Bit of a delay but finally got around to writing my first JBR after reading and enjoying lots of others of late!
Flew out on the 5:40pm Garuda flight on the 7/4 after a stressful week at work. Good flight although due to the jovial mood of the passengers, the Bintangs ran out a few hours before Bali. Never mind, the trusty Garuda hosties just setup a spirit bar at the back of the plane and were kept busy for the remainder of the flight!! Bless their cotton socks...
Straight through customs for the usual hassle to get a cab. Me and my friend both had surfboards so the 55/60k taxi fare suddenly becomes 150k at the taxi counter...grrrrr. Knowing that we're getting ripped off we reluctantly pay 130k(cheap in Oz anyway) and head to Satriya Cottages for one night. Out for a few beers at Apache bar, noodles at Piggys and to bed earlyish before heading to Lombok the next morning.
Flew Lion Air and all was good until I'm the last one standing at the baggage claim at Lombok where it dawned on me that my luggage had gone somewhere in Indonesia apart from Lombok!! Oh well, I still have my surfboards which is the main thing, everything else can be borrowed or replaced. It eventually turned up a couple of days later which was a massive relief....finally understand why they are so anal with the little luggage stickers they use on internal flights!!
After a long drive across Lombok, finally arrive at Heaven on the Planet, Ekas Bay for 12 days of surfing, relaxing and meeting plenty of interesting people. My third trip here and already can't wait to get back. Great waves, great people and great food.
Then back to Bali to meet up with friends who were staying at The Niche, nice little hotel which will be much better once the reno's finish.....think angle grinders and constant banging all day!! Spent 5 nights here with friends(plenty of fun nights at the bars on Legian St) before having 3 nights at Kuta Puri for a bit of quiet time......would recommend both places, depending what you're after.
Spent plenty of time in the pool bar in Bali but managed to drag myself out to do a few constructive things:
- Quad Bike Riding - Awesome fun!! Was torrential rain the day we did it so there was mud, mud and more mud. The crew running it were excellent and I definitely recommend it if you're keen to have a go.
- Diving - Went up the US wreck at Tulumben(Sp?), was a really nice dive just 50m offshore and could dive without a wetsuit which is a great treat after diving in Perth. Busy though, would‘ve been 50 or so people diving up there, very different to home!!
- Elephant Safari Park Dinner - Is a beautiful place with great staff but I really didn't like it. Seeing all the elephants chained up by the leg and doing menial tricks for snap happy tourists just didn't float my boat. Just felt sad for them knowing they spend most of their lives chained up. Couldn't wait to get out of there...
Plenty of eating and drinking, mainly around Kuta, all the usual spots Kori, Made's, Warung 96, Maccaroni, Alleycats, KTH(great steak despite the bogans fighting near the pool!!) etc.....Some big nights at the Espresso, Apache and Bounty as per normal......Actually learnt my first Balinese words this trip....Sukseme...ie Thankyou. Usually brought a smile from the locals as opposed to speaking English or Bahasa.....give it a try!!
Anyway, another great trip and can't wait to get back up there again, although next time I think I'll be spending more time on the other islands and less time in Bali. While I love Bali and the Balinese, it's getting so busy now and the traffic around Kuta is out of control....
Thanks for reading if you made it this far :)