VERY LATE JBR!!!
We had 10 lovely days in Bali in late January but I haven't had access to the internet since our return so this JBR is VERY LATE!!!
This was our first trip to Bali... Partner, myself and 15yo daughter... I became a BTF 'junkie' during the months leading up to our trip, thanks to everyone for all your wonderful JBR's, help and advice :) There were so many things I had wanted to see and do in Bali but could not fit it all in this trip...
I survived the bargaining - my biggest fear!!! We didn't do a lot of shopping, a few sarongs, carvings, paintings from Ubud, nic nacs from Geneva and Adrian now has a full selection of batik shirts!!
We tried to avoid Bali Belly by taking 10mls of pure rasperry juice (by Berrysweet Australia) twice a day. Had no problems until the last few days when I felt a little queezy and daughter picked up a 24 hour vomiting bug... or was it something she ate at McDonalds of all places???
FYI... BEWARE of Bushmans Plus Insect repellant with sunscreen!!! This was great stuff... so much so that it removes nailpolish AND paint work on cars!!!??? Adrian and Monika had put on sunscreen before heading off on a tour on the back of a ute, some time later they couldn't work out why they had black stuff all over their hands and arms... they had been leaning on the side of the ute and the Bushmans had lifted the paint!!! It took ages to get it off :)
We had 4 nights at Segara Village in Sanur, 3 nights at Hotel Tjampuhan in Ubud and 3 nights a Melasti Beach Resort in Legian. Segara Village was lovely and peaceful, Hotel Tjampuhan was absolutely fantastic (thankfully I was totally prepared for all the steps, great daily workout... our room was right down the bottom!?), wasn't too impressed with Melasti but more about that later...
Flew with Air Paradise ex Brisbane, pleasant journey no delays. Arrived in Denpasar during peak hour, took an hour to get through VOA!!! I travel on a Swedish passport and already had a Foreigner Temporary Stay Permit, this line was much shorter but it still took almost an hour to get through!?
We enjoyed the trip to the hotel taking in the sights, the crazy drivers and the overloaded mopeds, it's quite amazing how many people can fit on those things!!
After checking in to Segara Village Hotel we headed to the beach to change some money at the Kodak shop, WHAT A CULTURE SHOCK!!! We just weren't prepared for the onslaught of locals hassling us for 'transport', 'massage', 'plait your hair', 'come to my shop' etc!! I think I had expected this in Kuta but not in Sanur. When I tried to change money at the Kodak shop the young girls spoke to each other in Indonesian and then proceeded to leave one zero off when calulating the exchange rate... We had only been in Bali for an hour and I almost got ripped off!? We decided to try and avoid being hassled and walked along the beach and later finding a lovely restaurant and having a beautiful 3 course meal sitting in the sand at the beach... only Rp 118,000 for 3 of us... Now this was PARADISE!!!
DAY 2
We enjoyed a jampacked Kintimani Lake & Volcano Tour with Tour East (excellent drivers & friendly and informative guides, prebooked with Qantas Holidays). I definitely think this is a 'must do' for first timers to Bali - the sights included:
* Barong Dance
* Celuk - gold & silver
* Mas - woodcarving
* Kintimani/Mt Batur/Lake Batur
* Goa Gajah (Elephant Cave)
Buffet lunch at Kintimani was not included in the price, it was nice but not cheap Rp 85,000 pp
DAY 3
Had a lovely massage with Rini - Merciful Mothers in Touch
* Traditional Massage Rp 80,000
Bought some lovely leather bags from Fryda Collection, 2 for Rp 300,000 - I'm sure I could have bargained a lot more but I was happy with the price, especially compared with prices back home!!
DISCOVERED MANGO's RESTAURANT!!! The best chicken satay sticks I've ever had!!! Only Rp 15,500 - Very comprehensive menu, great staff and a terrific 3 piece band!
DAY 4
Ocean Rafting 3 Island Day Cruise with Bali Hai Cruises. This was a fantastic trip, the crew were great, very entertaining - would thoroughly recommend!!! Unfortunately it was raining quite heavy in the morning and I got sopping wet... but the rain cleared when we got to Lembongan Island where we enjoyed lunch, a Village Tour, banana boat ride and snorkelling one of the best reefs I've ever seen.
Back to Mango's again for dinner - can't beat those satay sticks!!
Please check out my Belated JBR - Part 2 if you want to read on....