First time JBR from a first time Bali trip!
My husband Jer and I (ages 32 and 31) left Iowa Saturday afternoon and began a 30 hour journey to Bali. We flew American Airlines for the domestic portion and China Airways for the internations portion. CA was superb, the food was generous and actually tasted good plus you got free soda, tea, coffee, water, juice, beer or wine! I would fly CA again in a heatbeat!
The layover in Taiwan was nice. They have many, many shops in Terminal 2, which is the new of the terminals. Terminal 1 is older and resembles a basement in decor and smell.
When we arrived in Bali we were blasted by the heat, it was only 30 degrees F. when we left home! VOA and customs were a breeze, nothing to worry about there, even though we were both nervous, not because we were bringing in anything illegal, just because we had never gone through this process before. As Jer waited for the luggage I got some cash out of the ATM, my first million! :-)
Outside we found our driver, Ngura, from the KajaNe Mua villas in Ubud. In the van we got a nice cold cloth for our faces and a bottle of water.
In case you have forgotten what it was like on your first visit, we basically sat there with our mouths hanging open, taking in all the scenery. We barely spoke, only occassionly gesturing to the other one and poining at something out the window.
It was about an hour to Ubud and when we pulled into KajaNe we were greeted warmly by name, I guess they were expecting us!
We had booked a single villa with a private pool for 6 nights, including breakfast, ride to/from the airport and one lunch, total 8 million rp. I know that cheaper places about but we were there to celebrate our 10 year anniversay and my birthday, so, we splurged. It was still very affordable by US luxury standards.
The villa was divine! A very large (15 feet x 8 feet or so) salt water pool, porch with table, chair and a sofa, large bedroom with center bed and mosquito drapes, a roomy dressing/sink area with closet and shelves, outdoor stone bathtub, open air shower and toilet.
We were seperated by the neighbor villa by a stone wall, and while we could see the tops of some of the other villas, we were mostly secluded.
After a dip and a change of clothes we walked down Monkey Forest Rd and ended up a Babyface. Neither of us were starving but knew we should eat before calling it a day so we had Club Sandwiches, crispy fries and 4 cold Diet Cokes, total with tip: 126500 rp.
The next day the KajaNe driver took us to the Monkey Forest. It was quiet there, we wandered for over an hour before we saw any other tourisits. The monkeys were eating and didn't pay us any mind. We saw a few mothers nursing some babies and some young ones chasing each other. As we exited and were trying to decide which way to walk a monkey ran by holding something, being chased by a smiling young Balinese woman. Apparently she ran the store across the street and that bold monkey had stolen a package of batteries!
We shopped our way up Monkey Forest Rd, bargaining for some wooden hanging monkey figures and other trinkets. At a store called K.O. Senang-Senang I found some cute handbags with stitched on skulls for 40,000, rings made out of beads for 10,000 and metal hair sticks with beads for 20,000
Ah! before I forget, the exchange rate for US $ was about 9000, or from the ATM it was 9300, so those beaded rings were just over a dollar!
We took lunch at Lotus Lane and enjoyed the Rijsttafel for Two, smoked duck, pork morsels, roasted chickenm grilled prawns, minced fish satay, potato fritters and rice. With the addition of garlc bread, six bottles of Coke (we were thirsty!) and tip the total was 250,000rph.
Dinner that night we had across from the KajaNe at Cinta. The grill was fired up and I had a juicy burger and Jer had some sort of rice dish (I forgot to write the name down). More Diet Cokes and some fresh squeezed juice, all for 121,000rph.
The next morning the KajaNe driver took us to Champuhan to Symon's Studio, an impressive art compound that was visually stimulating and chock full of huge canvases of bright art. We didn't buy anything but were very impressed and each of us had favorite pieces that we would have loved to ship home.
At the Ubud Market we were overwhelmed and bargained for only a few small items. I found it diffcult to just "browse" because if I touched anything I was innundated with "I have your size!" "I have what you want!" "You come here to look!" I wasn't expecting the forwardnes of the sellers and that coupled with the heat and all the new scenery was overwhelming. We made our way back down Monkey Forest Rd, stopping to check out aome artwork, the DVD selection and grabbing yet another Diet Coke.
Dinner that night was at 3 Monkeys, I had a spicy roasted chicken and Jer devoured a chicken noodle dish.
The next several days passed about the same; wake, order breakfast, swim, eat breakfast, shop, eat, shower, shop, eat, repeat.
At Barberkyu we had Lumpia Ayam (crispy spring rolls), Pineapple Fried Rice, Babi Kechap and fresh lime juice with sugar, mixed fruit lassis and Diet Cokes, all for 200,000.
We stumbled across a small "art market" off of Monkey Forest Rd with eager sellers and we managed to strike some pleasant bargains, I may have paid too much for some things but I was happy with what I paid and the seller seemed happy too:
4 large sized bold sarongs 110,000
4 silk scarves 150,000
an 8 inch x 10 inch painting of a river scene 30,000
3 large carved wooden bowls with lids 100,000
8 wooden ink pens carved and painted like animals 60,000
It was a brilliant holiday and I can now understand why people go back time and time again, the people, the food, the attitde, it's addictive!