Arrived at Adelaide tinshed oops I mean airport with 50 kgs of donations for the orphanages. Emailed AP beforehand for extra baggage allowance but when we got there they had no record of it but no problem as we took a copy of the email. Got to Bali, straight thru VOA and then customs. Had all the donations in 3 large stripey bags with the name of the orphanage on them. Customs guy asked what was in them and then let us straight thru no probs. Driver (Komang) was waiting for us when we got out and took us straight to Garden view cottages. Stayed there for 3 nights. Was ok, staff friendly, rooms a little tired but clean. Went to Dreamland Beach and was disappointed, it is nice enough but I have seen better beaches in Thailand and Oz. Went to Tanah Lot and Uluwatu, this was my 7th trip and have been to both before but hubby hadn't. Monkeys at Uluwatu more aggressive than the ones in Ubud.....don't tak hats, glasses, etc in or they will take them and WON'T give them back even if you try trading them with bananas, if you try they will bite you, as a group of Japanese found out when trying to retrieve their hats! Headed up to Lovina. Stopped at Bedugul on the way and bought some Nasi Goreng from one of the Cholera carts in the market for 3000rp, best Nasi goreng in Bali. Arrived in Lovina and stayed 2 nights at the Puri Bali Hotel....170,000 a night, great hotel, nice room, good brekky and friendly staff. Will be back there again.
Driver picked us up next day to take us to orphanage, tried emailing from home but no response, driver rang on the day and they were happy for us to visit that day. Went to Giri Asih near Negara. Don't get many visitors up there...a lot of the children come from East Timor and their parents had been murdered by rebels during conflict. Children were gourgeous and the director Yosefina is a lovely lady who does a wonderful job. We took clothes, soccer boots, toothbrushes, toothpaste,soap,books, etc, etc. Also gave some money for rice. If anyone is thinking of going there could I suggest taking a couple of soccer balls and a pump as we noticed they only seemed to have one old ball and it was very flat. Also, an Aussie family had visited in December and donated a DVD player so I'm sure some DVD's would be appreciated. We were glad we visited and were able to help a little, albeit in a small way. Will definitely be back there again.Stopped at the turtle sanctuary near Tulamben and donated some money to help save sea turtles.
Headed to Candi Dasa for one night, much dearer than other parts of Bali. Went to Padang Bai for our trip to Gili Trawangan. Stayed in Marta's for 3 nights....2 story villa, 170,000 p night. Beautiful...clean bathroom, the most COMFORTABLE bed in all of Asia, nicely decorated rooms, good brekky and nice staff. Only drawback was we had a nightclub playing thumping music until 3 am (we are a couple of oldies so it was a bit much for us!!!)Dozed of to sleep finally only to be awoken at 4.30 am by the Mosque directly behind doing their wailing thru a very LOUD loudspeaker! Stopped at 7am, finally dozed of again for 5 minutes only to be woken by the 2 million roosters that seem to live around the hotel. So my advice is don't go there if you like your sleep! We went for a snorkelling trip around Gili T, Gili Meno and Gili Air which was nice. (Except that I can't swim and thought I'd be ok dog paddling around, got caught in the very strong current that the guide mentioned after I almost drowned!!!)Left to go to Lombok...used a guide that we met on Gili T...name is Ory, anyone wanting his nuber let me know, he was fantastic. Took us ver to Lombok, went to the Waterfall, much bbetter than the one ibn Bali....not one person tried selling us anything all the way down or all the way back up, just lots of friendly people wanting to know where we were from. Headed to east Lombok and spent a night in the Soedjorno hotel. Beautiful rural setting amongst the rice fields and Mt Rinjani. That was the only good thing about this hotel. Staff were very aggressive, asking for money all the time for sick wife, dying mother, alchoholic father, etc. and got very snakey when we did not hand any over. Told us we were "tight" we explained that we had to save for along time for this holiday and if we gave money to everyone who asked us we would not have any left....were promptly told that we were rich foreigners who could afford it. The shhets on the bed had not been changed for weeks and had bloodstains and other things on them, and the breakfast was 2 bits of cold toast, butter with foreign matter in it and a glass of orange juice which was actually watery cordial that they slugged me an extra 5,500 rp for. Room was 110,000, so I guess can't complain but have stayed in much better for same cost. Room boy offered to take us for a walk thru rice terraces which was lovely, but halfway thru demanded money or he would not take us back, Hubby only had 50,000 so had to give it to him...he took off with the money and left us there anyway. Tried to find way back, got lost, I slipped and fell in rice paddy. Came across large group of kids who demanded money from us...refused to give them any, they started hitting us then picked up sticks and hit us, managed to escape, still lost in the middle of the jungle. Started getting really dark and lots of wildlife venturing out (well a few lizards and things anyway!) Hubby panicking and saying things like "we're going to die out here, get mugged, murdered, eaten by wild animals, etc. Very reassuring in a time of crisis is my hubby!) Finally found our way back to hotel then packed our stuff and got the hell out of there!!! Oh, forgot to mention that there are 3 Mosques surrounding the hotel and all seem to be vying for the "Who has the loudest megaphone award!!! So once again woken up at 4.30 am.) Next day visited Ory's village in east LOmbok called Selong, traditional Sasaks village, all very excited to see us as they don't see many foreigners. Had Lombok coffee with them and then headed to Kuta beach...very different to Bali's Kuta! Then finished with a night in Sengiggi. Headed back to Bali. Advice...if going to Lombok on the ferry make sure your luggage is waterproof or put a garbag around it. On the way back in the little boat that takes you to the mainland we got covered in a huge wave and got soaked right thru. Headed back to Kuta...stayed at the Aquarius star hotel in the Villa for 255,000 p night. Nice hotel, right on Legian st. but set back so is surprisingly quiet. Friendly staff and the best brekky in Bali!!!! Ate at Poco Loco's which I do every time, disappointed, seem to have gone done....surly staff, expensive prices and food only so so. Ate at Tj's, excellent and the BEST mango cheescake in the world. Also had great meal at Bamboo corner on Poppies 1, had main course each and 3 drinks, total cost 37,000rp and food was great. Did some last minute shopping, chemist tried selling me some speed, tried to sell hubby some pain killers the night before and on our previous trip the same chemist tried selling hubby some Viagra, don't even want to think what he will try selling us next time!!!! Had a goodbye drink with our driver Komang and then headed to airport. Arrived in Adelaide, passed thru customs with our 150 DVD's no problems, did not even mention them. Back home for 1 day and got "Adelaide belly!!!" Funny, I have eaten at street stalls, cholera carts, hawkers stalls all over Asia, even drank the Bali tap water accidently a couple of times after stumbling into bathhroom during night and forgeting were I was drank a glass of water from tap and never get sick but as soon as I get home and drink the lovely Adelaide water I get sick!!!! So few days rest and then back to work to save for next trip to Bali!!! Sorry about the long JBR but was on a roll, hope I haven't put you all to sleep!