Here is a short account of our holiday.
We picked up our boarding passes at the airport and were approached by a journalist from The Age newspaper who interviewed us as to why we were going to Bali. I gave the usual answers eg: I love it there; you have more chance of being hit by a car etc. Air paradise was great. Our plane was pretty much empty only 50 people on the plane. Used VIPVOA which was a waste of time as the person from Kantor Kitas was late and we ended getting through last instead of first. Got through customs no worries and went to the hotel (Camplung Mas). We were given room 30 which was big but not to the standard I expect. The sheets were very grey and the bathroom looked like it hadn't been cleaned for weeks. I was not impressed. This was not going to ruin by holiday so I soldiered on.
Here is a run down of the good the bad and the ugly parts of our holiday:
THE GOOD:
Meeting up with local friends and having some very interesting chats on the state of Bali and the new president.
Meeting up with forumites. It was great to see Bali Glitter Queen (Kelly G), Bob Bali and his family, Bob Melbourne and Hedgehog (David Perth). It was great to meet all of them and we had a great time seeing Kelly and Bob Bali New Years Eve.
The shopping. I had a ball I shopped until I dropped. I don't remember prices so my apologies but we got good bargains in my opinion so that's all that matters I suppose.
The pool. That was the one part of the hotel I did enjoy, I loved the deep pool.
The new bar MBargo. I loved the fact it was air conditioned and the drinks were divine.
Partying at Hulus. Alex had not been before and he really enjoyed it as well. I was starting to worry he was enjoying it too much.
Visiting Bali Tropik resort in Nusa Dua (Benoa). They have a new manager there who we know. He used to manage Candi Beach hotel. We spent the day at the resort and we didn't want to leave it was wonderful.
THE BAD:
The hotel. Where do I start? The staff were mostly all trainees. One morning one of the trainees passed out due to exhaustion. The breakfast was nothing to call home about and the rooms never seemed to be clean. I did get new towels each day but I seriously doubt the sheets were changed once. They lost my laundry for 4 days and then I paid for it however when I checked out they charged me for my laundry again. I have stayed at losmens that have better facilities and service than this.
The lack of tourists. This was a good thing for us but it was kind of depressing as many locals were constantly asking us how full our plane was. The legian end of legian street was like a ghost town after 10.30 at night.
My four day bout of Bali belly was a dampener but luckily it was raining so I didn't miss out on much.
THE UGLY:
Tourists:
I saw many ugly Australian tourists on my holiday. There were groups of blokes being extremely rude to locals. I also watched with horror at our hotel when an Australian father who was very drunk sent his 15 year old son out in a taxi by himself to go and find three prostitutes so they could have some fun. This is just one example of the crude behaviour I saw. I also witnessed a 7 year old boy drinking and smoking whilst his mother was with a kuta cowboy. These events soured my holiday as although I know it does happen I don't want it in my face. Same goes for when I had to see 70 year old men in the pool with barely 18 year olds.
WRAP UP:
All in all we had a wonderful holiday. If there are any questions please ask.