Firstly, I'd like to send a very BIG thank you to all forum advice and answers to my queries before our trip, I found it invaluable and felt very organized when we arrived in Bali. It made for ease of shopping, gave us a fantastic driver and resulted in a very positive experience of Bali.
We departed from Perth on Australian Airlines on time on Sat 26 Feb. The flight was less than half full. Enjoyed the quick ride to Bali, plenty of food and drink and friendly, young staff, so would definitely fly with AA again. We were the only flight arrived on Saturday at around 9.00pm, through VOA within a quick 15 minutes. No worries. Exchange rate to AUD was 7,250, but didn't need to use the money changers at the airport, still had plenty of cash from our last holiday.
This was our second trip in less than 8 months, so this time we had some smaller notes handy and we decided to use the porters - what a great idea! There was a queue through customs, but as we had nothing to declare, the porters went straight to the head of the line and we whizzed through within a minute. So for the price of a couple of dollars, I definitely recommend using the services of the porters - they saved us time and we do need to support the local employment, so will use them again.
We had booked all of our accommodation direct on the net with the various places, so I had confirmed our airport pick-up via email a few days before. Our driver from Villa 8 or Villa Delapan was waiting with our names and we were on our way in air-conditioned comfort, without having to wait long at all. Villa 8 is a small complex of four villas in Seminyak, just off Jalan Oberoi. Fantastic, private and quiet. We had the smallest villa, which has 2 bedrooms, a huge bathroom, an outdoor lounge/dining room and our own private plunge pool. Absolutely lovely. Wandered down the road to Bintang Lima for a cheap dinner and our first Bintangs - yep, we had arrived back and loving it.
Sunday morning and two lovely young ladies - Ilu and Kadek arrived at the villa to cook our breakfast in our kitchen. Talk about being treated like kings! We had nasi goring - fresh and lovely way to start the day. Weather very humid, but got to expect that in the wet season!
The plan for the next two days was to get all of our shopping out of the way. A Forum recommendation for our driver - Made Mangku arrived spot on time at midday. Made is fantastic - he obviously has many Aussie clients and we had a ball with him. He even had an esky filled with ice ready for my thirsty husband, who would only shop on the condition that he had cool ‘refreshments' on hand in the van! Made's phone number is: 081 2393 1887 and he has a website, which can be found by searching on the archives here, as he has had many previous recommendations. His van seated two of us in the back comfortably, it's not new, but we loved the ride and his company. We highly recommend his services.
I had a list of shops that I wanted to visit, as we were using the services of Mrs Dewi/Harry Kellerman to get some household items back to Perth on the next shipping container. Trish Ryder is the local contact here in Perth and was very helpful before we left, with a list of shops and tips on sending gear back to Australia. Many of the shops are closed on a Sunday, so most of this would have to wait until tomorrow.
We visited a sports shop in Denpasar to buy a new tennis net for the village near where we were due to stay next week. So also bought up big on socks, sweat bands and a few soccer shirts as gifts.
Next onto Mas, Ubud to a few galleries. Found a sensational wooden Buddha at Manis Gallery and some abstract paintings at Sahadewa Lukisan Painting Gallery - absolutely beautiful.
By this time, starting to wane from the shopping and heat, so on way back to Villa 8, grabbed some beaded thongs/sandals and sarongs in Legian. They are everywhere and look fantastic to wear out for dinner! Thankfully I had only packed one pair of sneakers and one pair of sandals from home, so just had to buy many new pairs in various colours! Av 35,000 each, couldn't be bothered to bargain too hard, happy with that price and wasn't going to quibble over a few dollars.
Home to Villa 8 and our private plunge pool. I had pre-arranged to order our DVD's from Helgie - he arrived with 54 out of 75 ordered, which was great. No problems with any of them to date, only ‘Oceans Twelve' is a bit dark and not the best quality. Will use Helgie again next trip, as he saves us having to spend time in DVD shops!
That evening we grabbed a taxi, who wanted to take us to Jimbaran Bay, but we decided on the Living Room, as we drove past it. Wow - so glad that we went there. This was the BEST meal I have had in my life! Bintangs, 2 entrees and 2 mains for less than $A70.00 total. In a word - magnificent.
The setting is magical at night, with the candles lit in the garden, attentive staff and delicious food. The calamari with squid ink linguine was to die for, smothered in garlic and my mouth is watering at the thought of it at the moment.
Next morning, more freshly cooked nasi goring for breakfast at Villa 8.
This time Made picked us up at 9.00am for a full day of more shopping. We first visited Buddha Metta (Jalan Raya Canggu Kerobokan) to select three beautiful green-stone garden statues. Total cost was 2.55M Rp - averaged out to $A120 each. One is a sitting Buddha, another a reclining Buddha and another was a head with a large pot on top of it. Great start to the shopping!
Next to AWA Natural for blinds. Located at Jl. T. Perahu 70, Kerobokan.
Fantastic roman blinds made of a natural woven fabric. We had bought up the measurements for 9 windows and they were made to order in a cream colour and others in black. I wanted block-out, so they were lined for no extra charge! Total cost was 1.27M Rp ($A175). This was about half the price I had quoted for one single blind back in Perth for the smallest window, so excellent value! AWA also has lovely table runners, cushions, bedding etc. I will return again for more goodies. Lestari was a very helpful sales lady and made sure that I did not buy any water hyacinth table mats, which I started to look at! But I found other ones that customs would not have a problem with.
Picked up some groovy lamps along Jl. Gn Soputan - made to order in the colours that I wanted - red and cream. Very different to describe, but are made of material wrapped around a metal frame, some are free-standing and others are to attach to the wall.
Visited Kuta Square for sunglasses and glad that the Forum had warned me about the hawkers around the Matahari store - they are everywhere giving out cards or wanting to do a survey. All to do with time-share holidays, so gave them a miss and carried on shopping.
Last stop at Geneva, where we had been on the last trip. Bought some goodies on the third floor as gifts for home and then bought a lovely wooden teak pyramid set of drawers for 465,000 Rp (A$64) on the ground floor.
Wandered down to Jalan Oberoi for dinner and so much choice - the restaurants along this street all looked great. Ended up at the Metro Sports Bar, (owned by an expat from Australia).
Many games of pool later and a liquid dinner and managed to negotiate the holes in the footpath back to Villa 8 before midnight! Pity that we didn't get to try the Morrocan or the Italian restaurants - but there is always next time.
The next 7 nights were booked at the most beautiful place in Bali - xxxxx xxxx xxxxxxx, located near the village of Sambirenteng, on the north east coast. Takes about 3 hours to drive there. The manager of the villas, Chandra picked us up at midday on Tuesday and now our real holiday could begin - the one where we get to relax and unwind and have no shopping to do or any crowds or hawkers. This was our second trip to ABN and rather than go into the detail, I would direct you to their website, which shows everything about the resort.
So for the next week, we lived in luxury, played tennis at the village, snorkeled, sat by the pool, made cocktails in our villa and enjoyed the company of other guests. Hello to Barry, Tony, Cheryl and John!
We headed south again on Tuesday 8 March to Sanur - to the Puri Santrian. We had booked a Puri Club room for the last two nights of our holiday, to pick up our shopping and also be closer to the airport for the return trip home. We had been spoilt for privacy with the two villas that we had stayed at, so being in a large hotel felt rather impersonal. It was just a room, nothing extraordinary or exceptional about the Puri. However, friends who we met up with, that were staying at the sister hotel, the Griya Santrian, raved about the Puri and would rather have stayed there! The Mezzanine restaurant served delicious food - so definitely recommend dining there. It is located out the front of the Puri complex near the roadside.
We wanted to try Donald's down by the beach, however a huge downpour prevented us from being able to sit outside on the sand, so we will keep that one free for another time! A very busy and popular restaurant, so I was a bit disappointed that we didn't try it.
Early in the morning we took a long walk north to the centre of Sanur - saw where the famous Tootsies shop was at the Sindhu Markets, but much too early for anything to be open, just window shopping! It rained, but being warm, we kept walking and enjoyed passing the local ladies with offerings being made in the early morning. As it was the build-up to Nyepi, we enjoyed seeing some large Ogoh-Ogoh being made and the prominence of the colour yellow in the temples. Saw many locals making the large decorated bamboo poles displayed outside of each home (sorry, forgot the name of them). Some were very elaborate.
Returned to pick up our blinds and lamps and all in order. So now just have to wait for the container to arrive!
In a nutshell, our trip to Bali was a very positive experience, the people that we met were really welcoming and we came home with many fond memories and excess baggage! Don't let the wet season put you off traveling to Bali. Yes it is hot and humid, but the rain is refreshing and it doesn't last all day, every day - we certainly came home with nice suntans and watching the lightning was great fun. Already planning another trip in 6 months, yes, I have been bitten by Bali - it is addictive. Happy to help with any further information needed!
Cheers,
Caroline