Just returned from a month in Bali our 30th something trip
First 2 weeks overcast, 3rd week rain and high winds, 4th week fine and sunny.
Au$ ranged from 9500 to 9750
Hotels:
Dream divers Gili T....still good
Blue point Ulluwatu...didnt spend the night here, just a day trip, price has doubled to 240k per person for towels and lunch, still a good day but hotel needs some TLC
Tegal Sari Ubud....still v good
Melia Nusa Dua....so expensive, smelly rooms, moved out after 1 night
Kuta Puri Kuta.......2 nights visiting friends NEVER AGAIN... gardens still nice, but this hotel has lost the plot....big time
Restaurants:
Uns fantastic value
Kori fantastic
Mamas still good
Treehouse....soo cheap and very good food
Ultimo....wow factor and so cheap for what you get
La Lucciola.....bad meal last time....unbelievably good meal this time
Lotus Ubud....good, but not as good as last time
Cafe Wyan Ubud...great ambiance and food
As we have been so many times we don't travel around much as we've been there done that....this time was different as we has Bali newbies with us..........OMG the traffic was incredibly bad. Trip to Ubud took 2+ hours(usually 45 mins)trip to Ulluwatu 1+ hours, we tried to show them some countryside....all they saw on all our excursions were house and shop fronts, thousands of motorbikes and constant traffic jams...they will not return!!
So many new hotels being built,each one will mean another 50 to 200 workers (good for Bali) but more and more f/ing motorbikes...getting around Bali is now a nightmare and will continue to worsen.......we doubt that we will go there again as often(usually 3 times a year)the road system cannot cope now....it will be chaos soon.
New airport still under construction....does not look too impressive, plus 200 metre walk from drop off point to old terminal.
Prices in the last 2 to 3 years have doubled.....if it was not for cheap airfares we probably would not go any more......back to Malaysia and Thailand.
Many young Balinese becoming aggressive as a result of 30 years of tourism
What a pity