When: 10Sept05 till 24Sept05
Where: Legian Paradiso
Flew: Garuda
From: Perth 8am arrived 11.30am
How many: 2 families of 4
Legian Paradiso - 3star !!! I'm sorry to say but in my opinion this was a long time ago when this was awarded. The 4 rooms we had 6102 6103 6104 & 6105 were badly in need of total refurbishment. The bathrooms were full of chipped tiles, loose taps shower curtain rails and towel rails that constantly fell down or fell apart.
Baths where the enamel had long ago been washed down the drain, cold water for the first 4 days, very poor water pressure which would constantly go into spasms making weird noises and then gush out hissing and spitting. Stained bathroom ceilings, doors that did not fit in the jam properly furniture that was in desperate need of varnish.
We were in poolside rooms only metres from the pool & pool bar this somewhat made up for the rooms, as we would spend many hours on the veranda in the late afternoon.
The staff are wonderful and the pool area is good although the pool lounges are also in need of repair. My daughter cut her food badly on the statue in the pool on the second day and for a while we thought that she might need stitches. The staff carried her straight to the on staff doctor who treated it immediately, the general manager followed us into the doctors office and assured all would be done to help. By the time we got back to the pool the pool attendant had been in the pool with a sanding disc and all was fixed. We went back several times to have this redressed and was healing only days after.
The boys (11&13) bought BB guns to use whilst in Bali as they were told that they could not take these back to Australia. They would wear one out each day then go and buy another for between 10 to 20,000r each (A$1.30 - 2.50) .
The pistols worked better than the shotguns, they would make targets out of empty cans and line these up in the garden, they even had laser sights . At the end of the holiday they gave them to the many friends they had made in the streets.
Mountain bike riding - this was an adventure, all down hill 27k we were told until we got to the last 7 kms then they said some uphill now. Luckily there was a van lurking behind like a vulture just waiting to pick you off as you struggled in the heat, humidity and uphill grind. The group of about 40 broke into 3 sections and this was the last I saw of my son, his cousin and uncle for the next 2 hours - they had taken a wrong turn at a crossroad. There were neither directions nor staff to advise which turn to take and as they were told it was down hill took the wrong turn, at this stage we did not know they had become lost as we were told that there were with the first group. No one told the operators that there were infact 3 groups not 2, when we arrived at the end 2 hours later (knowing we were unfit and last to arrive IN THE VAN) we could not locate the 3 missing people. The tour operator was quickly on a motorbike and had mobile phones ringing left right and centre - 'Don't worry they can't get lost Bali is an island'. Not a lot of help when we were not sure if the boys would even know if they were lost 11 & 13 we did know that they would be together they are like the 2 legs of a pair of pants. They soon turned up in a van (what seemed like ages) and were disappointed that they were not able to finish the ride. They had in fact been found earlier and were following way behind the last group. I would not reccomend this to people who are not happy going very very fast downhill. There are some daunting hills to ride down and you could quickly get into trouble avoiding other bikes, pot holes, dogs
Restaurants: Legend bar, Goshas, Jesens, Bali Aussie, Indo-National, Uncle norms, La Luchiola. All fantastic our favourite this time was Jensen's just up the road from Ramayana hotel on Bakungsari Street. A lot of places we had to book to be able to get a table for 8 so to us it seemed very busy
Had boogie board bags made for each of us for only 150,000r = A$19.50 each. Have the address if you are interested, Triple 'B' - they make surfboard bags too.
We went on a ride called 'Fly Fish' - some where between a banana boat and a kite, as you get towed behind the boat the Fly Fish lifts off the water and hovers around 5 to 10 feet of the water. Fantastic fun - the ride goes for around 15 minutes but after that you are getting tired hanging on, this was at Tanjung Benoa.
A day was spent a waterbom park - another great day out, away from the shops the BBQ corn is fantastic and for only 5000r it's less than a dollar. We spent hours running up the stairs (90 of them) or if you went to the Smash down add another 20
Some time was spent in the cabana recovering whist the kids continued.
We surfed nearly every day at Kuta & Legian beach on our boogie boards a couple of days it was so big that the waves were breaking on the horizon - this was during the full moon and it messed up the waves and made it very dangerous.
Did the day spa thing with my wife - what a hoot 3 hours of pampering for approx $30.00 and the memories of the massage whilst dressed in only in paper undies (which did not leave much to the imagination) will be with us forever - a great afternoon, spoil yourself ...
Our daughters had photo's taken in full Baliness dress - they looked fantastic, they took over 2 hours for the full make up, head dress and clothes then walked back to the hotel through the streets to the hotel temple for photos.
Did the usual shopping at the surf shops and found most things half to a third of what you would pay here in Perth, so wife bought up BIG, we were nearly 15 k over our baggage allowance but as we were a group of 4 they let it go. Most people over on their own got charged for at least half their excess - approx US$10 / kg
Would we go back for our 9th trip ??? Without a thought, I'd go tomorrow if I had the money
Would we stay at Legian Paradiso again? - Never unless it was totally refurbished. There are 2 many others to choose from
Best tips - have an exchange rate cheat sheet on hand, saves having to learn your 7 times tables again
Relax and get into Bali mode - this may take a couple of days to get into this is why we always stay more than a week.
Fernandez
Thinking of when to book next trip