What we did
Well this holiday was going to be pure indulgence, having both changed jobs recently and also not having had a holiday for a while we decided that R&R was called for. Hence we really didn't do too many tours.
We did go up to Gunung Kawi (the Kings tombs carvings north of Ubud) not a lot of people there at all. We were told that really not many Aussies go there, more the Europeans. If you can handle the steps it is worth a trip - I think that there are about 315 and they are pretty steep. From the time you get out of the car in the car park until you enter the gates of the temple you will come across constant offers of 'you want to buy sarong, 10,000, you need for temple, sarong for temple, you buy sarong for temple' as you get closer it is 'you buy sarong for temple, 2 for 10,000, you need sarong' a little tip, they will not sell them to you for 10,000, let alone 2 for 10,000. Another tip, you get a sarong and a sash on the other side of the temple gates before you begin to navigate the stairs - and for a small donation. On the way down there are rice paddies on both sides along with some stalls (the sellers are not pushy at all). The carvings are huge and this is amazing to see, we wondered around through all the little areas all they way down to the fresh water stream.
On the way back from Gunung Kawi (we went early in the morning) we stopped at Talangalang to view the rice paddies, and to also experience what true hawkers are about, they are like the ones at Kintamani, no matter how far down the steps you go they are right behind. One in particular was keen for me to buy painted wooden watermelons for the end of your pencil. I think they know something that I don't about what people in Sydney are after at the moment, because apparently they are very popular and my friends would like one as a present. It was recommended I buy 20 - maybe my friends had forewarned them of the gifts they wished to receive.
It was then onto Ubud for a look through the markets, the art shops and Jewellery (I personally think a girl can't own too much) and yes, I saw a really nice necklace and yes my husband bought it for me. Also, for some reason in my other trips to Bali, I had never ventured into the Kings palace, it's pretty spectacular really and worth a bit of a look around.
After Ubud we headed into Denpasar to buy a phone. We ended up buying a Nokia 3120 for $145. I had called Optus before I left and this same phone was $350 to buy outright. The phone is working perfectly (we bought phones on our last rip and they too are still going, no problems and are all with genuine Nokia parts).
Another day trip was to head over to Sanur, again, I have never been there so I thought I should go a have a look. It just so happened that we managed to pick the hottest day whilst in Bali to make this trip. Had a look through the Puri Santrian, nice hotel, good spot, looked in a Club Room and they were pretty impressive. We then walked along the beach path, boy was it hot. I must say that it was simply beautiful though. We ended up at the Griya Santrian for lunch (just couldn't go any further, though I have since been told we actually managed to walk a fair way, we also ran into Smirf from the forum). The Griya is also a nice hotel, the restaurant on the beach was great, the wine was actually reasonably priced too, I will detail more in a further post on where we ate.
So these were our two big trips. The rest of the time we ensured that we got up quite early every morning to walk along the beach from Tuban up to Legian and then back. The first two mornings we were actually getting up at what can only be described as ‘stupid o'clock' - 3.50am, the time difference can be a killer. The rest of the mornings was generally a 6am wakeup (old habits die hard).
It is amazing what goes on on the beach. So much activity and it is such a nice time of the day. Ok some areas of the beach are not the cleanest (out the front of the Kuta Beach Club), but it is not a patch on what it is like during the wet season. There would be soccer games (with dancing in between goals), a cremation ceremony, school kids doing exercises, Tai Chi lessons, families playing - just an all round nice way to start the day, and to walk off the food from the day before (or the day ahead). On a few mornings we were also up early enough to see the mountains before the clouds descended on them.
One morning we took the two first timers to Pesar Pagi (the morning market) on the cnr of Jl Legian and Melasti. The people are so friendly in there, I took a few pics and the squeals when I showed them were really funny. Tried out some Sate Babi cooked fresh, very nice! We went back a few days latter and gave copies of the photos that we had taken to the various stall holders, more squealing and showing the photos around. Mr Sate Babi gave us 10 free sates, he was so happy that we remembered him and came back. Again the sates were beautiful, but I think we should have questioned the freshness because exactly 6 hours later both my husband and I were experiencing Sate Babi all over again. Luckily this experience was over and done with very quickly and we were able to continue on - no more needs to be said.
We didn't buy a great deal, some shoes (for me), some bags (again for me), one top from Dianne (nice lady), jewellery (for me) and some stuff from the Polo shop (ok I let my husband buy something for himself here). The major purchases were two large canvas paintings from the Art Market near Kuta Sq, they are 1300mm by 900 mm - got them for 700,000 for the two of them. We also bought some bronze statues from a place in Legian (on the cnr across from Merina leather).
The first timers did a fair bit of shopping, we only went with them once and showed them how to bargain (not that we really tried too hard ourselves this time) and then left them to their own devises. They did very well and picked up some amazing things, paintings by young Balinesse artists, masks for their home - I was impressed with what they found.
I did go for reflexology at 'the' reflexology salon. To respect Shazerth's wishes I will not reveal the name of the place. They were very good in there though and I found it difficult to walk afterwards, it was like I was walking on air.
The next JBR I'll go through some places where we ate - the good, the bad and the ugly.