JBR - FIRST FAMILY HOLIDAY TO BALI - SEPTEMBER 9-16TH 2005
PART ONE
INTRO: This was my first trip to Bali and I traveled with my husband (Maher) and two sons, aged 4 (Ramsey) and 7 (Tarek). We booked our trip 3 or 4 months ago through the Flight Centre (I looked at a few travel agents and also compared prices with booking over the net - both packages and flights/accommodation separately) Found Flight Centre's package deal (through Creative Holidays) the cheapest for what we wanted. I did lots of research on the net and found this forum, in particular, to be extremely helpful in terms of deciding on our accommodation and planning all aspects of our holiday. I became addicted to the Bali Travel Forum and spent hours reading everyone's JBR's and finding out everything I could about Bali! I put together a book of info before we left with maps, exchange rate tables, price guides, places to visit, restaurants, shops, spas etc. etc. This saved us heaps of time and stress and helped us maximize our time in Bali. So a BIG thank-you to everyone who directly - and indirectly - answered my numerous questions and shared their experiences of traveling to Bali on this forum.
ACCOMODATION: Nusa Dua Beach Hotel & Spa. I spent a lot of time researching hotels and villas in Bali. It was a tough decision but I eventually decided on the NDBH because of the many glowing reviews I read about this hotel, it's location (we wanted somewhere quiet and peaceful) and it's good facilities for children. I also found it to be cheaper than most of the other hotels in Nusa Dua.
We had a Family Room (Superior Room) for 4, which consisted of 2 rooms with an interconnecting door. There was a King bed in the main bedroom and twin beds in the 2nd bedroom. It had 2 bathrooms (1 with a bath). We requested a ground floor room, close to the pool which we got. The rooms were spacious, clean and comfortable, but certainly not ‘luxurious'. If you want absolute 5* luxury it would be better to get one of the Palace Club rooms or suites. We had a look at these before we left and they are wonderful plus you get all the club benefits such as free coffee, drinks/nibbles in the evening etc.
Overall, we were very impressed with the NDBH. The entrance and grounds are beautiful and well maintained. Lovely gardens, pools, statues and water features. The staff are wonderful - very friendly and helpful. Buffet breakfast is included at the Wedang Jaye restaurant. This is a lovely setting overlooking a large pond and gardens. There is a good choice of food and eggs are prepared fresh anyway you like them. Bottled water is provided free of charge in your room. We requested more water and this was no problem. There is a fully stocked mini-bar in the rooms (although we just emptied the fridge and filled with our own drinks bought much cheaper from the supermarket) Tea and coffee making facilities are provided but no fresh milk. The rooms also have Australian power outlets in the bedroom and bathroom so you don't need to bring an adapter!
FLIGHTS: We traveled with Air Paradise and were very impressed with their service. The flight over was great. We left Perth promptly at 10.00am. The children were served their meals first and all meals were good. After lunch we were served Drumstick ice-creams and then Tim Tam chocolate bars and/or potato chips. They also hand around mints and lollies to before landing. The movie on the way over was 'The Longest Yard' and on the way back was 'Mr & Mrs Smith' (not that I could watch either with 2 excited kids bouncing around the whole flight!).
ARRIVAL: We arrived in Bali at 1.20pm and got off the plane onto the bus. It was a very pleasant 30 degrees so we weren't overcome with the heat when we got off the plane. We arrived at the airport, went in and paid our VOA - very quick and easy, no long queues. We paid in US$ since we happened to have a US$100 note. The airport was very relaxed and pleasant - musicians were playing and everyone was smiling! We picked up our luggage and the porters were not a problem at all. I was expecting to be bombarded with people grabbing our luggage! We went through the ‘not to declare' line. They had a quick look at our duty free and alcohol (we took in 2 bottles of wine and a 500ml bottle of Midori = exactly 2L between hubby and I) and then we were out. So quick, easy and stress-free! We took over medicines (prescription and padadol, immodium, antihistamine) as well as several bottles of different vitamins in our hand luggage and these were not questioned at all. Out we went and met our driver, Komang Bajing (he was recommended to me by Heather on this forum and I read many other good reports about him here too). I instantly recognized his smiling face from the photo Heather had sent me. He led us out into the carport to his car and then we were off on our drive to the hotel. We were very happy with Komang but a bit disappointed with his car which was not air conditioned and not in the best condition. He did apologise for his car, though, and promised to use a better one on our planned day trips, so that was fine.
DAY 1: It was wonderful to see kids faces as we drove through Bali for the first time. They were looking in wonder at all the new sights before them - families whizzing by on motorbikes - up to 4 on one bike; women walking by, balancing big boxes on their heads; little stalls filled with stuff to buy... Ramsey was waving and calling out greetings to people driving past. Of course everyone was waving and smiling back. We immediately felt relaxed, happy and safe in this beautiful island. On the way to the hotel, we asked Komang to stop at the Tragia supermarket to exchange money but Maher wasn't happy with the rate so we went to the Kodak money exchange in Tanjung Benoa where he negotiated a better rate (Rp. 7,800). All our luggage was piled into the middle of the 4WD and when we opened the door to get out, our alcohol bag fell out and the bottle of Midori smashed :o( At least the wine survived!
After changing our money we then drove to the hotel, checked in and settled into our room. There was a problem with the air conditioner which was promptly attended to and fixed after we reported it. We unpacked and changed into to bathers and headed to the pool. We walked around the grounds abit and had a look at the beach - all beautiful! Went to Chess Bar which is between the main pool and beach area for our complimentary drinks. Maher had a Bintang and the boys and I had frozen Mango juices. After our drinks we had a nice swim in the pool and I went up to the swim up bar for my first cocktail - a Pina Colada in a fresh coconut shell. I must say I was disappointed with the drink as I love my Pina Coladas and this wasn't the best one I've had. Tried lots of other cocktails over the course of our stay though and they were all excellent!
Later that afternoon we met H elgie who came right on time with our pre-ordered list of DVD's, PS2 console and games. We were very impressed with H elgie and highly recommend him to others. He is very polite, honest and friendly. He came out to our hotel 2 more times during our stay to deliver more games/DVD's that he did not have initially and to exchange a few that were not working properly. We bought around 60 DVD's (buy 10, get 3 free) for Rp. 1,000 each). We also bought a PS2 from H elgie which included the console (already chipped), 2 controllers, a memory card and 10 games of our choice. This package cost us Rp. 2, 350, 000. It is working fine and plays all DVD's and games.
For dinner that night we went to a restaurant called Mentari Ming Garden in Jl. Pantai Mengiat, Bualu Villiage, Nusa Dua (ph. 0361 772. 125). Maher had met some people at the pool who recommended it to him and gave him a 20% discount voucher for us to use. They provide free transport to and from your hotel. Very nice restaurant - great service, food and ambience. We got free welcome drinks when we arrived (arak and juice; just juice for the kids!) Our bill came to Rp. 180, 450 for the 4 of us including a large Bintang for Maher and a couple of cocktails for me. Cheap!!!
When we got back to the hotel there were several stalls set up in the grounds selling crafts, jewellery etc. Tarek bought a bead/shell necklace for Rp. 10,000. His first Bali purchase!