In Reply to: Just Back 1st week posted by Krisand Marc on Sunday, 17. April 2005 at 14:45 Bali Time:
Hi and great to read your holiday adventures.
Hubby and I left the kids with their grandma and celebrated a 16 year wedding anniversary together. It was our first time there and we both loved Bali very much.
We stayed at Kuta Lagoon and really enjoyed the atmosphere of a small hotel. Its the first time we've not had to worry about kids facilities! We met some fantastic new friends, both Australian and Balinese and we all shared plenty of stories and laughs.
We also did the cycling as well as the white water rafting both organised through Sobek and loved the experiences. The guides speak many languages and they are all very knowlegable as well as having great sense of humour. They talked of Indonesian history, culture and their families during the hour ride up to the villages. We learnt so much about their way of life and they were all happy to answer our questions.
We visited many resturants, some recommended like Poppies on Poppies 1, Jonis on Jalen Padma and one of the best evenings was Aromas at Jimbaran Bay, were we watched the sunset, ate beautiful BBQ seafood and then were serernaded under the moonlight by wondering musicans. we also had a driver will collect us from the hotel who then took us back home free of charge.
I must also share a white taxi experience with you as we were warned to only go Blue taxis. Hubby negoiated a price to take us to Ubud to watch dancing at The Palace and bring us back to Kuta. When Minner dropped us off he said if he wasn't there for the pick up he would send someone else. He gave us his card and we only paid for half the negotiated price. The dancing finished early and his cousin was waiting for us. We paid the remaining half to him and all was fine. I had a snooze comming home and when we were dropped home I realised I had lost an earing. 30 mins after we had gone to sleep Mineer phoned us at the hotel to make sure we had got home safely. I explained my earring dilema and he said he understood the sentimental value and would speak to his cousin the next day. Late the next day he left a message for us saying that it had been found in his cousins taxi and that we were free to collect it, which we did 2 days later. We were very grateful for his effort and appreciated that he took some interest in helping us. He was a very lovely man who we got to know further after another ride down to Nusa Dua. He lost family in the bombing and we talked about his loss and the impact it had on his little village. We gave him a very generous tip which was well deserved.
Today at home I am wanting to immerse myself in all things Balinese and discussing plans to return in 2 years time with our boys. There is so much to see and plenty more to discover. I know we will become one of those people, like yourselves who become fans that return again and again. The Balinese love the tourists, talking to them and practising their english. Their lives depend on tourism and its important that visitors keep travelling to Bali for their holidays. We felt very safe and not at all threatened in anyway at anytime. I felt safer in Bali than what I did in London!
Now I am going to make some Chicken Satays for tea and I know its not going to be half as nice as I won't have the lovely smells of charcol burning or a Bintang to go with it.
Bali forever.
Auzziegirl