Hi everyone! I just returned home from the Island of the God's on Thursday.
My best friend and I, Cham, left Perth for a much needed break from normal life, kids, and the husbands! We flew Garuda ( which I swore I would never do again 10 years ago), we had one of the new 737-800's, and found the seats quite small, and squashy. All, and all though, the service was friendly, and we arrived in one peice, although we did have a lot of bumps along the way.
Headed straight for the VOA. We were in and out in less than 10 mins! Very fast, we were out the front of the airport looking for our pick-up in less than 20 mins!
We stayed at the Kuta Paradsio, and I had emailed them a few days before requesting a driver collect us. They offer a free shuttle service to the airport. We also requested twin beds in our room. Well, after standing around for about 15mins, we got the info lady to call for the hotel driver. Well, they didn't show. So we went down to the taxi service booth to check the price to Tuban, which was 45'000rp. Thats gone up since our last trip! There was a long cue waiting for a taxi, so we decided to get one of the 'other' drivers. After haggling him down from 100'000rp, and informing him it was not our first trip to Bali, we followed him to his car. Now I find this stupid. According to the driver, 'unoffical' taxis are not allowed to pick up passengers from outside the airport, so me with my dickie leg, had to drag my huge suitcase and bags accross a busy road, up several very high curbs, and follow him for what seemed like miles to his car. His little old Corolla, could only fit one suitcase it the boot, so we had the other one squished in the front seat!
Anyhoo, we pulled up at the hotel five minutes later, paid him 50'000rp, and was greeted by the lovely staff.
The hotel is impressive for the price in Bali. I would say its a mid range priced hotel ( about $50pp a night for a standard room, and $66pp a night for the Super Deluxe Poolview like we had). The lobby is very grand, with marble floors, and a large tower were the lift is. There is also a Garuda office in the lobby. They also have a nurse there each day, and a doctor on call.
After we checked in, the nice man kept appologising that our room didn't have twin beds only one King bed. Oh well, a row of pillows as a 'no go zone' easily fixed that.
The room was very nice, big and clean.
The next day, we donned our summer clothes, and headed out for a wonder. We walked back up to the Kodak money changer near the Dynasty that I used last trip. Still there, and giving a not bad rate, and they are very honest. We were getting about 8200rp at the beginning of the trip. Jumped in a Blue Bird Taxi, and Headed for Carrefour. I quite like this place. Multi-levelled with travellators (yay) so it was easy for me to get around. We saw Laine Beachly doing her shopping. Carrefour for those who have not been there, is like Kmart-Coles. Great for picking up supplies of drinks and food. They sell alcohol too for those wanting it. I stocked up on Biokos skin care stuff, I got one of each in the range, and two each for my teenage girls and the lots came to about $25! They have a great fresh food section too. There is a shop you can buy a local SIM card in the shopping centre, I bought an XL card for 25'000rp. The only thing I found annoying about using a local SIM, was having to buy credit. They only seem to have small amounts (10'000 - 25'000rp) so I had to buy heaps of cards, and they are not always easy to find.
That night we did some shopping around Kuta, then went to Bubba Gump Shrimp for dinner. I love this place, the biggest cocktails ever! Enteraining staff, and great food. A little expensive on Bali standards, but heaps cheaper than home. Try 'I'm Stuffed Shrimp' it's heavenly! Big prawns stuffed with yummy crab cakes, then drissled in garlic butter, and cheese. Thier desserts looked good, but thier portions were so big, we never got to eat one!
Part 2 coming soon!