JBR - PART THREE
BALI BELLY PREVENTION: We all took acidophilus tablets 1 month before and during our trip and also drank Yakult. We didn't bother with the raspberry cordial in the end. We drank bottled water and used bottled water to clean our teeth. Also used Aqium gel regularly to clean our hands. None of us got Bali Belly or a bad case of the ‘runs' thank goodness!! I carried a roll of toilet paper and wet wipes in my backpack at all times just in case.
DAY 3: Today we had our full day tour to the Taro Elephant Park and Ubud. Komang picked us up at 9.00am and we went straight to the elephant park, driving through Tegallalang on the way. Wish we had stopped to do some shopping - planned to on the way back but of course time got away from us and we never did! Saw shop after shop of gorgeous art and crafts - beautiful mosaic bowls and mirrors, kites, wind chimes, wood carving, drums and musical instruments etc etc. Even saw lots of ‘Aboriginal' art and didgeridoos, ‘Native American' art and ‘African' art. Hell, you don't need to waste time and money traveling the globe, you can buy all cultural artifacts of the world in Bali! ;o)
We were all very excited about riding the elephants. It cost us US $135 for the family which is not cheap, but worth it for a one-off experience! The park if very nicely set out and well maintained. We were escorted through the entrance past the big skeleton display and museum. Our guide pointed out the toilets and suggested we might like to go before the ride - very nice and clean they were too. Walked past some lovely gardens and pond with koi fish and water lilies and then on to meet and feed some elephants. We had a coffee and drinks at the restaurants wile waiting for the show to start. The show is only about 20 mins long and the elephants do a few tricks, play basketball, soccer and do a painting. After the show we went for a 35 minute safari ride through the ‘jungle'. Tarek and I went on one elephant and Maher and Ramsey on another. You sit up on seats that are mounted onto the elephants back and the ‘driver' sits up front. Tarek was in hysterics when one the elephants in our group stopped to do a huge wee and then some great boulders of poo!!!! We had a very fun ride, singing and chatting with our ‘drivers'. At the end of the ride you get taken through the water (don't worry you won't get wet!)
After the elephant park we asked Komang to take us to Indus restaurant (Jln. Raya Sanggingan, Ubud) for lunch. http://casalunabali.com This was my favourite dining experience of our trip. Indus is a really beautiful restaurant with a stunning view, nice décor and ambience, superb food and great service. Their prices are also very reasonable considering the quality. None of us were hugely hungry due to our big breakfast so Maher and I shared an Indonesian Tapas plate, which had lots of very yummy nibbles and dipping sauces. The boys shared a pizza. We moved over to the day bed sitting area for dessert (just had to try their yummy desserts!) I had the Lime Tart, Maher and Ramsey shared the Banana Crepes with Coconut and Palm Sugar Syrup and Tarek had the Chocolate Brownie Block. All heavenly!!!! Total bill including a glass of Aussie wine, large Bintang, lemonade, mango juice and café latte came to Rp. 278.300 (AU $35.00).
After our very pleasant and leisurely lunch we went to do some shopping at the Ubud markets. The markets are great and there is an incredible array of things to look at and buy. I was still not feeling that comfortable with having to bargain for everything - probably would have bought more if I could have just gone in and had a good look at things without feeling pressured to buy and start negotiating prices as soon as I walked near a stall! Anyway, we ended up buying 2 very big boat kites which we had seen on the beach the day before (Rp. 120,000; AU$15.00 for the 2). We walked off and the lady called after us because Maher had left our video camera bag behind. We were very grateful! We also bought 50 vanilla beans for Rp. 40,000 (AU $5.00) which is a real bargain because I bought some from the supermarket in Perth shortly before we left and they cost me around $7.00 for a pack of 3!!! There was a lady selling the vanilla beans in the central courtyard area of the markets - you can get them in packs of 50 or 100. Definitely worth getting some if you are into cooking! No problem bringing them back into Australia - we did declare them but were told they were fine. I bought myself a nice sarong - good quality fabric - for Rp. 45,000 (AU $5.80) and a lovely carved ebony wall hanging (Rp. 55,000; AU $7.00) for our neighbours who kindly fed our cat and collected our mail while were away - gave them a good bottle of wine too! Also picked up a carved wooden flute for Rp. 15,000 (AU $2.00) and Tarek just had to have this little model guitar and case which we got for Rp. 40,000 (AU$ 5.00).
All shopped out, we decided to go back to the hotel without stopping in Tegallalang as planned. Just made one quick stop to take a photo of a nice view of the rice terraces. We settled by the pool and met a lovely family - also from Perth - who had a daughter Ramsey's age and a 7 week old baby son. Tarek and Ramsey had a great time playing with Annabelle in the pool and became firm friends by the end of our stay! We didn't leave the pool until late so just ordered some room service dinner as the kids were getting too tired to go out. Ordered a nice selection of Indonesian food to share - satays, curries etc. Very nice but much more expensive than eating outside the hotel!
DAY 4: Today I had booked Maher and I in for the Special 4 hour Package in the Temple Garden Suite at Melasti Spa. This cost Rp. 363,000 (AU $46.50) each - great value!! Meanwhile the boys spent some time at the NDBH Kids Club. We caught a Blue Taxi to the Melasti which cost around Rp. 40,000 (AU $5.00) and took about 30 mins. We started with a one hour massage which was amazing - quite firm but my aching back needed it! In the middle of the massage some tourists opened the door of the temple suite to have a look. My massage lady quickly covered up my exposed boobies just in the nick of time!!! After the massage we were covered with a spice scrub which was left to dry before being rubbed off and we were then coated in yogurt. I felt a bit like a piece of marinated steak after all that! We were left to soak in a flower-filled bath looking out into the garden and then showered and moved into the salon for our facials and hair cream baths. Maher fell asleep during the facial and started snoring!! He was very much outside his comfort zone by the time they did the hair cream bath and had me, the staff and other clients in fits of laughter at his facial expressions and comments!!!! I kept telling him to just relax and enjoy it, which he did in the end. The hair cream bath was wonderful - they wash your hair and apply the cream giving you a very nice head massage. They also massage your neck, shoulders, arms and hands as well. So relaxing! We emerged from the Melasti spa absolutely glowing from top to toe :o)
We walked off down Jln. Padma Utara and went to change some money as we were fast running out! My husband learnt a valuable lesson that day - always listen to your wife - she knows best!!! I had told him to only change money at the Kodak shops because they were reliable but he decided their rate was too low and chose to go a few shops down to a CD shop (2 shops left of Posers Bar on the corner) which had a sign out the front listing higher exchange rates. They gave us their calculator and showed us the amount for AU $500 which we wanted to exchange and then we counted the money - both making sure we counted correctly and were the last to touch the money etc. etc. After leaving the shop we thought about it and realized the amount we received couldn't be right. We checked it using the calculator on our mobile phone and sure enough they had ripped us off by about Rp. 600,000 (AU $80.00). They must have ‘fixed' the calculator. We went back into the shop and had to confront the guys which was a rather scary experience. There were about 5 men in the shop and no other customers so we were very nervous. Maher was firm but not aggressive and asked for our money back. We had to count back all their Rp. and it got rather confusing because we were nervous and they kept distracting us by asking us questions and re-counting the money etc. Afterwards we worked out that they tricked us again with Rp. 40,000 (AU $5.00) but it could have been a lot worse so we counted ourselves lucky! After all that wasted time and stress we went back to the Kodak money changer and exchanged our money there with no hassles. This was the only bad experience we had in Bali but just wanted to warn others about going to this shop - they are definitely not honest!!!!
Anyway, all cashed up again we headed off for a bit more shopping. I wanted to go to top ten for some handbags so we set off for their store in Melasti Street. I stopped off at a shop in one of the lanes and bought another fairy dress with wings (turquoise this time) for my other niece (Rp. 30,000; AU $4.00). Maher looked at some copy watches while I was looking in the next door shop at ‘designer' sunglasses. Didn't end up buying either. The shop owner was just asking Maher if he wanted some ‘female company' thinking he was on his own when I walked behind him. The poor guy was very embarrassed and kept apologizing profusely when he realized I was Maher's wife - very funny!
Top Ten is a great shop - their bags are every good quality and the girls are lovely. It is a fixed price shop but they will ‘better' their prices if you ask. We ended up buying heaps - a couple of LV wallets, a Fendi handbag, a LV handbag and a very nice large leather LV shopping bag (new style just out). Maher also bought a huge Polo suitcase as his old suitcase was getting pretty old and battered - the handle fell off at the airport when we were checking in our luggage! All up we spent Rp. 1, 300,000 (AU $170.00) after they gave us their very best discounted price. Not bad for all that.
So we lugged our suitcase full of bags out onto the street and hailed a taxi back to the hotel. Picked up the kids from the kids club (Tarek was not impressed as he considers himself too old - at 7 yrs - to be looked after at a kids club!) and caught up with our new friends - Jane, Annabelle and baby William - by the pool. Poor Sven was laid up in the hotel room all day vomiting. We were going to all get together for dinner but the kids were getting tired and restless by that stage so we abandoned the idea. The boys ended up just having a snack in the room and going to bed. Once they were soundly asleep, Maher and I decided to have a meal at the Japanese restaurant (Maguro) which was near the pool and not far from our room. We left the boys in the room and I just went and checked on them a couple of times during our meal. I surprised myself at how relaxed and safe I felt at the hotel - would never normally think about leaving the kids alone in the room at a hotel - I hope I don't sound like a neglectful mother! Anyway, we had a very nice (but rather expensive!) Japanese meal. Really exquisite sushi rolls, yakitori chicken and seafood and vegetable tempura.
I have added a link to my first lot of photos on web shots (just close the gap btwn web and shots.
http://community.web shots.com/myphotos?action=viewAllPhotos&albumID=453055224
More JBR and photos to come (if you can stand it!)