Well, I have been and returned... all so fast. I hope this makes for interesting reading and doesn't bore you all.... it may get a little long too.
Thanks again to Nicki - Nicno - for her WONDERFUL and tireless efforts in helping me get to beautiful Bali. It is always so muchly appreciated and I can't praise her efforts higly enough, Thanks doesn't seem enough!
We arrived SUNDAY... Sunday was a long day. Leaving my Sydney home at 5.30am and leaving my kids and husband for the first time in 5 and a half years - I was in tears. My kids are 5 and a half and 2 and a half. Flew Garuda and all was good, went via Melbourne, which although a pain, seems to cut the time straight to Bali, down a bit. Food was average this flight but it didn't matter, I was going to great food at the other end. VOA easy and customs easier.
Met our driver, well his family, and they took us to our hotel, Garden View Cottages.
Now I know that people rave about this hotel, but I was very disappointed (Please don't flame me, this is just my opinion). We arrived and the staff were pretty slack and didn't really seem to care that we were there. We finally got to our room, which was very basic. The bathroom full of ants and missing towels. The phone didn't work (which didn't go down well seeing both my friend and I had left kids and husbands at home and wanted to stay in contact). Got a phone with very crackily line but at least could talk to home. When my friends husband rang the hotel they continually told him that there was no one in our room, but my husband was getting straight through. I thought the renovations made the rest of the hotel seem messy and very disorganised.
Off to Warung Yogya, next door to GVC which was BEAUTIFUL! Great traditional food and my first timer girlfriend was very impressed. At 30,000 total for dinner for 2, it was well worth it! I felt I should have been paying more.
MONDAY.
After a terrible dried up breakfast sitting watching the road, we went for a wander. I decided to show my girlfriend where myself and my family usually stay - Puri Raja.
WOW - they have done such a great job on the renovations! It looks absolutely fantastic! When I walked in there were the friendly faces of the staff (all getting their jobs back) and the hello's and the hugs and kisses from them all - just like arriving home! By the time I had shown my girlfriend through down to the beach end, she was smitten. We went to the foyer and asked about a room and prices and we booked in and out of GVC. The Manager at GVC was like, what's wrong? We told him and said we just wanted to check out and he said, that's ok, fine. So, he wasn't sorry to lose us but we were more than glad to be going.
We had a massage booked at GVC so had them (the 100,000 Men's special, yes Men's special), which included a 30 min back and neck massage, a 1 hour foot massage and a beer! It was great, the girls there were really good and the massage was very firm.
Went to Geneva and did the Geneva thing. Bought some things and got some ideas of prices for on the street. My girlfriend went nuts in there. Geneva is such a great idea.
Went to Denpasar to the department stores and didn't buy anything, which was unusual but didn't really find anything I liked that much. The cost of a driver into Denpasar and back for I think around 3 hours was 120,000 and we had to bargain hard for that price and there was NO WAY he was going under that price.
Went to Teras for dinner - YUMMMMMMO! I love Teras. Had the usual and was very happy. The restaurant was very quiet, only 4 tables with people at them.
TUESDAY
Had brekkie at PR - much better eating and facing the beach - peaceful, beautiful and a great way to start the day.
Went off to Ubud after that for the day. Cost us 225,000 for the day. Had lunch at Lotus Cafe, great as always. We found the prices in Ubud to be cheaper than in Legian. Ubud streets were very quiet.
Dinner at Thai in Rum Jungle Road, I always forget the name, but the one closes to Jayakarta Hotel end. It was nice food, as usual but only had 2 tables with people at it that night.
My girlfriend then went back to PR as she was buggered and I went to Melasti Beach Resort Spa for a foot massage. 55,000 for half an hour (with all their taxes etc) and it was a perfect end to a day of walking Ubuds streets and shopping. It was excellent.
WEDNESDAY
We both had massages booked at PR for 10am. My beautiful friend, Made, did my massage. She is such a lovely, lovely lady and we had a lot of fun in the hour. I practised my Indonesian with her and she practised her english with me. She just lights up my day every year when I see her smile. What a wonderful lady.
Went down the beach to see friends there and had a foot scrub with one of them for 25,000 - paid her a bit more becuase she is a friend.
Had lunch at PR - very nice.
Went for a walk up Double 6 and grabbed some great skirts and jewellery. This street always seems to have different things to the rest of Legian, Kuta and Ubud. It was VERY hot and we came back for a cool off and then went to Poco Loco's for dinner which was also very quiet - only 3 tables full here tonight.
THURSDAY
We decided to rest a little as my flight out of Denpasar was at 12.45am (Friday morning) and gosh was that HARD. Went into Kuta to Matahari for my girlfriend to buy a BIGGER bag. Came back to hotel and swam and sunned ourselves. Had lunch at Warung Yogya again and did our last shopping bits and pieces. Today flew by and before we knew it, it was time to check out.
Had dinner next door at Tunjung and it was great as usual, except for the hawkers who kept coming INTO the restaurant trying to sell us CD's (I didn't think they were allowed to do that any more!).
Overall.... the PURI RAJA was beautiful, they have done a great job and it looks sensational. The pools are great, the rooms are great, the restaurant is great - the whole place is. We stayed in Room 108 on the beach end row, which was an interconnecting room (we didn't interconnect but noticed the door way between the two rooms). Anyone questioning a stay there, don't.... just do it.
The transport prices were up heaps and they weren't budging.
The food was great although the restaurants were VERY quiet.
The whole place was very quiet. There wasn't many kids around, there wasn't many people around.
There were a lot of beggers, especially women with little babies or little kids, which was a bit daunting to watch. I don't like seeing them beg like they do.
Prices for clothing, jewellery, shoes, dvd's same as usual... if not, only up a tiny bit. But I found everything the same price.
The dollar was 6,775 for Monday, Tuesday and then went up to 6,780 for our last two days. We just changed money at the hotel foyer, which was the same as in the street with NO hassles. I don't even bother with the street thing any more and haven't for years.
I think I have included everything.
It was short and sweet but had a great time and great food, great weather and as usual loved BALI. I really hope it stays safe over there because I fear for what will happen to them should something happen again, it is so quiet over there that I am not sure they will survive anything else going wrong. I hope they do.... I want to keep going back.
I am sorry MANDY (Aileen), that we didn't get to catch up. I hope you had a great time... I am sure that you would have.
XXX