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Posted by balibull on Thursday, 3. September 2009 at 20:41 Bali Time:

Sorry its a bit scattered. Left Perth 24th Aug 4.50am Air Asia , six of us 2 adults and 4 kids aged 11 -15. Staff on plane excellent , we booked back seats and had heaps of empty rows around us , so the kids moved and spread out . Arrived in bali on time , 8.30 am ,the only international flight at that time . Kids havn't been before , told them that someone will be holding a sign with our name on it . Through customs in about 40 mins (would of been quicker but only 2 booths open for the first 20 mins) . No one with our name on a sign . Waited around for a while , one of the taxi liason guys offers to call hotel for me and I talk to them , mix up they thought 8.30pm . No probs its Bali . Had no rupiah , the guys asks for no money , so I give him $5 au . He's rapt . The hotel driver turns up 15 mins later . 'sorry boss ' about 10 times . I 'm not worried were on holidays ,15 mins later we're at Matahari Bungalows , we hadn't arranged early bookin , we leave all our gear in the foyer and get changed in the bathroms , off we all go . My 11 yr old boy is crappin as we're hassled walking down Legian jl . Found a quiet little hotel restaurant Mastapa garden . Great lunch and bintangs . Did a bit of shopping , couldn't believe how cheap things were . Before we knew it our rooms were ready . Rooms were great for a low budget hotel , although the bathrooms are not too flash . If you like good quality hotels this is not for you , our kids are a little fussy but they loved it . The pool , with a sunken bar was great . Large bintangs 30,000 . The food at the hotel was on par with most average restaurants. We had dinner at the hotel first night , one of the kids had fish and chips , you guessed it whole fish eyes and all ( she's very fussy), she didn't eat it . Had about 20 bintangs first day (mrs Bull not too impressed ) . Second day I had another 20 (Mrs Bull gave me a talkin to)
Over the journey we ate at Indo-Nat , first meal was great , the second average . Billys : garlic prawns were very poor , the service was good . Nasi Bali next to kopi pot was a very good meal . Kids favourite would have been Maccas (with 6 of us hard to get 6 good meals at any 1 place). Went to Gumps , the theme was very good , the service great and the food good . The price compared to perth cheap , for Bali about double most indo restaurants, the 6 of us about 1,000,000 rup .
We had planned to do Bali Bike , Waterbom and a day or 2 of general tours . We ended up doing the bike , Waterbom (used 1 day of 2 day pass) , white water rafting , Safari park ( was lucky enough to bump into Jimmy at his dvd shop , he can tour you through the park with pickup from hotel , negotiate a price too) and 1 day of Ubud , Barong dance (overpriced now 80, 000 ea ) and Tanor lot.
I haven't been to Bali for 12 yrs and cant believe the change . The rice fields are gone in the southern areas . The amount of buildings and accom just amazed me .
Money : the kids had their own spending money , so did the Mrs ( we both been in a few relationships ,so we have our own , suits us) I paid for all activities and meals , even doing the extra activities I still only spent 2/3 of the budjet . The Mrs came back with half of hers , as did the older 2 kids . I had allowed for $120 a day on food and didn't spend that even including grog .
For the traditional Bali stuff go to the supermarkets the the locals use , there are a few on Sunset rd , you can the get an idea on prices . We went to Sukawati markets , prices were extremely cheap (as long as you bargain hard ) , as a lot of the stuff you see in Kuta area comes from there . I bought 4 canvas prints at half the Kuta price ( medium size 34aud for 4)
Went to Sita a couple of times , we spent about 200aud and got a truck load .
Basicly we found everything cheap , chatting to people around the place and you can pay too much for transport ,activities and tours if you don't bargain . I'm a tight bum , but the Mrs doesn't bargain as hard as me , we had a few discussions over it when I wouldn't buy something because it was $1 more than I was willing to pay . She soon came around when she saw how much we were saving compared to other people at our hotel . The shops were definitely dearer some afternoons . My son bought heaps of soccer shirts for 40,000 but many places wouldn't go under 50000 . I paid 40000 for my fake billabongs etc , you could get em for 35000 but the guy I was buying them from had my size and colors . The quality can vary too .
For all the activities you can really baragain , for the Safari park we asked 3 different MBA booths and got 3 different prices , the cheapest being 300000 each pick up from Tuban on a bus . We went through Jimmy pick up from our hotel , with no rush and a full guided tour by him . He was the best
guide I have used . He can get you anything you need . I had some stickers done for my business from someone else at a good price , afterwards I found out jimmy can get them done at 1/3 the price and better quality .
Rafting was great , we booked through MBA . Bali international rafting , not many steps either . Bike , I booked through wayan direct , its a long day with the ride being great fun for all 6 of us . Had a chat to Wayan , he is concerned and upset about the rumours that he is not the owner . All I can say is that we used his company and all seemed legit . I havn't used others but would recommend his .
We had two great meals at Bali bakery .
Did I mention I drank a S&*T load of bintang . Payed the room bill on the last day and the mrs goes that wasn't too bad about $120 au . She didn't know that I paid for my bintangs in the pool bar every second day with cash ! Also restaurant at front of Matahari bungalows give guests 24hr happy hr . Bintangs lge 16000 , spirits 30000 .
Flight home great and early . We were 50kg under our 150kg limit . No probs with heaps of carry on and they don't weigh it . We were last out at Perth as we declared everything , still out in 40 mins .


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