In Reply to: Heading back to Bali posted by Tatiana on Friday, 13. January 2012 at 09:51 Bali Time:
S and S bar is still on the beach in front of the surf patrol area and Sammi and Suzi and regulars like Smudge are still there. The trees and the chipmonks have gone, but it is still a pleasant place to watch the sun go down. The Indo National has received many mixed reviews and to be honest I have not been there since K and M were reported to have sold some or all of their shares.
Treat this next comment with the distain it no doubt deserves, but I found the two places you have mentioned something of a home away from home for Australians and wondered a little as to why people would travel so far to basically drink and eat with their neighbours.
My family and more latterly just my wife and I have been visiting Bali for 15 years and our preference has been to go to the less tourist-dominated places.
The problem can be that the nicest of the places can change quite dramatically when they become popular. Ubud has lost its appeal with the rows of tour buses and people being herded "sheep like" through the market and the galleries.
So I'm not going to tell you what a fabulous place Amed is!
And setting aside the rather grizzly tone of what I have just written, Puri Raja hold a special place in my heart, but I must say it is almost impossible to describe to my mates back home what it is like to have nasi goreng with sludgby Bali Kopi for breakfast while gazing at the beach and wondering whether I will do absolutely nothing, or maybe very, very little that day except read a book, laze in the shade by the pool and drink a couple of Bintangs before finding a seaside restaurant to have fresh fish for tea.
Buga. I'm at work and Bali 2012 is eight months away.
Enjoy.