Back ground info - we're all from perth; there were 6 of us this trip - me (jess, 26, 3rd trip); gav (my partner of 10 years and now new fiancé, 3rd trip); my sister, Bj (2nd trip); her boyfriend, scott (1st to bali though he has travelled most of indo surfing); and my parents, mum (57) and dad (62); it was probably about their 10th trip. We were unfortunate AP ticket holders so this was a trip we had to make the most of!
Day 11 - SATURDAY 7th JANUARY 2006
We all woke fresh this morning at 7am, packed our bags; last day in Bali. :(
We stayed in at the LPH for our last breaky and it turned out to be the best spread yet.
So it was an early start down Jl Legian to find Ketut and book him for the day, then bag shopping for Bj and Scott as they had realized there was just not enough room in their one huge bag to bring everything they had bought home. :)
We charged up and down Jl Legian into all the surf shops hunting for the best bag for the right price. Finally found it and got back to the LPH with just enough time for them to throw all their stuff into the bag, all have a quick binnie, and meet Ketut out front at 10:30.
We climbed into the van and made our way through Kuta and off to Uluwatu. It was the first time any of us had been their and the drive was beautiful. Everything looked so green and all the shops so quaint. It took about an hour to get there and the closer we got the greener the streets looked.
When we arrived Ketut paid a toll to a guard (that had blocked the road in) to get us all through in the van so we didn't have to walk. It was only a couple of thousand but we all noted it needed to be added to ketut's ‘terimakasi and sumpie joopar lagi' tip at the end of the day.
We parked next to a few bikes and we were the only car/van there (the area where we stopped seemed so quiet in comparison to kuta). We walked down a little hill to a warung on the point which had a glorious view out over the hillside and out to the ocean and breaks below. The tide was just starting to come in and it was still off-shore and the boys looked pretty excited. We met a couple of South African guys who had just come out of the water and were taking some footage of the waves. The boys asked their wood-duck questions and figured out where the best spot to go out and paddle through was and that was it, they wanted to get wet. For both these boys it was a dream come true to surf Ulus. Both have surfed all their lives and couldn't leave Bali this time without doing it.
While the boys got ready Ketut pointed down the hill to what looked like a thin line of tin shed roofs. He told us that there were plenty of places to hangout down there if we wanted while we waited. It all looked a little steep and dodgy to Bj and I but we thought, why not, and we both needed a swim so we followed the boys down. The last thing Ketut said, with a big smile on his face, was beware the massage ladies (famous last words).
We walked down the hill a little bit and turned a corner and were really surprised to see under the first layer of roofs were several more and they belonged to a series of tiered shops, warungs and ding repair shops. It was really cool. It got pretty steep in some parts and I would be really careful not to drink to many binnies at the bottom. :)
There were monkeys jumping around and it was quite jungley and really pretty, quite spiritual. We managed to pick up a sweet little massage lady who walked with us to the bottom and told all the others along the way that we were hers. Here we go.....
At the bottom there wasn't much beach and to get around the rocks to the other side you had to either swim/walk across the coral (no thanks) or walk through the tiniest of caves that had the in-coming tide already crashing into it. Bj and I try to be adventurous girls but there are some things we just won't do. So we dumped our stuff and jumped in for a quick swim at the little beach, intending to head back up and watch the boys from the top warung where we first came in.
When we went in the water there was our one lady sitting behind us about 10m away waiting patiently for us to swim and return and hire her services :) By the time we swam back in about 10 minutes later there were at least 20 women sitting there! Granted another two tourists had ventured down as well but there was no way we were going to satisfy any of these ladies. So Bj and I read each others minds (as sisters often do) and grabbed our stuff and headed for the stairs and safety with Ketut. :)
They all looked disappointed but our little lady smiled and followed us back up (more for her I'm sure she thought) most of the way to the top warung. Almost near the top she disappeared and we thought, yay no pressure to buy, time for a few binnies. When we got to the top Ketut was asleep on one of those raised grass beds and we didn't want to disturb him (he had looked really tired) so we sat on the balcony of the warung where we could see the waves breaking and ordered a few large binnies (knowing the boys would be hours).
We had just cracked them when here she comes, with her huge pile of t-shirts. I thought thank god we are in here we will be safe; no such luck, no rules about selling in restaurants up here. Fortunately she was lovely and the t-shirts she had were really nice Uluwatu types that we hadn't seen before. I negotiated 20,000ea for them straight away because I was not going to get hounded and end up having an argument over the price on my last day - especially considering I was supposed to have finished all my shopping yesterday (and there was literally no room left in any of Gav and my three bags). So over the next hour she came and went with different t-shirts and eventually came back with her sister. Her sister was the older pushier one who tried to start up on the price and blame her younger sisters English, etc, just another old scam; but we eventually agreed on the initial price and it was time for another large binnie and for sister number two to give us a gift :)
Now I know all about the giving of necklaces and bracelets as gifts from the street sellers and I never want to take one but they get me every time. Before Bj and I knew it we were being massaged right there at the table with no negotiation of prices :)
Bj was worried but I figured massaging keeps them busy, they can't try and sell us anything else while they are doing it, and what could be better then the best view in Bali, a large binnie and a fabulous massage.
The ladies worked on us for the next half an hour or so as we watched the wind start to shift onshore. It wasn't long before the boys came back up the stairs and joined us at the table. You could see the look of fresh buyer on the face of the older sister and she was off down the hill (without the money for her massage) to retrieve some merchandise or another.
The boys wanted to try a few more spots so we paid up our bills at both the warung and with the younger sister for both ladies services; woke Ketut and piled back in the van on our next mission. If you are a surfer Ulus is a must, if you are a tourist with a good sense of humor and after something different from Kuta, you'll love it!
As the wind wasn't so good anymore we only ended up having a look at Pedang and Dreamland beaches. It was a bit of a nature trek on foot to the beach, through someone's farm and a construction site, but you could see both breaks from the hill and there was nothing going on (shame for the boys). We thought there may be some action over in Sanur (when its onshore one side its offshore the other) and we needed lunch so we headed over to Mangoes.
It was way past lunch time and we were hungry so it was straight to Mangoes restaurant for lunch and say goodbye to Ida. He was out some where getting ready for a party they were having that night so we missed him and the pizza oven wasn't on (the more traditional Balinese food there is a bit average). So it was a bit of a bust but we ate on the beach anyway and the price and cold binnies made up where the food was lacking.
The ocean was flat as a tack this side so we called it a day on the surfing adventure and headed back to Kuta, the LPH and the last of our duty free.
It was a bit sad saying goodbye to Ketut he had been a great driver and even though we didn't hire him to drive us every day, we still saw him each morning and sat or walked for a chat. We paid him 100,000 for our ½ day trip, said sumpie joopa lagi, and gave $50 AUD for his family. His eyes were worth every dollar and we knew we had made his day as happy as ours :)
We jumped in the pool for a quick cool off then up to the room for duty free and to meet Annie from the Bali Aussie with our gold jewelry. We didn't have enough mixers so I headed across the road for some lemonade and on the way back found Annie being very rudely questioned by the security guards. I guess it's a fine line between good security and rudeness but it gave me the willies that I hadn't seen anyone else even looked at for setting of the security bell at the scanner and sweet faced Annie (who wouldn't hurt a fly) was being degraded in my driveway. Lucky I came along when I did and told the security guy she was my guest - he took her Id and let her in.
She had her daughter with her who would have been about 12 and the 3 of us returned to my room where she was greeted with the civility and kindness she deserved. We exchanged goods and money over a drink then she and her daughter where on her way. I re iterate how lovely she is and if anyone is looking for anything in Bali seek out Annie at the Bali Aussie and she can find just about anything your looking for.
So a few duty frees and off to the only place worthy of our last night in Bali - Uns.
The food and service were impeccable again and we were serenaded at our table for about an hour, it was great. I have no idea how much it cost or how many frozen margaritas we drank but we were all entirely piddled when we stumbled out and up JL Legian to Paddys for our first and last jungle juice. Dad would have killed us himself if he knew we were there and he was the reason we hadn't been yet. I think it was about 12:30 and the place was practically deserted. It was fun though to have at least one jungle juice before we headed back to the LPH for our last (midnight) swim.
The four of us jumped in practically clothed and it started to pour with rain. It felt great and we all talked about our holiday, how much fun it was and where we are staying next year!
We stumbled off to bed at what time I do not know. I do know however that we were a very seedy bunch at 6am the next day when we had to get up and get to the lobby for our transfer to the airport.
With no time for breaky it was a very painful wait out side the airport and in line to check in our bags. We were 14kgs over with the three bags between us and the guy tried to charge us $13US/kilo. I spat it and told him to give me back my bags and I would repack it right there until he was satisfied. We had no hand luggage so in the end he let us take one of our bags on with us (the stewardesses weren't impressed but what could we do).
All in all it was a long and tiring trip home but worth every minute! It was an expensive trip to Bali but worth every penny!
Thanks for letting me dribble on about it!
We are booking for this New Year as soon as the prices come out...... :)