Hi everyone!!
Nice to be back here and reading a few postings, and to share some of my experiences in Bali and Sumba Island, in East Nusa Tenggara.
It was a long journey to Bali and Sumba Isl. from Washington State in America. No kidding, aproxt 14 hours flight from Seattle to Taipe, Taiwan. Then aproxt. 6 hours flight to Bali from Taipe. My kids ages 12, 11 and 8 did very well considered it was their first flight ever! Halleluyah....noone got sick. Thank goodness for comp. games provided by the flight. China Airlines was a good choice after all. Cheap, safe and friendly flight attentdants.
In Bali, we stayed with sis and her boy for a full week in Sesetan/Denpasar. My kids had great times experienced the local bemo ride/the local mini buss or transportation. It was dirt cheap. 3000 Rupiahs per person to ride a bemo. We went shopping to the local markets for veggies and fruits. Kids had great time tried the local fruits: Salak fruit is crunchy delicious fruit with brown snaky skin. Delicious!! Then they tried Durian fruit which they thought it was awful and smelly fruit. I had to agreed. Then we tried Manggis fruits. Big flessy/juicy white meaty fruits. They were delicious, round and purply thick skin fruits. Many other local fruits. It was wonderful!!
In Denpasar we also managed to tried their public pool by the Super Market area, Tiara Dewata. Nice pool for kids and adult. You can do your lap swimming as well. Again it was cheap 8000 Rupiahs for adult and 6000 Rupiahs for kids to get in to the pool. Nice outdoor pool, clean and you can do your shopping there afterwards.Also there are many places to eat right there in that same complex. You can choose from Japanese food, chinese or Indonesian food. Fun. They also have arcade games for kids.
But to do good serious shopping for gifts to brings up home, I had to say good choice would be Sukawati area. It is nice local market where you can buy anything from wood crafts, fashion jewelrys, clothes, and nick nacks. You have to be brave enough to bargain with them. They will ask for high price at first, but you can ask for half to 70% off from first qouted price. I bought a nice wood art that was qouted for 600.000 rupiahs, but I ended up paid for 150.000 rupiahs. It was great.
In Bali we also took a full day trip to visited many places like Ubud, Goa Gajah, Many beautiful temples, and all the places known to be visited. You can find all these places by google it, with key words: Things to do in Bali. All I can I say, you can book trough your hotel to visit those wonderful places to see. You can get as cheap as 250.000 rupiahs for a full day trip. 250.000 to 400.000 rupiahs about right price for a full day trip. Nice car with AC. Do not worry about the driver's lunch money. You can tip him in the end. He will refused to join for lunch when asked. It happened every time when asked to join.
Anway, that was Bali..
To Sumba Isl in East Nusa Tenggara, the flight wasn't bad at all either. We flew with Merpati F100. The flight to Sumba was 1 hour. Flight to this area is 3 days a week. There are other flights also, but I would recomend that you stick with Merpati F100 for safety issue.
Sumba isl. is bigger isl. than Bali, but it is very slow pace. For serious surfer guys or gals there is a beautiful place to do your water sport in Sumba. Tarimbang is on the south coast of Sumba. It is beautiful beach and very little ppl goes there. However, there is a place where you can stay and meal provided. It is very basic. It is run by a friend of mine. Local Sumba man. Very basic place to stay. Grass roof house, but comfy enough. There is no nite life in Sumba if you are a party goer. There are many local trucks and mini busses that will take you there or places you want to go explore in Sumba. They are dirt cheap. You can ride on a truck like the local lol. It could be fun. If any of you are interest to know more about Sumba, you can email me at Sumbagirl2005@yahoo.com. I can give you more info. This area is still primitive in many ways. But reachable. The local ppl there are friendly as well. There are awsome place to buy Sumba blankets or Ikats too. They are very cheap and you can also watch them make these beautiful Ikats. It is amazing process to make one.
In Waingapu/the city of East Sumba where your flight ended, there are few hotels you can book to stay before going to deep or more remote area like the Tarimbang as I said before. Hotel Elim, Hotel Merlin, Hotel Sandlewood are these few hotels I remember. Email me for more info as of their address and phone if you are serious. They are so much cheaper than Bali. They do have AC. But none of these Hotel has swimming pool. However, you can go to swim in local pool. Western style pool with an olympic size. There is kids section as well with water two water slide. The fee to get in is unbelievable cheap, 2000 Rupiahs per adult, and 1000 Rupiahs for kids. This pool is barely new I was told by the local. It was opened just a few months before we arrived there. It is a great alternative to cool off yourself beside the beach/salty water. Just ask your local hotel where the public pool is. It is not far from the few hotels I described earlier. Just one bemo ride to Matawai that is it. Bemo ride or mini buss ride is 3000 rupiahs in Waingapu area.
Oh by the way, I have to say this, they do have Skippy Peanut Butter in Waingapu believe it or not. They are little pricy than generic brand or the Indonesian Brand. For small jar of Skippy is 27.000 Rupiahs. Not bad if you are craving for western diet. They do have white or brown bread to make peanut butter sandwiches. I fed my kids these with added fruits, bananas and peanut butter on bread. They weren't so keen to eat rice daily. So it is great alternative and high on protein and carbohidrates.
Anyway, hope you all enjoy reading this. I hope I don't bore you to death.