Arrived back Friday after 10 days in paradise to very cold and wet weather - very depressing. Stayed at Grand Istana Rama in interconnecting rooms - nice hotel, not many Australians but a lot of Japanese staying there. We didn't use the pool facilities much as our children - 15 and 13 were keen on surfing so spent leisure time on beach watching them. Streets very quiet compared with June last year however we didn't feel that we got hassled any more and the Balinese are their usual friendly selves.
Highlight of our stay was the bike tour with Wayan from Bike-Baik, we all agreed that it was the best thing we had done in the 6 times that we have visited Bali. Most of it was down hill so easy cycling and it was great to see parts of Bali that you normally do not see. On the tour you are lucky enough to have lunch at his home - one of the best meals we have had over there! Please support him if you are thinking about doing a ride as all money remains in Bali unlike many of the other tours. He can be emailed on wayansujana@yahoo.com. We also had the pleasure of having his 5year old daughter with us and she was an absolute delight.
Apart from that we did the usual shopping, waterbom park and plenty of walking and sitting on the beach talking to the locals.
We ate at a different place every meal including The Treehouse. Bamboo Corner, Legian Snacks, La Monde, Ours, all the warungs in Benesari lane, La Lucciola and Indo National which were both fantastic. We didn't have a bad meal anywhere and none of us had any tummy problems. We did take Acidophilus tablets the whole time we were there so don't know if that helped.
Overall we felt very safe there and already thinking about when we can go back as it is a great place for a family holiday.