Wife and I just got home last week after spending 3 weeks in Bali. We stayed for the third time at Sari Beach Inn Legian. We love the place because it is small (24 rooms), has a lovely garden and nice pool and is on the beach. Breakfast is adequate (as long as you like eggs!) and staff are very friendly. Guests are a mix of Aussies, Kiwis, German and French.
We flew with Garuda and both flights were comfortable and uneventful.
We ate at the usual places plus we tried some smaller warungs such as Warung Morah down towards the beach end of Double 6. It is buffet-style in that you point to your choice of dish and they place it on your plate and then it is totalled and you are given a ticket with a Rupiah value on it. At the end you take your tickets to the register and pay. We had meals costing between IDR 25,000 to IDR 35,000 including a drink. It was really nice food and great value.
Also ate at Warung Yogya in Jalan W(?) near the corner of Jalan Legian.
One day we hired one of the outriggers that take the surfers out to Kuta Reef around the airport and he took us to Padang Padang Beach. Fantastic 1 ¼ hour boat ride and the beach was lovely. Went past the main group of boats past Discovery. Paid IDR 250,000. Padang has warungs with fine food and beach umbrellas to hire but no sun lounges. Organised transport back to Legian with one of the Warung operators. A great day.
We did the usual shopping stuff, enjoyed the wonderful Balinese and their beautiful weather.
I also had four teeth implants done with crowns. I have worn a partial denture for 45 years and had the implants done 1 day and the next day had the crowns cemented on. I am delighted with the result. Dr Guizot said ‘I guarantee no pain and no blood' and he was right. He has been doing implants since 1984 and really inspired confidence in his ability along with a calm manner. He is located at 911 Dental in Denpasar. We made appointments but not necessary. The surgery was as clean as any I have been to in Melbourne. He is even able to do panoramic x-rays in the surgery and have the results on his computer screen immediately. (rather than going off to a radiologist and returning with the x-rays as happened in Melb).
It costs AUD$1200 per implant and $350 per crown. All up it cost me $6000 having had a quote for $25,000 in Melbourne a year ago for the same work. I highly recommend Dr Guizot if you are contemplating implants and/or crowns. My wife had a filling done without anaesthetic, for the first time in her life.
I also had cause to attend BIMC and was highly impressed with the facility and quality of service.
We were very pleased to see so many tourists in Bali, with all of the shops open and trading again after many bad years. It's nearly like the pre-bombing days.
We have been many times and my wife always asks locals to take her around on the back of their motor bikes. Well, scaredy-cat me joined in this time and it is fun and very safe as they know what they are doing (surprisingly) and they travel quiet slowly.
The ONLY negative of our trip was observing a number of my countrymen and women behaving badly, both in their general demeanour and the way they were interacting with the locals. It was disappointing and I do realise they are a minority.