A great flight from Sydney with Garuda with only a 30 min delay due to waiting for a connection from a domestic flight. (There usually IS a fairly understandable reason for delays). No problems, arrival in Bali only 10 mins late! VOA was mind boggling...what a strangely organised system - a bit of a free for all really. Oh well, just accept that different cultures structure their systems differently! It took us about an hour to clear and then it was slowed down further by a young Australian guy (I know because he was sitting next to us) who passed out in the heat after consuming copious amounts of booze on the flight. A legacy of unlimited service of alcohol on board!
Met efficiently and warmly by our hotel transfer rep. Took the short ride to Puri Bambu in Jimbaran Bay. What a find. Located this hotel on the net and it's like a little piece of heaven tucked away down a lane in Jimbaran. So, so quiet and lovely low rise hotel with about 40 rooms. We paid around aud60 per night which included transfers to and from airport, free shuttles 6 times daily to and from Kuta and a marvellous breakfast. Surrounded by beautiful gardens. About a 5 minute slow stroll to Jimbaran Beach. Staff were wonderful and friendly.
Ate several times on the beach at Jimbaran, mostly at Lia's and also Café Bagus. Both were reasonable and service excellent. Great selection of fish and at Lia's we had lovely supplemented sauces with our tuna. What I loved about Jimbaran the most was the fact that the locals seemed to use the beach for sport and family/friends recreation. Really comforting to see local Balinese coming together using their beaches as an environment for pleasure without all the restrictions that us, coming from Sydney, seem to have wherever we go; to a park or a beach. You know how it is; no dogs, no skateboards, no alcohol, no scooters, no ANYTHING!!!!! Jimbaran was a refreshing change.
Over the next few days we ventured into Kuta and Legian. I had not been for at least 15 years. What a change!!! I have to say (I'll probably get flamed for this) but Kuta is so trashy. I guess it serves some kind or purpose for some kind of traveller but, my goodness, if one travels to Indonesia to think about the best place they can get a hair braid and tattoo...they must lead a pretty limiting home life. Anyway...each to their own (as the saying goes). This is NOT a criticism of the place generally; only a general observation, I guess, of how every place has to have it's crass part. Hey, Sydney has Bondi and Manly...
Seminyak was for another day. Went to Ku De Ta on recommendation. Interesting to note the security and prices! A nice location but a real 'scene'. People trying far too hard to look glamorous and not achieving it. Great for a laugh at the bravado. We took a long walk back along Legian and had a great gado gado for dinner at Made's Warung and I drooled with window shopping at some lovely items in Seminyak!!!! It's not particularly cheap but there was lots of creativity in the shops.
The weather was quite warm at around 29-30 degrees and sunny. The long stretch of beach from Kuta through to Legian and Seminyak looked perfect.
After three days we headed toward Uluwatu and surrounding beaches. Visited Padang Padang and enjoyed swimming in clear, cool waters. Lots of surfers around enjoying the waves. Blue Lagoon seems to be the place for swimming and sunning. Uluwatu was interesting. We used a guide and he spoke eloquently of the bombings and how they had affected Balinese tourism. I loved the fact that we had an interesting conversation about this. Uluwatu was, as usual, its spectacular self. We paid our guide willingly because he was generous with information and time.
We used our driver for around 3-4 hours and paid him 200,000 rupiah which was a very fair price.
Finished off in Legian and Seminyak for some last minute shopping and a meal and a final massage. Great massage in Jl Legian for 60,000 rupiah. It was rather amusing to walk in off the street and negotiate for the two of us. Went into private room, partitioned by curtains and we were each presented with paper undies. Removal of our own underwear and then slip these on so as not to get oil on our own set. Being a bit off with too much sun and nasi goreng I put my leg through the wrong hole and ended up with one bottom cheek exposed and the other really baggy! Lay down on the massage table and the woman came in horrified and then highly amused at my one bare buttock!!!! Imagine the view they had!
Arrived in Ubud a day later after a great day touring through Padangbai and Candi Dasa. Vowed to spend more days in Candi Dasa next visit. Ate lunch at Padan Padan restaurant...lovely ocean views and superb gado gado...yet again. My driver berated me gently; stating that it was an Indonesian dish not an exclusively Balinese dish LOL.
Arrival in Ubud was welcome away from the mania of Kuta/Legian and that whole area. Ubud is a pretty,historic, rustic village and we had the loveliest accommodation in a two story villa set in behind the Monkey Forest. I'm almost retiscent to share the name...Alam Indah...just in case it becomes a real find. It's part of Alam Shanti and Alam Jawi group. We were greeted with papaya juice and our room was filled with tuberoses and frangipanis and hisbiscus. Took a walk along the path into the village - The scenery was magnificent. The room we had was like nothing I had ever seen and the pool was set among rice paddies and vegetation with special lounge areas for privacy.
We overlooked the forest and there are little statues everywhere lit with candles and oil lamps. So, so pretty. Everything is by candlelight or torchlight. Yet, not primitive. Just very rustic and naturalistic. Again, got this over the net for about AUD65 per night and included marvellous breakfast and complimentary shuttle into Ubud central at anytime. They also provide afternoon tea or coffee with treats from their own bakery, this is also complimentary. Each night the staff come to your room and balcony and discretely light mosquito coils and candles before the night invasion of insects can begin!
I loved Ubud - village life, sophisticated art and music. Different from the very westernised beach culture of Legian and the surrounding areas with many modern day luxuries.
Did a great cooking class one morning with a chef at a local well regarded restaurant; Café Wayan. The cost was 350,000 rupiah. Mmmm...learnt all about organic growing of herbs and mixing them to create gourmet Balinese style salads and curries...it was fantastic and we got to sit down afterwards and eat the whole lot for lunch!!! Plus as a bonus, our own set of table attire (chopsticks, placemats, aprons). In amongst lotus ponds and palms. The chef was quite young but extremely well versed and spoke excellent English so it was easy to understand and prepare everything. We ground our own marinades and picked exotic ingredients from the restaurant garden. Fantastic...
The menu was Balinese Chicken Salads, Seafood Tempura Balinese style, Nasi Goreng, Black Rice Pudding, Chicken Curry... The chef has given me his email address should I have any queries when I return home!
The food in Ubud is marvellous. Murni's Warung, Casa Luna and the highlight, Mozaic. You need to book well in advance for Mozaic and then again on the day. They are expensive by Balinese standards. We had a 6 course tasting menu plus wines and water to clean the tastebuds and the total cost was aud250.00! But...amazingly beautiful food, environment and a real treat!
We had several massage treatments and the best were in Ubud. Jalan Hanoman has wonderful massage clinics. Bali Healing in Jl Hanoman is special. They usually charge 50,000 rupiah for an hour treatment. I also had one treatment, by far the strongest and most comprehensive was at Bugar Sehat at Jl Hanoman 46. Gede was wonderful. I am a lecturer in bodywork at a private college in Sydney and he was the most knowledgable and thorough therapist I came across the entire trip. He charges 65,000 rupiah and I paid more, voluntarily, because he was so professional.
Blanco museum and the Neka Museum a must. Quite different from each other but inspiring.
One day saw us trekking through central Bali with a driver, Sila, to see various temples and visit magnificent rice terraces at Jatiluwih for lunch. Tanah Lot was on the agenda and it was much more comfortable by early morning with limited tourists. Not too many crowds. It was really lovely and eating the local food everywhere is such a treat. He took us down small country roads where we got to see much more authentic village life. We attempted Bratan but the rain was torrential! We spent last evening in the Palace at Ubud watching Legong dancers with all their graceful movements. Cost 8,000 rupiah per person. Dances are in the Palace every night at around 7.30pm and tickets can be purchased on the spot.
So I guess that all good things must end...boo hoo.
I knew this was going to be a great holiday...the bird that dropped a big papaya coloured poo on my shoulder, staining my top well and truly, on arrival at the hotel in Jimbaran Bay on the first day indicated just that!!!!
Please email if you want any further details.
Selamat Malam...
Thank you for advice on this forum.