Just a word before we leave Ubud altogether. When we had the day out around Kintamani etc the driver took us to a village , and we cannot remember the name. It's an age thing you know. We were no where near any lakes but he said that around 4pm the pink flamingoes would come home. Sounded strange and we could not see any, but lo and behold just after four, hundreds of them started to appear and roost in the trees and on the roof tops. It was a fantastic sight. The driver told us it was a gift from the Gods to the village. Apparently the village suffered very badly under the communists and many villagers were killed. So this phenomena was a gift from the Gods to the village to attract tourists and bring life back to the village. If anyone knows the name of the village and can embellish the story we would be interested to hear from you.
Anyway we left the Tegal with somewhat sad hearts for Sanur. We were however somewhat concerned with what faced us in Sanur. Two weeks previous Caths cousin had been there at the Grand Bali Hotel after a weeks cruise from Singapore and it was obvious they had not enjoyed it. They told us that it was that dead and the restaurants were offering big discounts to get people in and everywhere was closed at 10:30pm.
One of the drivers from the Tegal took us to Sanur and we had booked into the Puri Austrian which advertises itself as 3* for 9 days. As we entered the Puri we went through the security check and the driver apologised for the necessity but also added that if Bali suffered one more problem then Bali would die. Sad comment.
As part of the deal we had negotiated a free upgrade from Garden Room to Beach Room and included breakfast. First impression great. It was certainly different from where we had stayed before, more like a resort hotel. Professional and warm welcome at reception where they informed us we had been allocated one of their new rooms. When we got to the room it was obvious that the bedroom and bathroom had been completely renovated and was very nice. If you are staying there request one of these rooms. Last year we stayed in a 4*+ Marriot hotel in Thailand and the room and surrounds were better at the Puri.
Whilst Cath was unpacking I went back to reception to try and get hold of the previous days newspaper to get the football results. Only problem was on the way back I got lost and could not find the room. I gave a couple of staff the room number and they looked at me blank. Fortunately after going round in circles I spotted Cath on the porch. I told you it was an age thing I had got the room number wrong!! Actually I am sure that anyone who has stayed will confirm that everywhere does look similar. Please!!
Lunch at Donalds (on the beach) and it must have been nice because we went to Donalds just across from the Puri entrance for dinner. Great food and great price again. It was a Tuesday so after dinner we walked just 100 yards up the road to the Cat and Fiddle for their Irish night. A most enjoyable evening. We saw Smudge in there having his weekly fix of English food and he brought us up to date with all the girl's progress and the entertainment and atmosphere was great. We left there about midnight (so much for Cath's relatives experience because we could then have gone across the road to the Trophy where after 11.30pm it was half price beer).
The Cat and Fiddle was to become our local for the rest of the time we were in Sanur. We never felt like we needed to eat English food, but it was nice to finish there after Dinner for a couple of pints for me and Cath would have her cocktail or a carafe of very reasonable wine. There was the added advantage of live music every night. Nothing too loud and in your face but very entertaining. A great place.
A drink on the patio and 'big bird', sorry gecko to welcome us we just knew we were going to enjoy Sanur.