It all must end and as I sit in the Dewa lounge waiting for the boarding call I reflect on our hectic time here -
After a cramped boring flight the four of us (2 newbies and 2 of us who have been a few times) arrived in Bali at 9pm 23rd Nov. After getting a VOA (new for me as I haven't been back for awhile) we line up at immigration but are pulled out of line and led off to the side to 3 immigration counters to the far right and get straight through customs as well. Outside our driver is waiting for us and we quickly get on the road 15 minutes after leaving the plane. Our driver and his wife get us to coco villas seminyak in such good time I was actually lost when we arrived and only 60000rp. Booked in and took off to get some night life and bintangs. Walked straight down the road to Double 6 and after getting through the 'hey boss cocaine, ecstasy, pseudo ephedrine, marijuana, jiggy jig lady, happy ending', all the way to the door we found that it was dead (about 11pm). Was raining so we jumped in a bluebird to the sky garden near the memorial for the live band which was great. Stayed til 2am and bluebird back.
1st day spent at Kuta Square area, breakfast at Ramayana lunch at melasti sports bar, sunset bintangs with astro on the beach and dinner at poppies before heading to the apache bar then sky bar for the band. Get back at some un-godly hour and crash.
2nd day we move to the Grand Istana Rama and hire scooters from Mades shop (Great Lady), next to Blokes World Hidden Garden Bar, for 30 000rp a day with free surf racks if we want them. We head of to Nusa Dua for a day out and get to the intersection at Jl Siligita and the boys in the monkey box nab us and shake us down for a bribe. After bartering it down to 150000rp we get a police escort to the beach for our fee. We hire some cabanas and get a massage and have a swim. We then head off to Ulu for a swim and eat at the warung on the cliff, Nasi goreng and a big fruit platter with fruit slushies. Big Storm on the horizon so we head back to Legian via jimbaran and the rain hits as we are refuelling at one of those mum and dad fuel stops with the 1 litre vodka bottles (Just love them) 5000rp a bottle 57 cents AUD. At the Jl Raya intersection the 2 newbies get nabbed by another monkey box boy and he wants 1million rp. As we are all Fire fighters at home the newbies pull out their ID's /badges and immediately the apologies start and we are all on our way again. This never happens again funny enough. We finish off the day in the pool at the bar and head out to eat at Warung 96 and then Jl Legian until 3am. Schoolies everywhere like locust devouring a crop but they seem to avoid the Sky bar which we are making into our second home.
3rd day we get up late and go get breaky (the best i've had on this side of the island) at the hotel restaurant and then get massages on the beach 4 x 80000rp and back for a lazy day at the pool bar.
We head out about 8pm for Tubes in Poppies 2 to eat and the Binnies are cheap so we stay until they boot us out. We go into Bounty for a look and up the top it is a mad house with schoolies trying to collapse the building by dancing. A few drinks and off to M bar go but its dead so back to the Sky bar.
4th day we are also a bit dusty after getting back at dawn and get up with 15min to go for breaky and after a swim we check out and our driver (Nyoman) picks us up and we head to Ubud (to show the newbies (who have not skipped a beat and look like seasoned visitors) a different scene to the Kuta strip. After stopping at a few villages to shop we arrive at the Champlung Sari Hotel across from the Monkey Forrest. Organise the itinerary with Nyoman for the next few days and pay him 350000rp for a half day. The hotel is being renovated but the work being done is quiet and the place is still nice. After the monkey forrest and the markets (board shorts and bintang singlet for 40000rp) we have a few beers in the pool at the hotel and then off to the Bebek Bengil (Dirty Duck) for dinner.
5th day off to Lovina stopping at the lake Bretan and Git Git twin falls before a late lunch at Adirama hotel. After lunch we head to the Melka for a swim with the dolphins but when we get there they want 80000rp just to walk in and when we see the dolphin pool size we boycott the place even though it was only 600000rp each for an hour. Please correct me if i'm wrong about the dolphins welfare. Boys make a snap decision to head back to Legian and we stop at the Royal Palace in Mengwi on the way back. Nyoman was booking White water rafting for us the next day when I realise that I left my Apple MacBook on the reception desk at Ubud. A quick call by Nyoman to the Hotel and he organises to pick it up for me the next day. (Don't worry I will look after it for you Grant.) Relieved we head back to Kuta and after a long wait check in at the Aston which is the one and only time I will stay their again. Rooms are nice but everything else was a let down. Breakfast was hideous and cold.
6th day we meet Nyoman at 9.30am and we head off to Rafting stopping at the Denpasar Fire Station to say g'day to the boys and compare gear. We really enjoyed rafting although they had small rapids and a rubbish lunch we had 10km and 2 ½ hours of fun. Waiting at the end was Nyoman with a fatherly look and my laptop. Away we go to Tanah Lot. Been there done that is all i'll say about Tanah Lot. Back to Kuta via the Corby compound (the newbies wanted a look) and we had to go past anyway. Paid Nyoman in AUD $120 for his time as he did a couple of big days and the laptop thing not to mention the Phil Collins Karaoke in the car. Check in at the Ramayana Hotel and chill at the pool for a few bintangs. Then the unthinkable, we eat KFC for dinner. One of our guys has bali belly and opts to stay in for the night as he doesn't think he'd get to the road without soiling himself. Bet it was the rafting lunch (dodgy, dodgy.) I give him some Buscopan for the cramps, get him some big bottles of water , laugh really hard at his misfortune and the rest of us head out into the throng of it.
7th day and the sun is coming up as we are asked to leave where ever we were and we stagger down poppies lane into Jl Kuta and go to Mc D's to get some bottled water and fall into the pool and wait for the breaky buffet to start. After fueling up we get changed and head out shopping. We have lunch at the Melasti Sports Bar again and then get some cans of pocari sweat for our mate with the squirts. We spend the afternoon in the two pools at the hotel chatting with the other guests. Then out to dinner at the banana tree warung? In poppies 2 and stop at choppers (lane to poppies 1) for small icy bintangs at 11000rp. Walking down the lane we get talking to a melbourne dad of some schoolie girls and he tells us the story about his little girl being slipped a tranquilliser in her first drink at a well known club and she could barely breathe, move, talk and so on and so on. "Where is she now?" we ask, 'Oh she went out to the club with her friends.' 'righto!' We head back to the Sky Bar and it feels like the CHEERS bar we've been that much and start rockin' to the band. (Bands are so much more professional since I was last in Bali.) We can't sustain the hectic thrashing of our livers so at 2am we head out to here the ever present night call of "Transport Boss?" "Yes 10000rp each", and we gamble with our lives on the back of a few local lads mopeds as we disappear into the night down the back lanes of Kuta.
More later if you care to read.