Trip no 3 for myself and Mr. Lush. Flew out of Perth on Airasia on the 1.20pm flight which was delayed and finally took off at 2pm. Ist time flying AA and would do so again. Comfy flight with the row to ourselves. Landed 5.50pm and onto the bus to the terminal. First few off the bus and straight to VOA booth and then immigration then the wait for luggage. All up 1/2 hour from landing to sitting in our transfer car on our way to Rama Beach Resort. Check in smooth and we are shown to our Deluxe cottage towards the back of the resort, beautiful renovated room and very clean and quiet. Pouring with rain at this point and the first of many showers this trip.
Met up with our friends at the pool bar and decided on dinner at the resort as it was very heavy rain. Food at RBR is excellent. Tried a few different meals and all very good and of a high standard. Drinks are pricy compared to restaurants and cafes but then I think most resorts are the same. The happy hour is 3-5pm with buy 2 get 1 free.
Breakfast was good with an egg station and pancake station and the usual breakfast fare. The main restaurant was being renovated and only opened up again on our 2nd last day.
Staff at the resort were all exceptional... best we have encountered in any resort.
Got laundry done just up the road (Justice Laundry) and was 30k per kilo for express. No problems with any shrinkage.
Rate was 9650 to 9550 during our 10 days there.
Rather than bore you all with the day by day this is a snapshot of what we did, bought and where we ate...
Shopping-the usual Bintang singlets and T-shirts, some tie dye sundresses and tops, got glasses for both of us at Optik Melawi, runners from Athletes foot, a ring made at Permata Dewata (18ct gold and quite chunky with some diamonds for $460AUD) 4 watches from Bagus ,stacked glass candle holders with wooden base, a couple of cotton long tops/dresses from Widia, a leather Gucci copy bag from My Bag and some other bits and pieces for the house so didnt go mad but had a great time. Very quiet so did get almost every shopkeeper trying to usher us in. A polite smile and no thank you sufficed. The forum was helpful for me to determine what we should pay for things and most shop keepers started very high so the old rule of offer half what they are asking no longer works. Eg they wanted 300k for summer dress which I ended up paying 60k for! The haggling did get tiresome after a bit so we ended up at Dianes fixed price store.
Food- ate at Rama Beach Resort, Queens Tandoor, Hitana, Mozarella by the Sea, Chez Gado Gado, Moo Moo, Ocean 27, Bubba Gumps, Wharf, Boardwalk, TJ's Mexican, Cafe Dulang and a couple of other places. Wharf was soso but all others were great!
Mr.L and 2 others from our group did a photography tour with putu from Balifriend and had the best day. Highly recommend him. We will def book him again. Hired a driver and went up to Kintamani via Batik Factory, Celuk, Mas and stopped at a Plantation where we tried Kopi Luwak. Kintamani was beautiful. Had a buffet lunch which was ok but the view was fantastic. Stopped at Goa Gajah on the way back.. Went to Waterbom park which was brilliant. Hired a cabana and spent most of the morning and early afternoon there. Not too much of a queue for rides. First time there and would def go again. Also did a snorkelling/glass bottom boat and Turtle Island trip which was excellent.
Spas-I had a 4 hour Choco Romance spa package at Green Garden Spa next door for 495k which was great and Mr. L and I had a ½ hour scrub and 1 ½ hour aromatic massage for 434k at Balisari which was just brilliant. I would venture back to Balisari again.
Fight back was AA again and we left at 9am. Again we had the row to ourselves and flight was comfy.
10 days went so fast ..we are back and missing Bali so am on the lookout for cheap fares. We learned a lot this trip and would def pack lighter, organise more day trips with putu, take Vodka and not gin, check out Carrefour, and stay in Legian. Had some great laughs, met some awesome people and spent way too much money but hey you only live once!
Thanks for reading. This is my first JBR and I had so much fun reading others that I thought I would attempt to contribute back to the forum.