Hi Everyone,
Have been here since 11th Feb. Flight over was with Jetstar. We flew Mel - Syd at 9am - no problems - bags checked through etc. Spent 6 hours in Sydney - just got on the train in the domestic terminal and walked around opera house and rocks area - lovely way to spend the day. Flight left 40 mins late due to rainstorm but we got to Bali only 5 mins late. Flight was uneventful and Jetstar were pretty good. Brought comfortpack to use this flight, flight home and flights in June - worth the $9.
Komang Bajing picked us up from the airport. It was so lovely to have someone we knew meeting us at the airport. We got through VOA no problems and paid by Visa - the girl didn't like it and would've preferred us to pay cash, but no real problems. Immigration & customs people were lovely.
Spent the first week in Amed at Blue Moon Villas. What an amazing time we had there. We were very lucky to have Komang Bajing with us - he drove us up to Amed from our first night in Seminyak at Subliku. He has become more and more like a friend and this trip has cemented our friendship. We had corresponded by email and SMS over the last 15 months. Being with a local adds a whole new dimension. Komang Bajing took us snorkelling a number of times, and ended up hunting lobsters. Can I tell you how good dinner was that second night - 2 fresh lobsters caught by Mark and KB!!! The next day we went out with a friend of KB - Wayan, who is a local fisherman. He took us to a bay where they fished and caught over 30 fish for our dinner whilst we snorkelled some more... KB cooked a real seafood feast - Ikan Lilit, Fish Curry, Fish with beans a coconut, grilled fish and so much more. His own sambal was so delicious we could live off that with rice forever!
The first morning we were in Amed we woke before the sun rose and got to watch the sunrise over lombok with all the fishing boats coming back to shore - such an amazing sight.
Mark played guitar with the staff and locals, and we ended up cementing many more friendships over songs, bintang and food.
On our last night we brought out the Yahtzee - OMG I can't tell what an affect this had - we played for 8 hours straight!!!! It was the funniest night we've had in ages. The staff were a little scared to join in at first but then they'd stand in for one of us and were hooked - so if you go to Amed and stay at Blue Moon - beware!!!
We were also lucky and honoured to be taken to a school in Datar where KB and his family come from. The kids were gorgeous and the staff lovely. They take so much pride in their school. The library was just starting to come together. After we visited the school we were taken to KB home where we had a 10 minute walk from the road to get to his family compound. It is surrounded by teak and mahogany trees, planted with love and thought. KB loves his gardening and has done this at Blue Moon, the school and his home. There are chooks, pigs, a cow and goodness knows what other animals. There is a plenitful supply of food. We saw cashew nuts for the first time ever - not what I expected at all. We ate Durian for the first time and loved it, also mangosteens - YUM!!! KB cut down young coconuts for us and chopped a bit of the husk of to make a spoon to scoop it out - WOW!!!! KB dad was lovely - I think he's 84, he looks so wise and venerable. He has a good spirit to him - like all of his family.
So many fabulous memories from this trip.
We are staying in Legian now at the Padma. I love this place, but it is so quiet compared to last time (second bombing time). I love the club benefits, our courtyard and room. The rooms are all receiving an update gradually.
We try to use all the indonesian we can - we've been learning by ourselves for a while and take every opportunity to learn more, again, this adds a whole new dimension.
We ate a Drops the first night, quiet too but good and affordable food. We went to Breeze last night. Food was average but the staff more than make up for it - very funny and friendly.
We had the honour of meeting Smudge today - WOW - what a man. I couldn't do what he does. So much respect for him. We brought some of Hannahs old toys etc and will bring so much more with us when we come back in June. We're going to Cat and Fiddle tomorrow night to listen to the music and have some western food with Smudge tomorrow night. Please contact Smudge through this forum as he does amazing work and needs help - even little things like bringing kids clothes sizes 2 - 8 (girls especially), nit cream, tea tree oil, colouring books etc.
Enough for now except to say Bali is so green and lush at the moment. The weather has been absolutely perfect.
Cheers,
ANdrea