It was my first time in Bali, and to be honest, even though I'd read so much on this forum, I had no real idea what to expect! But now all I can say is I'm counting down the days until I go there again. 353 to go (unless I can squeeze a trip in before that!)
Roadworks down Poppies lane II were a bit of a nightmare at times, I was a bit concerned about walking home after a few too many drinks at Paddy's. I was amazed I never seen anyone fall into the drains and ditches. The workers amazed us, they way they worked, jackhammering away (with no shoes on!!) while people were walking around - couldn't imagine this happening at home! We seen one Australian guy go into the K mini mart and buy heaps of chocolate and stuff and give it to them. That was kinda cool! I'd recommend a pair of extremely comfy shoes though cause you've got to watch your step!!!
VOA - total breeze! After reading some reports on here I said to the girls, no dilly dallying when the plane stops, get ready to move smartly so we are near the front of the queue as I'd heard it can take hours! We landed at 1.30pm and were in our hotel by possibly 2.30 at the latest - thats including getting through the roadworks and traffic!
Totally loved the food in Bali too (I did eat something other than those Bounty club sandwiches!!) We ate at Kori's on Poppies Lane II - amazing food, lovely cocktails and excellent ambience in that place - recommend the gazebos!! Also Gateway to India was amazing - we ended up eating their twice, couldn't believe what we had for the price we paid - almost daylight robbery!!! Papas on the beachfront was really nice too...The dining highlight of the holiday though was at Ku De Ta! Even the toilets in there are gobsmackingly stunning! Food amazing, service brilliant, bit on the costly side by Bali standards but have decided when I convince my fella were getting married thats the place I'm going to do it! I'm so in love with that place!
White water rafting - ended up costing us 180,000r including transport, guide and lunch, a great saving on the $69US we were expecting to have to pay! Excellent way to see the beautiful countryside, and see some of the amazing friendly people! We had a little boy who was bathing in the river jump into our boat and hitch a ride downstream!
Waterbom park - considering we are 3 27year olds, I dragged the girls along and we had a ball!
Dreamland beach - absolute heaven!! Next time we go to Bali, we are going to try and stay here for a couple of days to totally get away from it all!!
Also, nightclubs and pubs, we spent the majority of our time in Paddy's - mainly cause it was close by to the hotel and the busiest place in Kuta - mind you on our last night we found a brilliant little pub across the road from paddy's with a live band and very cheap drinks!!
The clubs in Seminyak are really good looking places - nice cocktails too and only 5000 more than a normal vodka so we got into that - Liquids and SpyBar are pretty cool places and not as busy as Paddy's - we went midweek here though so maybe they get busier at the weekends- Double Six club - also wicked looking club but very quiet too (mind you we didn't get there till 4am on a thursday morning!)
The Balinese people were another highlight of the holiday! They are so friendly and a joy to talk to - they always made us smile -- they used to call out Charlies angels to me and the girls as we walked down the street! At one of the cafe's in Poppies lane 2, the guy at the bottom of the stairs used to call us over to check out the menu and then would say "its fully sick mate!!!" which cracked us up every night!
Anyway, thats the highlights of my holiday!!! We went for 8 nights and found that was not long enough, going to go for at least 10 nights next year!! Cant wait to return, I'm having Bali withdrawl symptoms already and I'm just back 2 days!!!
Thanks for listening!!