Hi Forumites,
Well this is my first JBR. Shaz and Daz reporting in from our first trip to Bali.
Before I go on, I would like to thank the many Forumites for the help provided before our trip. One kind lady from Perth lent us an XL phonecard, and we met a wonderful couple, Greg and Marion (Forumite Harry J) who we met before travelling, who have now become friends for life. This couple have made our holiday so much more than we could have ever expcted. They took us under their wing and showed us the ropes in Bali, and we will be forever grateful.
Greg and Marion sponsor a young family in bali, Jimmy, Lasmimi and baby harry J,(Named after Marions dad!)
BEFORE WE LEFT:
I was doing the usual research before our first overseas vacation and stumbled onto the Forum, through a link on a link, and found the people to be so friendly and helpful. I felt like part of the family straight away and have been recomending it ever since!
I typed in,"Is anyone from Wollongong going over at the same time as us" and got a reply from Harry J, who lives about ten minutes from us. After chating online, we asked them over for coffee, and after around four hours and half a dozen coffees, our heads were spinning with the excitement of our trip.
They talked about their "Bali family" and we offered to take over some clothes, phones and toys for "Jimmy and Lasmini" and were looking forward to meeting them. Being so new to the whole Bali experience, we had no idea how much our suitcase of hand-me-downs would be appreciated. So we packed 5kg of stuff for ourselves and 35kg for Jimmys family.
We were like two big kids waiting for Santa to come on Christmas Eve. Couldn't sleep in anticipation of the unknown!
THE DEPARTURE:
Up at 4.30. Checking over and over that we had evereything. Got to the Airport at 7 and entered the maze of "passports in, passports out, then in, then out)
*note to self: put them somewhere easier next time!
We flew with Garuda who were fantastic, and cracked into the first Bintang at 10.30am. Watching the little plane on the monitor from Sydney to Bali was like waiting for water to boil! I can now say that I have been to NSW, SA, NT, WA and Bali all in the same day! Around 7 hours and many Bintangs later we had a smooth touchdown and were welcomed to Bali with the beautiful aroma of insence and food, and an amazing sunny day.
Through the maze again at Dempasar Airport, and headed to the front door to meet our transfers. If you can all remember your first time walking through those front doors, you will know what I am talking about. Daz and I felt like moviestars as 100 signs waved in our faces, everyone wanting our attention and waiting for us to look at them. All smiling and waving. We are both smokers, so we just walked on past and had our first smoke in ten hours. I don't know how, but our guide found us anyway before we had finished our cigarette. Clever little buggers! Onto the bus and on our way to the motel. Air Conditioned. Phew!
THE MOTEL:
We stayed at the Bakungsari Hotel, and were amazed at how beautiful it was. The staff were very welcoming, the pool was fantastic and the gardens were beautiful. We had heard from many Forumites that the Bakungsari was not a good place to stay, so we were expecting the worst, but were pleasently supprised. Our room was very clean, with two double beds and a beautiful balcony overlooking the pool. The bathroom was a bit so-so but all in all it was very tidy. Air-con, TV and a fridge. We were very happy.
We dumped the bags and headed down to the bar for a Bintang, then deided to hit the streets for the necessities, as we had only bought the basics with us. Out the back lane of the Bakungsari and headed towards the Mattahari. Greg and Marion had kindly lent us 1,000 000 before leaving home, so we were instantly "RICH" and ready to shop till we drop.
OMFG!!!!!HOUNDED!!!!
"Mrs, look in my shop" "you buy,you buy" "cheap" "have look" "you come back tomorrow" "when you coming back" "which Hotel" "where you staying" "how much Mr" "you want massage" "tattoo" "transport" "where you going" people grabbing us and tuggung on my shirt and shaking hands. You can research all you like but nothing can prepare you for the buzz of your first time on the streets. In a matter of 500 meters we were stuck with 2 timeshare sellers and finally made it into the Mattahari. Phew.
We had a good laugh at the prices and totally confused ourselves over the money conversion. Grabbed the things we needed and headed over to pay. Daz handed over the money and the lady took the money and handed him a few notes and 3 lollies! Daz politely pushed the lollies back towards her and said "no thankyou, I don't want any lollies". The sweets were pushed pushed back and forth across the counter a few times, and a few frustrated looks from the shop assistant before we realised that this was our change!!!
We didn't learn about that on the Forum and left the Mattahari feeling like absolute idiots, but in good spirits. Back through the maze of shopkeepers, transport, cats and dogs and back to the safety of the Bakungsari. Thank god! We decided that we should stay at the hotel for dinner as the last two hours had been so daunting, and we would venture out onto the streets tomorrow with the comfort of Greg and Marion, who knew the ropes!
Would someone please bring me another Bintang or Cocktail or something PLEASE!!!!!!
At this stage we decided to throw all the research out the window and just go with the flow. After a beautiful dinner and quite a few more drinks, we decided that we had enough dutch courage to hit the streets again. Daz only had one pair of shorts packed so we headed over towards the "Supernova" to get him some clothes. Got some good deals in a little stall over there, and did the drunken stumble back to the Hotel, where we both slept like babies, ready for a new day tomorrow.
Our first day in Bali was definately an eye opener. We had a ball, and laughed untill our stomachs hurt at this weird little forign town of Kuta, but couldn't wait to get back out into it again the next day for the next adventure.
MORE TO COME,
Shaz and Daz.