(This follows JBR Part 1 - Legian posted Thursday, 1. May 2008 at 10:36 Bali Time). Thank you for comments/queries. I have responded to qns asked back in that post.
As I mentioned we (me, partner and our two children) returned last week after a fantastic 17 day holiday. We spent time in Legian, Ubud and Tuban. This is the second of three installments.
Tanah Lot
We arranged for a driver who drove us back from the La Lucciola restaurant in Seminyak to come the following day and take us from Legian to Ubud. I always think it is a good idea to engage a driver for a short trip before committing to anything longer. Wayan was an elderly man and a careful driver and drove a not-quite-so-new van. He was very pleasant and offered a comment here and there but did not talk incessantly or suggest a stop at any shop. We agreed on a fee of Rp 200,000 for the transfer, with stops on the way. (Tegal Sari charges Rp 175,000 for airport pick up so I had some idea of a starting price). His driving experience was evident as he knew a few shortcuts towards the end when our daughter was feeling unwell and we were keen to get to our hotel in Ubud. We paid more than the agreed amount as you tend to do when things go well.
We decided to go via Tanah Lot for a look at the temple and a stroke of the snake. Our driver told us that the temple is the last stop on the one-day tour schedule so gets a lot of tourist buses in the late afternoon.
Neither of my children had been there before and were keen to walk over to the temple. It was too rough to cross so we made do with a touch of the holy snake and a blessing from the temple priest. It was pretty windy that day but we walked along the top of the cliff to where the throngs sit at sunset and took some lovely photographs. Not much happens at the warungs during the day and we were pretty much left to our own devices. I guess they are busy enough later on. The only thing that strikes me is that wherever we walked people always called out for us to purchase a drink. Maybe that is where they make easy money.
My son held the big python. I know it seems like a tacky thing to do after touching the holy snake, but the place where you hold the snake is not near the temple. We were asked for Rp 50,000 but they came down to Rp 20,000 straight away. They were very helpful in pointing out the best background for photos and encouraged us to take as many as we liked. The handler told us the snake was only a baby at six years old. Quite big enough for my son to hold and it did get very heavy. The look on my son's face is priceless.
For those who are interested, the toilets near the car park were very clean (cost Rp 1000 per visit).
Tegal Sari
We booked into this hotel after reading the many positive reports on the forum and can only concur with the comments previously made about the place. Superlatives such as peaceful, quiet, picturesque come to mind add to that the attitude of the staff - really lovely. Problem for us was that the hotel does not have interconnecting rooms so we had a super-delux room (with an extra bed installed) for the four of us.
It wasn't the easiest existence but it was only for three nights. Without the distraction of a television we really enjoyed some family time sitting on the balcony playing cards etc. My son was often at the outdoor gym and the pool. I'll tell you what a a small world it is...our neighbours at the Melasti Beach Resort in Legian were our neighbours at the Tegal Sari!
Safari Park
After hearing about the free shuttle from Kuta I made inquiries with the Safari Park regarding travel from Ubud. They do have a shuttle that leaves from near the tourist centre at around 10.00am. I understand they have no firm arrangement with the tourist centre but park the shuttle bus nearby to collect patrons. We made ourselves known to the tourist office and they kept an eye out for us for the shuttle. It is worth doing this as, on that occasion, the bus was parked a fair bit away and we would not have thought to look up the street to where it was. We were the only people on board and the ride took about 35 mins.
We paid at the gate US$25 per person but you can get much better deals from tourist booths in Kuta etc. We wandered in and hopped on a shuttle that took us in to the park proper.
I think a lot has been said recently about the park so I won't go into too much detail but will make a few comments that may not have been covered:
*best seat on the safari bus is the back one I got some great film footage from that vantage point
*expensive ice-cream RP 22,000 for very, very small cones
*only place I came across where 2 small bintangs are cheaper than 1 large one
*best to take all your swimming gear to a (free) locker at the water park before doing anything else. No towels available at the park. I took a 'tech towel' that folds up very small and we made do with that
*v/clean toilets but only 3 three out of about 12 were open for use at the rear of the open air restaurant. Obviously cuts down the cleaning.
Out shuttle driver told us the return is either at 2.30pm or 4.00pm but not to miss the last one as there would be no other. We didn't rush our day and chose to take the 4.00pm shuttle. We were about 25 mins early down to the gate and our driver took us back straight away. I understand no-one else had come from Ubud on the later (1.30pm) shuttle so we were the only ones that needed to be returned.
As we were boarding, other shuttle drivers gave us a very big hint that we should tip our driver as he was a very safe driver etc. etc. I wonder if this happens regularly?? We did do this as the driver dropped us right back to the Tegal Sari and not the designated tourist centre, and for that we were grateful, but really didn't appreciate the earlier comments by his colleagues.
Food
Both myself and my partner were not well during our stay in Ubud so we did not get to try out all the restaurants we had intended to. The first night our daughter was not well either so we had to have dinner at the Tegal Sari. We ate at Murni's Warung the second night as one of the family needed treatment at the Ubud Clinic and Murni's is right across the road. I think the setting is nice but that the food is slightly over-rated. My son did have a dessert that I think is one of their specialties and that was really nice though. When we were ready to leave Murni's I asked the waitperson to call our hotel for pick up. She said it wasn't necessary as the restaurant provided free transport to hotels in the area. We only had to wait a few moments for the car to return from an earlier drop off - nice service.
On our last day we ate lunch at Café Wyan and Bakery and the last night in Ubud we ate at Café Enak which is out the front of the hotel. As you can see we did not venture far from our accommodation on most occasions. All the more reason to return.
The price for lunch was around Rp 300,000 and the cost of dinner at Warung Enak was Rp 270,000.
Another reason to return is that we did not get to do the bike ride we had booked on to for our last day in Ubud as we were not well enough. The staff at the Tegal Sari are very obliging and made the necessary call on our behalf to cancel, before taking us to the Ubud Clinic. The operator of Bali Baik actually called us late morning the following day to make inquiries about our health and to make sure we were getting the treatment we needed. How nice is that!
Instead of going on the bike ride we took a stroll later that day through the monkey forrest. There is a short cut through to Monkey Forest Road from the accommodation blocks at the Tegal Sari and one of the employees guided us through there.
I'm not that keen on monkeys. I don't trust them at all. We've had run-ins before with monkeys in Kuala Lumpur and also in Borne and we have learnt the hard way not to take food. Don't know why we even go to these places. Bit of a challenge to emerge without trauma I guess. Anyway Ubud Monkey Forrest can now be ticked off the list.
On the way we looked at the new two storey bungalows being built there. We were told that the Tegal Sari did not own them but were going to manage them. They are not very Balinese in character and have the more the modern minimalist appearance. The configuration is - the top room has a king bed only and has the use of the Tegal Sari pool and the bottom room has two (king single from the looks of the photographs on display at reception) beds and its own pool. Rates, we were advised, were USD$100 for the top room and USD$200 for the bottom. At bit pricier than the Tegal Sari's own rooms.
I also had a peek at Greenfield's bungalows next door and they do have a very similar outlook as has been reported here.
Shopping
We had some photos put on a disc by the Kodak shop near the hotel for RP 25,000 and bought two decorative dishes from a shop along the soccer field for RP 120,000 for the two. In one of the surf shops we bought a pair of denim shorts for my daughter and in another, a pair of for my son. They were incredibly cheap compared to here in Australia. There were some lovely paintings around and, given different circumstances, I'm sure we may have bought a few more things while in Ubud.
Although we weren't up to doing very much we very much enjoyed our stay and, if you have to be unwell while in Bali, the Tegal Sari is not a bad place for the R & R.
Not a very exciting JBR I know but I'll continue with Tuban later nonetheless.