Arrived late evening in Bali on Garuda from Perth. Great flight and excellent service. Dinner was either curried fish or chicken, both served with veges and salad. Drinks were always available. Flight took just a little over 3 hours.
First stop in the terminal was VOA. Paid with credit card and cost was calculated at 7200rp to AUD$1 as I later found out. VOA took about 3 minutes. Next was Customs and passport check. That took about 5 minutes. Then hand luggage xray and straight to baggage console. All up about 25 minutes. Money changers at the airport exit were offering 7100 rp - AUD$1. Headed right and booked a taxi to Legian (Camplung Mas Hotel) and that cost 50,000 Rp. It was the quickest we have ever been processed on arrival in Bali in 22 years.
This was our 2nd stay at Camplung Mas and we felt comfortable with the room and as always, the friendly staff. The pool is a good size and the swim up bar is well located. We arranged a ¼ day trip to Tanah Lot (200k rp) and the hire of a motor bike (brand new 30k rp a day) thru the staff at the Camplung and at good rates.
We ate at the Indo National, Jl Padma (great chillie crab), Sana cnr Lebak Bene and Melasti, both these run by Aussies, Brazil Cafe Benesari(great food at cheap prices) the Depot Kuta at the Kuta night food markets ( the best grilled fish I have ever eaten in Bali and only 40k rp), Dayu II just up from the Indo (very good seafood basket and reasonable prices)Rama warung near corner Garlic Lane and Padma (good Indo food, reasonable prices, but service charge)Yutz in Seminyak, I think Rum Jungle road ( great fried chicken and cocktail greeting drink). The food hall behind Supa Nova in Kuta, has very good Mie Goreng. The Vilasari (up the steps opp Camplung Mas) do a great nasi goreng. If you want a reasonable red or white wine, try the local Hattens. We were pleasantly surprised. It is about 60k rp a bottle.
Along with the local street vendors, we purchased the usual stuff. DVD's are going as low as 7k rp in some places, CD's - 10k. Mens trousers (Janoko, poppies II, are around 125k (excellent finish and materials). Leather coat 630k. Would recommend Lhaksmi, in Lebak bene, as place to visit for deep tissue massage. This guy (Tri and wife Wayan, both trained professionals)are very good and fixed my lower back and shoulder in 2 sessions. They also have treated many footballers from all codes.
Visited Ramayana in Denpasar. They had larger mens and womens clothing sizes and were reasonably priced. The watch vendor at the entrance has some very good watches at very reasonable prices, including Rolex copies. Nice sunglasses both mens and womens can be purchased for around 20k. Try the food hall on the top floor. Food is as good as any in Bali and dirt cheap. Denpasar is as busy as usual and it was a relief to get back to the pool.
It was the first time we had visited Tanah Lot. It took about 40 minutes to get there. There is a charge when you arrive of about 20k rp for 2. Very beautiful spot and did not regret our visit. Plenty of market and food stalls there as well. It was busy, as usual, according to the locals.
Noticeably a lack of tourists between Melasti and Poppies II. The usual tourist haunt, Mata Hari, Kuta, was very quiet with what seemed to be an abundance of staff. Tragia in Denpasar no longer exists where it was located across the street from Ramayana. More tourists seem to be up in Seminyak. Sorry to see many not visiting Bali because of the past tragedies. However there are no safety guarantees in Bali as there are no safety guarantees in Australia. It is still an affordable holiday for most and it is just up the road. We look forward to our next visit.