This was a trip over Xmas and New year. I have been writing it since I got back in January. I thought I better pull my finger out and finish it before next Xmas comes around.
Myself & husband staying 18 days. Son and girlfriend arrived a week later staying 15 days.
Arrived in Bali along with a JAL plane Huge queues took us an hour to get through VOA. This was the first time I have encountered this. Normally its just our plane. It sucked!!
Stayed at Bumas Hotel in Sanur, nice hotel with 2 pools. Semi out door bathroom friendly staff. Great for the price, $50 per night and that was in peak season, including breky. Yes I would stay there again.
Just a few little things, semi out door bathroom, we thought was great... until it rained and the toilet got wet and floor tiles very slippery! Had to take an umbrella to the loo.
No hotel booklet in room, sounds minor but that's the first thing I do when I settle into a room is flick through the booklet to see what the hotel has to offer and what food it has.
No menu in restaurant or room, only a notice board outside of the kitchen with choice of meals hand written. But hey for the price I can put up with all that.
Xmas day, we spent the morning at a friends place in Sanur. We had gone to the local markets and brought a pile of seafood and they cooked up a yummy feast for us. I took over some Xmas bonbons to pop before we ate. The Balinese found them quite amusing and loved the little surprises inside.
In the afternoon we went to the Senia Hotel in Sanur. I didn't know there were so many Aussies living in Bali and I think most of them were at this bar. We met up with some wonderful people.
They had a fantastic one man band playing and we had a great afternoon dancing. We ended up parting till after dark.
On my last trip I had met up with an Aussie Lady that was now living in Bali, she had brought a bundle of fire crackers along... after a couple of drinks or two... she decided to light up a sky rocket next to me..... I heard this huge bang and hit the floor! When I looked up she was covered in black soot.....I laughed till I had tears running down my face. Yes I know fire crackers are dangerous.......but don't worry I didn't get hurt! (I'm not sure about my friend.......I last saw her running into the toilets in a haze of smoke!)
Spent most afternoons sitting around the beach bar at the Gazebo Hotel, love their prawn cocktails.
We ate and drank, a few times at Annas Bar... met Stan, Anna and little April.
I was not too keen on the breakfast at the hotel so we had breakfast most mornings at JJ's.
We ate a few times at the Trophy bar and listened to live bands.
New years we spent at the Lazer bar. I was surprised to see they had sexy female table top dancers. I have not seen this before in Bali.... disappointed there were no male dancers! Tried to get the husband up but he was worried the table might break. Met up with a few more Expats.........more fire crackers were let off.......another great night! Another headache the next day!!
We went up to Singaraja to see my sponsor child and decided to spend a few days in Bedugul staying at Pucung Indah. Met David and his brother Chris, who made us very welcome.
Gee what a beautiful spot. David had upgraded our room and moved us away from the son's room......I think he thought we were going to have a second honey moon! (We were too busy looking at the view!) The room had its own court yard which was great to relax and unwind with a few drinks in the after noon while gazing out over the valley. Even the toilet was a room with a view!
Highly recommend the buffet lunch......yummy and only 60,000rp for all you can eat...which suited my husband as he likes to eat and drink his way around Bali!
On our way to see my sponsor child we stopped off to see the monkeys on the side of the road. A large monkey thought he would come up and check us out. He got a bit too close to us and we all scrambled back into the car...all except the husband who told us we were all chickens. I threw the monkey a lolly pop but he decided that he didn't like it and that my husbands leg looked better.....he grabbed hold of hubbies leg and with that hubbie let out a very high pitched yelp and was back in the car in seconds. We were all in fits of laughter and the Son said it reminded him of the show on TV 'When animals attack'
In Australia I am addicted to Hungry Jacks kids meals, and have been saving the toys that come with the meal to give away to the kids in the villages.
This was my husband, Son & his GF's first visit to our sponsor child. It was my second.
As we headed up the dirt track to village we handed out the toys and a lolley pop to all the kids running along the track.......the look of delight on their faces were priceless.
My sponsor child's father works on a tobacco farm and earns $2 a day and could not afford to send him to school. He is the 5th child of 6 kids. We took up a suit case full of clothes, tooth paste, soap, a school bag full of pencils books etc etc
We arrived at the village to a sea of smiles from the family. Wayan had grown since the last time I saw him in June. We ended up taking him, his little sister and their Mum into town. It was such a thrill as this was the fist time the kids had ever been in a car.......their eyes were like saucers as they looked at everything.
We went to a market in town that sold every thing from rice & lentils to clothing.
I asked the guide to ask Mum to pick out what she would like. She looked very embarrassed which made me feel uncomfortable and embarrassed as well. I ended up asking the guide to tell her that I would be very proud and honored if she would let us buy her some food. I ended up taking her hand and pointing to things and asking her if she would like some. We brought all sorts from rice, lentils, beans garlic, spices, washing powder, even a huge aluminium dish........once I started I just couldn't stop...I think we spent around $150.00. To think we would spend that on a night out in Australia........ That food will last this family 3 months!
My son and his GF ended up taking the kids into the clothing section and brought them an outfit each. The smiles on these kids' faces were of pure joy! Wayan went straight to the jeans rack. I think this may have been his first pair of jeans and he could not stop smiling!
My first visit was last June and the family did not have a bathroom or toilet. They used to use the bush for the toilet and a barrel of water for bathing. I was delighted to discover on this visit, that they now have their own shower and toilet!! All thanks to Helen Flavel and her foundation.....what a wonderful person she is and just how much she does for Bali! For as little as $120 a year it could make a huge difference to a child by giving them the chance of an education!
That night back at Pucung Indah we sat in the court yard reliving our day. My family said this was the most humbling and memorable experience that they will always remember!
As we were sitting there in the dark having a few drinks all of a sudden the husband jumped up and started jumping up and down squealing.......a huge lizard had run up his leg!. The son said 'When animals attack DUA!' We were all falling around laughing. Then about 5 minutes later a small cat jumped on his shoulder and then ran off!............we just couldn't believe it... and of cause couldn't give him any sympathy as we were now all rolling around on the floor in hysterics with the son saying 'When animals attack TIGA!'
Next we headed over to Canda Dasa to Pondok Hotel. This is a fabulous spot right on the beach. I had booked months earlier and paid top dollar to ensure that we got the two deluxe rooms that were next to the pool. I had paid for the kid's room as a Xmas gift and was excited to show them how lovely this spot was.
When we arrived we were told the kid's room would not be ready till 6pm as the people were still in them and were flying out that night. I was not happy!!! I had been so looking forward to our stay there. Check in time was 12pm and that meant they would miss out on half a day!
After a lot of discussion with the manager.... the people in the room were transferred to another room. I felt really bad about having to disturb them, and I did apologize to them.... but I had booked months before especially for those rooms!
I did the usual visit to the dentist Dr Wayan at Dr Sucipto Dental surgery in Denpasar I had two large fillings cost $100 Husband had a crown $250.
Had quote books printed from Indographs in Kuta. Recommended by the forum. 25 books $117. We were absolutely delighted with them, heaps cheaper than what we pay for them here!! Excellent quality.
They were not ready when we left so I got my Son to pick them up the following week. When he was going through customs in Australia they were going to charge him tax on them. But the customs guy miss calculated the exchange rate and thought they cost $10, so he told the son not to worry about it.
Like a lot of people on this forum I am an advid Mather Tillar lover! I stocked up on supplies from Tiara Dewata. I brought face cream, hair treatment, face make up, blush, lip gloss, eye shadow, you name it I brought it........I'm in love with Mather Tillar!
Our last couples of days were spent in Kuta at Samsara Hotel. Was not too keen on the hotel... I have stayed in better for less money per night. We fell in love with a painting they had in the foyer. Our bemo driver had a friend that is a painter. ( ha ha don't they all have friends that have a talent in something) So I took photos of the painting and the bemo driver took the photos to his friend and had this guy paint two paintings, one for the Son in a different colour, and one for us. The cost for each painting was $28 Aust the size was 1800 x 900. We are delighted with the out come, he did a great job.
No problems through customs. I am now planning my next trip in May!
Hope I did not bore you too much.
Pauline