriwijaya seems a very busy one way street. Our helpful taxi driver Handrik waits for us out the front and we ask him to drop us off at The Griya. He is a very funny man and we had many a laugh (mainly at my expense) on the journey over to Sanur.
It is very quiet in Sanur and even quieter walking though the Griya, Trevor is not impressed and says it reminds him of a retirement village. All I can say is I hope I can find one like this when I need one, however I now know we won't be staying here for our last four nights.
We wander through to the beach and head south to check out the Puri Santrian. For some reason I thought the Griya was half way along the beach, but I was very, very wrong. It was a pleasant afternoon but my feet were definitely aching by the time we reached the Puri. We walk through the Puri and feel it might have some potential.
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| Deluxe rooms at the Griya |
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| This little Warung on the beach where we stopped for a drink |
All the time we've been in Sanur I've been trying to ring my friend Sandy but for some reason all I get is some recorded Indonesian message. I find out why two days later.
We are very hot and thirsty again so we cross the road to the Paon restaurant for a few drinks before looking for a money changer and wandering back to the beach through the Sanur Beach Hotel.
By this time I've summoned up the courage to start asking to view a room.
We ask to be shown a Deluxe Seaview room and start following the porter who decides we need to "run" to the room, not really having any idea why I try and keep up, but he's way to fit for me.
The hallways in one area are all A/C but once you head to the other wing it's all open and a very long walk from the reception area. I think this resort is just far too big for us, even if the view from the room was gorgeous.
Back to the KP for a swim and chat to other guests for whats left of the afternoon. We head inside to get ready to go out for dinner and down comes the rain again. We make it to the bar and have a drink hoping it might clear but it's not letting up. Ever thankful for the big KP umbrella we head to Lanai, disappointed I've missed sunset again.
Wednesday - Day 3
We are getting picked up today at 9am by Made our driver for a trip to Ubud.
Made Sukarma is one of the drivers on the driver list on TA and we chose him as he is Licensed and Insured for Tourism.
http://www.balidiscoveryexperience.com/index.html
Our loose plan was to check out a few silversmiths and anything that sounded good at the time (maybe woodcarving), have lunch in Ubud and a wander around, followed by a visit to Monkey Forest. I also wanted to drive around the neighbouring areas of Ubud and get an idea of the distance some places really are to the main area of Ubud as we were thinking of staying in Ubud for our anniversary trip in October.
As we drive along, I see signs of places I have studied on various maps. We pass through Batubulan and on towards Celuk observing stone carving and plant nurseries along the way.
We discuss the placement of offerings at the start and the end of the day, the gingham like black & white cloth material we see on many statues and trees at bridges and the colour of the walls of buildings.
Made points out that some are made of "brick" while others are "painted concrete" and we spend a little while checking this out as we turn down a narrow lane way to our first silver shop.
We are there the same time as a few other day trippers and I wonder how the staff can manage to repeat the silver process again and again and again. I watched this lady making these delicate earrings and I was really impressed with the design. I was hoping to be able to find some like this in the store but alas, none to be found.
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| Narrow streets |
Trevor was hoping to be able to find a silver bracelet to replace the one he'd previously bought in Thailand but there was nothing we really liked, so we decided to visit another silversmith.
This one was much more enjoyable than the first as it seemed more family orientated and less commercialised. We even found a bracelet that was different to all the others and we never saw another one like it again anywhere else, but then again we weren't really looking either.
Made asked the older woman if he could show us around their family home while we were there. It was interesting hearing about the Balinese way of life and their beliefs. I could spend hours just listening and learning. The orchids here were gorgeous.
We saw school kids walking home and Made explained about the Balinese school system. I can just imagine kids in Oz either having to go to school at 7am or not finishing till 6pm at night. Again one realises how fortunate life is here in Australia.
Alam Shanti is gorgeous and the staff were happy to show us around. The grounds are so peaceful and relaxing.
The first room we are shown is the Yamuna room and I would love to stay here or in the Gangga room above. You look out over the rice fields towards Tegal Sari & Greenfields, but just below you is this amazing river flowing past your balcony. I didn't take too many photos as Trevor recorded a rather long video of this room and the Shindu room. See link below.
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| Bathroom area |
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| View out of the bathroom window |
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OnyY5HrsxSo&list=UU9UmshFQiY2iRpu-r8QoHdw&index=1&feature=plcp
Once we got back in the car we really felt lunch was in order.
Made turned left a couple times after leaving AS, passing Tegal Sari and Green Field hotels as we drove towards Monkey Forest Road. For us as a couple I would not have a problem walking into Ubud from here, but it is a long walk uphill from this end to Jl Raya Ubud. Tossing around restaurant names for lunch we finally settled on Cafe Lotus and were not disappointed.
We chose the Crab & Shrimp spring rolls, Mie Goreng and Pork & Chicken Sate. Service was good and the setting is absolutely gorgeous.
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| Cafe Lotus |
After lunch we wandered around the Ubud markets and Ubud Palace. The markets were pretty hot and I think I would prefer to see them earlier in the day and when I had more time to browse. The Palace was great, but again the time of day meant there were many, many bus loads of people, not overly peaceful.
I can understand why people say Ubud is different once the day visitors have gone.
We walked back to our meeting place and spied a little shop with an ice-cream sign out the front, oooh, just what I need.
We walked outside and chatted to a few other people waiting for their drivers, when all of a sudden a man walking across the road towards us calls out to Trevor and says the old "I know you!" I'm thinking "no way".
Sure enough the guys used to work together many moons ago in Adelaide where we come from. The couple were on a cruise that was docked in Bali and doing a day trip to Ubud. Apprently they come up in large buses and have to take mini buses into the main area as the large buses can't get around.
Talk about small world!!!
Not long after Made found us and we headed north for about 15 minutes and then came back down into Ubud. I had been keen on staying somewhere close to one of the rivers, but now I don't think I would want to stay this far out and need transport to get into Ubud proper. I think I prefer to be walking distance even though it is not for everyone.
Trevor was keen to go to Monkey Forest, so that was our next stop.
The monkeys are pretty cute (from a distance), I couldn't help laughing at the looks on some peoples faces. These monkeys were pretty rough when playing.
I just adored all the baby monkeys.
I didn't realise how much there is to see here and it's not just the monkeys either. I could happily spend hours just looking at the statues and absorbing the natural beauty all around me.
When we first entered Monkey forest we could smell smoke and Made said a Cremation was happening. He gave us a brief history lesson and we took a few photos on our way out, but I felt a little disrespectful even though it was all over by then.
Once in the car we head back up Monkey Forest road and turn west at Jl Raya Ubud.
Made points out Campuhan Bridge as we continue up past Kori Ubud as this is another hotel I have been considering for our stay in October. I seriously think this may be even too far out for me. Lot's of decisions to make.
We make our way back to Legian having had an amazing day. Trevor starts getting the noddies and Made and I have some interesting conversations about life as we know it in Oz. As I work in the health industry I enjoy hearing about what this is like in any country I visit.
The traffic picks up as we are chatting away and I do my usual gasps for breath as scooter after scooter dive in front of the car. I really don't think I could drive over here. Made tells me about the petrol increase that is about to take place and I wonder how the Balinese will be able to afford this huge hike in price.
Back at the KP, we give Made a generous tip and look forward to the next trip we are undertaking with him to Lake Bratan, Bedugal and whatever we come up with in the meantime. We wander back to our room and think we'll just have a quick shower and then head out for dinner when it occurs to me.......
OMG.....I've missed another sunset.
Dinner tonight was at Seaside and unfortunately I chose the wrong meal, so we swapped half way through. I still couldn't get my phone to work so we decide to head back to Discovery tomorrow to find out what it wrong.
After dinner I feel the need for a walk after being in the car most of the day. We walked down past Mozzarella by the Sea and make a booking for the Beatles tribute show they on have every Saturday night.
Continuing along the seafront to the Legian Beach hotel we turn left and wander up to Garlic Lane trying to find where Ketut's shop is. We can't find it but we do find the Bali Beach Shack & wonder if we should stop and have a drink, but we figure we'll probably come this way again and continue on our way.
The shop sellers are so funny, I forgot about the things you can be offered as I hear Trevor's shocked voice the first time, "Did he just offer me......?"
Laughing all I can do is nod my head at him. It also amuses me when they say "nice dragon" and offer him more tattoos.
Sorry fellas, not happening!!
We walk out of Garlic Lane and turn right into Jl Padma, again I'm noting this restaurant I want to try or that hotel I'd read about.
Starting to tire we grab a taxi at the corner of Jl Legian and get him to drop us off at the hotel entrance so we can go and book a massage at Briella Spa as we've heard so many good recommendations.
It's raining again, time to chill and head back to the KP for a night cap on the balcony.
After 3 pretty full on days, I think tomorrow might need to be a rest day.....however I think we'll decide on that one in the morning.
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