Got back in at some disgustingly early hour this morning, so having been awake for 30 odd hours this should be brief!!!
Arriving in Bali... Oh my, the culture shock!!!! It was NOTHING like i had expected. After my first walk down Legian Street i honestly questioned how i would cope with 2 weeks in the place! The smell! The noise! Worse, the footpaths! The cabbies beeping and shop people shouting, cars going everywhere! Were there any road rules? Back to the hotel for me!!!
Kuta Lagoon Resort... We had booked a pool access room, but were 'upgraded' to the normal villa (not the private pool villas sadly!) We were still within about 5 steps from the AWESOME pool and after having checked out the pool access rooms, think the upgrade was worth it. I was concerned before we left that the KLR would not be very good, but was pleasantly suprised! Very clean, friendly staff and well, nothing beats that pool! Its the whole length of the resort,surrounded by frangipani trees etc. It was lovely to swim amongst the fallen flowers! The restaurant was adequate but not great, but we only ate brekky there and ordered the occasional room service sandwich! The pool bar was good too, but the service quite slow!
Highlights of the trip...
Bubba Gumps - Had heard a few bad things on the forum but we LOVED it, massive meals, great service and soooooo many prawns!!! We went twice!!!
Monkey Forest - Aw i love the monkeys!!! Don't take bananas in though, its like waving a red rag at a bull! Monkeys jumping all over you!
Family Compound - We went and visited a compound, it was really interesting to see the different way people live!
Seafood at Jimbaran Bay - Overpriced and Lousy!!! But a beautiful setting, front row on the beach! Shame we felt as if we were being rushed out of there. The band that walked around to serenade customers was great though, they new so many differnt languages!
Temples - Went to the one at Ulawata (???) which had awesome views! The fire dancing there though was dissapointing and they crammed us in like sardines so it was very uncomfortable! We also went to another one which had a buddist temple as well, can't remember where it was though!
Shopping - Dennis the Menice, Tony Lockett, Mel Gibson, Alexander the Great, Charlie from Bali, Eddie Murphy. A lot of fun once i actually got the hang of bargaining! But sometimes it was more effort then i could be bothered with! Sometimes i just wished i could get a straight price without all the mucking around! But a great way to kill time!
Well thats the highlights anyways... i may write another one when my brain returns from Bali to join the rest of me! heheheh!
Thanks for all the advice i got from here before i left as well - it was very helpful once we got there!