Well we arrived back in Adelaide on Thursday morning only to come home and find that BTF was having internal server problems. Was shattered. Spent the last couple of days starting to put together our JBR and load our photos on to webshots. Already having Bali blues and starting to plan the next trip. Strangely enough my sister in law who offered to pay for us to go elsewhere this time wants to organise a trip for just her and I for next year. Anyway sorry for those of you who do not enjoy the long, detailed JBR's but I found them very useful prior to our trip and I drove Mark crazy taking notes while we were away so hopefully this helps someone else.
For those about to go - things are very quiet but there is an increase of security everywhere and we felt very safe the whole time we were there. Stall owners are starting to push the prices up on things due to the increase in petrol and now the lack of buyers but if you are a good bargainer you can still get some great buys.
Day 1 - Thursday 13th October
Mark and I set off to Bali for 14 days to celebrate our 10 year wedding anniversary. This was our second trip to Bali but first without our two girls. Met up with littlejack from BTF prior to checking in. We flew with Air Paradise. After flying with Garuda last year we found Air Paradise to be a much better airline and will use them for our next trip to Bali. Had 13 striped bags of goods for the school we visit as well as things to give to the hotel staff's children, kids we met on our travels and gifts for Made (our very good friend and driver) and his family. No problems with check in as I had arranged for extra baggage allowance via e-mail several months ago. Had also arranged for forward seating although this was not guaranteed. We were seated in 32A and 32C with littlejack seated across the aisle from us so we were fairly close to the front. The only purchase we made through duty free was a 1 litre bottle of Jim Beam black label for $29.95.
Our flight departed at 8.40 am (20 mins early so of to a great start). Flight time was estimated at 5 hours and 45 minutes. Plane was only about 1/3 full. We were given a bottle of water prior to take off. Just after taking off we were given a packet of shrimp crackers. For lunch we had a choice of Beef /Noodles or Chicken/Rice. Mark and I both had the Beef/Noodles and found it quite nice surprisingly. We are not fans of airline food. Shortly after lunch we were offered a packet of chips or tim tam wafers. We were a bit cheeky and took both. There were two movies on the way over; 'The Longest Yard' followed by 'Monster In Law'. Had plenty of drinks on the way over. Mark had 2 bourbon and cokes and 6 bintangs while I had 5 bourbon and cokes and 2 bintangs. We were definitely in holiday mood when we touched down at Denpasar Airport. Arrived on time at 12.30 pm after an uneventful flight. The plane pulled right up to the airport so we did not have to be bused to the terminal as I have heard some are. We were very happy when we did not have to queue up at VOA or customs. We were actually through and meeting Made within about 15 mins of landing which was great.
The initial smells, sounds and climate that only Bali could offer greeted us. After a very warm welcome by Made we quickly loaded all of our luggage into his van and set off for our first stop on the way to the hotel. We already had a couple of million in Rp which I was lucky enough to buy at a good rate thanks to BTF prior to leaving Adelaide.
We had decided to stop in at Makro before heading for our hotel as we could not check in until about 3 pm. Well this turned out to be the start of things to come with this being the first of many large shopping expeditions. Stopped at service desk in entry and obtained a temporary card so we were not charged any entry fees.
We bought a box of Panadol extra in the pharmacy section for 47 975 Rp incl tax (AUS $6.40). This turned out to be a valuable purchase as Mark suffers migraines and unfortunately had a couple while we were away.
We purchased 2 boxes (each with 300 sachets) of Anlene powdered milk for 30 609 Rp (AUS $4.08) and a box of 40 packets of Seddap Mie Ayam Bawang Noodles for 23 414 Rp (AUS $3.12) for Made's family. For our upcoming school visit we purchased 60 blue pens 39 900 Rp (AUS $5.32), 4 boxes of 12 tubes of toothpaste 10 934 Rp (AUS $1.46) per box, 4 boxes of 12 toothbrushes 10 810 Rp (AUS $1.44) per box, 4 packets of 10 exercise books 10 350 Rp (AUS $1.38) per pack, 72 lead pencils 10 500 Rp (AUS $1.40) and 14 packets of 3 sets of 12 textas 23 700 Rp (AUS $3.16) per packet. For ourselves we purchased a carton of 24 bintang cans 140 909 Rp (AUS $18.79), 6 packs of 4 cans of coke 10 720 Rp (AUS $1.43) per pack, a box of 12 large bottles (1500ml) of Aro Air Minum water 15 980 (AUS $2.13), 400ml Rejoice Complete two in one shampoo and conditioner 17 750 Rp (AUS $2.37), a 2 pack of 20 Bagus wet ones 7 794 Rp (AUS $1.04), a 6 pack of Gillette II razors 16 110 Rp (AUS $2.15), a 4 plug power board 16 900 (AUS $2.25) and 2 power point converters 8 900 (AUS $1.19) each. Total bill including 86 216 Rp (AUS $11.50) tax came to 948 378 Rp (AUS $126.45).
Loaded all of this into the van and off we went. First stop was to He lgies (MC Shop) Jalan Wana Segara 23x, Tuban to drop off our PS2 for repair and chipping. Also stopped at Vinotti's (next to Stadium Café) to buy a hip flask 80 000 Rp (AUS $10.67). It is like a silver test tube. Mark says it looks more like a vibrator. LOL.
Finally headed for Bali Prani Hotel to check in. The hotel is situated on Jalan Dewi Sartika, Tuban (next door to Harris Hotel). It is out of the hustle and bustle of Kuta but only a 15 - 20 min walk or a 5 000 - 10 000 Rp (AUS $0.67 - $1.33) cab ride. There is a long driveway entry into the hotel grounds so the accomodation is set well back from the road and you don't have any problems with traffic noise. Checked in at about 4 pm and we were shown to our cottage (C01) where we unloaded all of our luggage and purchases from Makros. We actually had this accomodation for free after having appalling accomodation last year.
The cottages at Bali Prani Hotel are freestanding 2 storey cottages. Ours was situated only a few steps from and facing the pool. There is a wooden double door entrance that leads into a small reception area with a 2-seater sofa to the left and a small table with 2 chairs and staircase leading upstairs to the right. Opposite the entrance is an entrance table or chest with 2 drawers. Straight through you step down one step to find a hand basin and mirror to the right with a storage area under the staircase and doorway leading through to a marble bathroom. To the left is a floor to ceiling t.v. cabinet with a bar fridge in the cupboard at the bottom. There is no t.v. in this unit however it did appear to have the necessary plugs to set one up if desired. Straight ahead are two single beds with a bedside table and lamp in between them. The floors downstairs are all tiled.
The bathroom consisted of shower over a full size bath with removable shower hose and a toilet. On the wall between the bath and toilet there is a super jet hose which is handy to squirt down any leftovers after using the toilet.
Up a wooden staircase you enter the master bedroom which consists of king size bed, bedside tables either side with lamps on each, wooden carved wardrobe with drawer, dressing table with large mirror, t.v. on wooden unit and a single seat sofa chair. The floors of the upper storey are wooden. There is a split system airconditioner on each storey so didn't have too much trouble keeping the cottage nice and cool. The cottage was very clean and we had no complaints for our stay here.
The grounds of the Bali Prani were small but very well kept and clean. The pool was not huge but nice with 3 cement stools to one side of the shallow end of the pool. There are only two sunlounges with a table and umbrella although there are a few other resin outdoor chairs as well. The limited amount of sunlounges did not bother us as for most of our stay we were the only people at the hotel.
The restaurant was also nice and clean with a bar area but was very quiet while we were there. By the side entrance to the restaurant there is a pool table for guests to use. The reception area is small and the staff were all very friendly and accomodating to our needs. We had stuff everywhere in our room and never had any problems with anything disappearing. We found the staff to be very honest.
This is a great hotel for a quiet or even romantic getaway. The cottages would be perfect for a family with 2 kids although there is no kids club but I think you could easily arrange babysitting if required.
After paying Made 200 000 Rp (AUS $26.67) and bidding him farewell for now, we took a moment to freshen up and then walked to Ramayana Hotel at about 5 pm to meet up with littlejack. On the way we stopped at Minimart Ramayana on Jalan Kartika Plaza and purchased a packet of Longbeach 20's 6 500 Rp (AUS $0.87).
We then made our way by taxi to S&S at Legian 20 000 Rp (AUS $2.67). We met Smudge UK, Cheza, Jay, Bob Bali, Roo Ted and of course Sami and Suzie while enjoying a couple of bintangs and watching the sunset.
From S&S we walked along Jalan Melasti to Jalan Legian then down Poppies II along the beachfront to finally end up at Kafe Dulang (3 doors down from Rajas in Kuta Square) for dinner. I had nasi goreng 37 500 Rp (AUS $5.00) with a mango lassi 20 000 Rp (AUS $2.67), Mark had satay beef 42 500 Rp (AUS $5.67) with a small bintang 13 500 Rp (AUS $1.80) while littlejack had chicken and cashews 40 000 Rp (AUS $5.33) and a sprite 8 000 Rp (AUS $1.07). The total bill including 10% government tax 16 150 Rp (AUS $2.15) was 177 650 Rp (AUS $23.69). From memory we just paid them 190 000 Rp (AUS $25.33). The food was very nice however littlejack and I were not able to finish our meals so Mark felt obliged to assist with this problem.
After dinner we went to the mobile phone stand inside the rear entrance of Matahari to organise a sim card for Mark's mobile 100 000Rp (AUS $13.33) with 100 000 Rp credit on it. I had been having trouble with the sim card I had obtain through BTF since arriving in Bali (was able to receive but not send messages etc) and was a bit frustrated with it. It only took a couple of minutes for the lady to figure out that it need to be reactivated and I no longer had any problems with it after this. I also topped up the credit on mine at the same time for 100 000 Rp (AUS $13.33). From here we walked back down Jalan Kartika Plaza. We said our goodnights to littlejack at Ramayana and then continued to walk back to our hotel as by this time we were feeling pretty shattered after having been up since 5.30 am.
Cheers
Balibabe