What is it about Bali these days? You mention that you're going & others seem to cringe or say how ‘brave' - or how ‘strange' you are.
My husband & 2 teenage boys have been a ‘thousand' times before & just love the place - as so many other of you BTF readers do! When the discount Pacific Blue (Virgin) flights were released in Sept. we snapped them up for the New Year period, departing Dec 28 & leaving (boo hoo!) on Jan 11. This time round we invited my girlfriend & her family who decided just she & her daughter who would turn 16 whilst we're away, would go with us. It made for an interesting holiday... there is never a dull moment with my girlfriend!!
FLIGHTS:
A quick & comfortable flight with Pacific Blue...
My girlfriend & I reasoned that in view of the apparent alcohol shortage in Bali (this was before we even arrived - & a definite worry!!) we would order a champers each on the flight - which I promptly spilt over the crutch of my trousers. We laughed so much I was nearly crying. (I wasn't sure the laughter resulted from what had happened or the possible thought of having to walk the aisle to the WC to try to dry what were now soaking trousers!) Suddenly, a serviette was quietly passed to us from between our seats from the passenger behind us. Then, another serviette was passed from the seat on the other side of me - this just made us laugh harder. Thankfully, the trousers dried quickly & I was saved any further embarrassment. It was an amusing start to our holiday!
Worthy of note was the fact that our hand luggage was weighed just after entering the doors to Immigration & prior to departure at Perth airport. We have never experienced this before. (Fortunately hand luggage was well within limits).
ARRIVAL:
For the first time, we experienced the long wait at Immigration that others so often complain of. It was a hot & tedious wait. This was highlighted by the fact that my girlfriend's daughter, whilst standing in line, had to sit on the floor toward the end to avoid fainting. We fanned her rapidly, along with the help of fellow bystanders, & the colour seemed to return to her face. (Another crisis avoided!)
In view of the reported 'alcohol shortage', I confess I packed a cask of wine & 2 bottles of champagne. (This sounds as though I'm an avid alcohol consumer, which I am not. It was to be my husband & my Wedding Anniversary whilst we were away & also New Years Eve - hence the x2 bottles of champagne. The cask was purely as a precautionary dinner companion whilst we 3 adults dined out, should we not be able to purchase wine). The guilty bag was marked with white crosses, as I had expected after reading prior information on the BTF. With the speed of lightning & a certain amount of nervousness, I removed the crosses with a moist hand-wipe. I could not believe how easy it was to commit a crime & get away with it!
AIRPORT TRANSFER:
As pre-arranged, our driver greeted us at the airport to transport our party of 6 with already too much luggage, to Ubud.
As always, it was a wonderful feeling arriving back in Bali. We were full of enthusiasm for our adventure ahead.
UBUD
ACCOMMODATION:
We stayed at the Saren Indah Hotel since our first choice of the gorgeous Tegal Sari did not have rooms available for our period of stay. The Saren Indah was well recommended on TripAdvisor but I must admit was just not my cup of tea. It is absolutely soooo clean, has beautiful gardens, attentive staff & is in an OK position close to Monkey Forest Road (where we could take a short-cut to via the Monkey Forest - with the knowledge that rabies was apparently running riot!) but the downstairs rooms we stayed in were not well lit or private enough for my liking. I also thought the room interiors could do with a bit of a revamp. (Obviously it suits others just fine as they have raved about the place - personal preference, I guess).
FOOD:
Ubud, as many would be aware is a ‘foodies' delight. We ate at numerous restaurants. Two that come to mind that were exceptionally well priced with delish food were Dian's & Sagittarius. Both are situated on Monkey Forest Road.
As previously reported in the Australian media & on the BTF, there definitely seemed to be a shortage of wine available in restaurants. The cask certainly came in handy!
SHOPPING:
Travelling with a 16 year old female ‘shopaholic' was a constant form of entertainment. She was in 7th heaven at the Markets & bought all the usual market goodies - bags, sunglasses, sparkly sandals, watch, bangles, tops, dresses....
In contrast, our main aim was to rest & relax in Ubud. This wasn't hard for my teenage boys to do: they happily watched dvds, read books or played in the pool.
Teggalong though was only a short distance away & a ‘pull' for my girlfriend & I. We were on a mission to find a beautiful, large, ornate mirror for her daughter's bedroom. I arranged a driver to drop us off mid way along the street with kilometres of assorted shops. It was a memorable walk along this strip where we purchased various homewares including the mirror of her dreams.
Once we had purchased the mirror, there was nothing to do but return to the hotel. It was a laugh trying to cumbersomely carry it between us. We were stranded though as it was New Years Eve, lots of stores seemed to be closing early & there were none of the usual ‘drivers' about. Fortunately a VERY old & dilapidated mini-bus type vehicle appeared out of nowhere & offered a lift. It was like a mirage! We negotiated briefly with the smoking, tooth-deprived driver & were on our way - hanging on for grim death, as there were no doors on this vehicle.
PAMPERING:
Massages at the Zen Spa were fabulous, as always.
A complimentary massage at the Saren Indah was enjoyed by my boys & my girlfriend, but all complained of sore necks in the days afterwards.
SAFARI PARK:
I didn't really expect this to be my thing but it was voted that we would go & see what it was like. My teenage boys were only vaguely interested. We had heard the hype regarding the white cub being drugged. It certainly seemed that way, but on asking 2 of the workers there, they each stated it was not. We chose not to have photo's taken with it as I cannot support the possibility of it being drugged for entertainment/tourist purposes.
The park was absolutely packed with Javanese.
My favourite animal was the elephant. We fed them (purchased food on the spot for that purpose) where they were ridden out by their trainer & bathed. We were able to pat them & took lots of photos.
The Elephant Show located at a different position in the park, was entertaining even though the commentary was over a VERY loud speaker & completely in Indo. (Incredibly, my husband videoed the entire show! Annoyingly, the tape was full when I tried to film my boys surfing at Blue Ocean Beach later in our stay).
The highlight of the Safari Park for us all was the Safari trip where we were able to see a vast variety of animals from the bus that travels along a repetitive route. The restaurant noted on the Safari trip looked to have a fabulous outlook, as did the cabins that you can stay over in. Now that we've seen it, we agree we would not go again.
Of interest was the fact that the line up to the Safari trip was outrageously long & very deep. The Javanese were out in force during this particular period, as is usual at this time of year. We stood patiently in line but after some time, were ushered to the very front of the packed queue by the Balinese workers there. I am unsure why but thought perhaps the Javanese received discounted tickets of some sort, which perhaps gave us priority. Regardless, it was a godsend to not have to wait as long as we had initially anticipated.
NEW YEAR:
No excessive excitement here - we spent it quietly (even with our bottle of champagne!)
Another sumptuous meal in Ubud was enjoyed, along with the ‘smuggled' Champers. We then enjoyed duty free Baileys on the verandah of our accom. overlooking the lush gardens.
My husband, videoed the frog that night, who ‘sang' very loudly most nights. We have a close up of the frog sitting on a rock, his throat pulsing in the dimness of the night - the footage goes on & on... (Again, a reason perhaps why there was no tape left, hence I could not film my children surfing at Blue Ocean Beach later in our stay).
The teenagers watched dvds via the playstation we brought with us.
It was a simple but relaxing night.
Legian next...
PS. If you ever want to see an entire Elephant Show complete with LOUD Indonesian dialogue or extensive close-up frog footage, just ask!!