I decided to write a JBR not because I want nor need anyone else to know about my recent trip to Bali but rather, because I want to give back to this forum information which might be useful to others. I learned a lot by reading numerous posts and JBRs in the months preceding my Bali trip and so I want to make my contribution. I won't do a day by day, restaurant by restaurant, shop by shop sort of JBR but instead will briefly mention some of my surprises and unexpected experiences. Firstly, I should say that this was my second trip to Bali: my first being 23 years ago. I went with a fair bit of anxiety and apprehension, knowing that the idyllic paradise I fondly remembered back in 1984 could not be anything close to the same. Even back then, the ugly spectre of rapid, greed-driven and uncontrolled growth was easy to predict. However, my wife and I were taking our two children (ages 13 and 11) for the first time and we were hopeful that by seeing Bali through their eyes, some of the wonder and beauty could be experienced, even from our jaded and cynical points of view. We arrived at Ngurah Rai airport at what seemed to be the same time as about twenty other flights (2 July). After buying our VOAs we joined the queue for immigration and a long forty-five minutes later we were finally through with our entry stamps and able to pick up our baggage. Hit the ATM and made the first of many effortless VISA withdrawals (more on this later). Fortunately, no hassle at customs and we were out of the terminal. I looked for the taxi kiosk just to the right of the exit door (as instructed by this forum). Paid the posted 85,000 rupiahs to Sanur which by the way, is at least 25,000 more than one should pay from Sanur to the airport. We arrived at the Peneeda View Hotel in Sanur and were very impressed. Lovely room, beautiful grounds and pleasant staff. Not too big and right on the beach. The beach though was a huge disappointment. I had heard that it is very tidal and we arrived when the tide was very low. But the rubbish was really pretty disgusting. Plastic bags, bottles and other variations were quite off-putting and my kids were turned off immediately. Fortunately, the Peneeda View has a nice pool and we spent most of our time there. When I asked locals about the rubbish on the beach I was told that due to the heavy rains and flooding the week before, the swollen rivers had carried this rubbish down to the sea and it ended up at Sanur. I am not sure how accurate this explanation was. I did notice, though, after walking both to the right (South) and to the left (North) of the Peneeda, that when you came to the beach fronts at the bigger hotels (Hyatt, Puri and Griya Santrium to name a few) the beach front was clean and relatively rubbish free. The sand was groomed and even with the tide way out, it was a beautiful coastline. Yet, even when the tide was in, we saw fewer people swimming at this beach area than any of the other three beach areas we saw in Bali over the next two weeks. The other surprise about Sanur was the relative lack of tourists. We were there during the school holidays and after seeing how many new arrivals were at the airport, we were surprised to see so few at Sanur. Mind you, after going to Kuta four days later we were pleased that our first three days in Sanur were quieter and less chaotic than the scene at Kuta.
Our next stop after Sanur was Jimbaran Bay. We stayed at the north end of the bay, at Kedonganan. I had read about the seafood restaurants on the beach and realised that it was a big tourist attraction but I was not expecting to see hundreds and hundreds of tables and chairs mostly filled with tourists who were not staying in Jimbaran but who had arrived just for a sunset meal. Roving musicians playing everything from Cuban Salsa to Hotel California. And I also wasn't expecting very substantial and reasonably flash looking restaurants with menus exactly the same with only slight variations on price. It was interesting to learn some of the background regarding Jimbaran. There are three groups of restaurants on the beach front. About 19 at the southern end nearest the bigger resorts; 9 nearer the middle of strand and 24 at the north end. Apparently, prior to this year, there were over forty at the north end and the government decided to take control (and the revenue) and reduce the number down to 24. The 40 original more basic structures were torn down and 24 very substantial and identical (apart from the names) restaurants were built. In lots of two restaurants side by side with car parks between each block of restaurants. The menus are also regulated so that more or less the same choices are available. Any vehicle that arrives to Jimbaran is subject to a 2000 rupiah entry fee (whether you are eating there or not) and there are toll stops at both ends of the bay. It seemed that these newer (the transformation was completed earlier this year) 24 restaurants were a lot busier than the two other groups down the other end of the beach. I was told that the tour operators and agents have more arrangements with these government controlled restaurants and therefore a lot more tourists come there as part of package tours. Also what we found with this group of restaurants was that the ubiquitous touts in front of each restaurant were far more persistant and most, once they had your attention, would offer 'discounts' off the listed price on the menu. However, after eating there once, we realised that even with the 'discount,' after paying the tax and the generally higher price, our meal cost more than at the simpler, humbler and more honest restaurants at the other end of the bay. Personally we found the atmosphere more pleasant at the middle group of restaurants. Apart from the lack of hype and attempt at flash presentations, the listed prices were lower, tax included in price and there were no offers of 'discounts.' Yet, the seafood was just as fresh, waiters just as accomodating, the meals were just as good and the bill was lower than the trendy restaurants up the beach.
While staying at Jimbaran, we used part of one day to venture into Kuta to do some shopping and let my kids see what all the fuss is about. I won't waste too much space on this post discussing Kuta. I know that there are many fans of Kuta on this forum and I don't want to get into a debate on the merits or faults of Kuta. Let's just say that, for my wife and I, Kuta was even more shocking than expected. The congestion, the hustle, the glitter, the gross. Tourism gone very very unfortunate. We spent about five hours walking the streets and the beach at Kuta/Legian and than gratefully escaped back to the relative calm of Jimbaran Bay.
A special treat while at Jimbaran was that it was the Balinese holiday, Kuningan. The holiday actually began one or two weeks earlier with Galungan and culminates with Kuningan. The beautifully decorated bamboo poles which lined so many of the streets everywhere we went in Bali, we were told are only up for the weeks during and just after Galungan/Kuningan. There were extra offerings which were brought to shrines and temples. The lovely sight of Balinese men, women and children dressed in their finest sarongs, shirts and headgear going to temple to pray and give offerings. Actually, this show of devotion was a pleasant surprise for me. I had seen it 23 years ago and remember it well. But with all the development, commercialisation and Westernisation present in Bali, I expected a lot less tradition and devotion to ritual. It is such a tribute to the incredible spirit of the Balinese people that they refuse to let go of their rich and beautiful cultural traditions. In spite of the onslaught of Western driven commercialisation and exploitation, the Balinese, unlike many other native peoples in touristed areas of the world, have been able to maintain so much of their customs and traditions.
Speaking of culture, our next stop was Ubud. My expectations were unfortunately high as I had such fond memories of the Ubud of 1984. The 'little village' had truly grown and the downtown area was shop after shop after shop---mostly selling the same things. And the number of taxi drivers was way out of proportion to the number of tourists. 'Transport,' What's your name?' Where you from?' 'Barong Dance? ' 'Come and look.' 'Taxi?' I expected this kind of chorus in Kuta but not in Ubud and yet it was ever-present here. The apparent lack of tourists seemed to be a theme at every place we were, apart from Kuta. A lot of Balinese told us that since the last bombing, things still have not picked up. The best part of our stay in Ubud was whilst we were having a look around the area with a driver we had hired for half a day, we happened upon a temple festival at the outskirts of Ubud. We asked our driver to stop which he reluctantly did (he really wanted to take us to one more wood carving or painting gallery in hopes that we might finally buy something which could earn him a little extra commission). We got out and put on our sarongs and were the only orang putihs in sight (and were we quite a sight in our sarongs. . .). Inside the temple were three gamelan groups and two dancers wearing masks. Everyone was colourfully and delightfully dressed in their temple best and the children were absolutely gorgeous! We stood near the back and tried to be as inconspicuous as possible (which is of course impossible, but due to the rapt attention demanded by the dancers, most of the people inside were far less interested in looking at the silly foreigners in skirts). The sounds and the sights were magical! I was so happy that my kids got to have this experience. A true Balinese experience. No tourists, no pretense, no hype. I remember many of such experiences 23 years ago. How refreshing to know that even now, it still can happen. We left the temple and got back in the car and our driver took us to see the rice paddies, as we had requested. But in true tourist guide style, he took us to THE rice paddy. A spot where dozens of taxis and tour busses were parked off the road and where one can photograph a most picturesque and truly photogenic terraced rice field. Shops selling trinkets and restaurants selling overpriced soft drinks conveniently provided respite for the camera toting tourist. We hurriedly left the scene mobbed by sellers thrusting carved wooden statues and sarongs for extremely low prices in our faces. As we headed back to Ubud we passed more rice fields which were merely growing rice without a camera to be seen.
Our final destination was Padangbai. The most pleasant surprise of the entire two week holiday was Padangbai. Here we found aspects of the Bali from 23 years ago (Shhhh, please don't tell Lonely Planet, OK?). Very laid back, very quiet, very low key. We got out of the car when we arrived and actually walked fifty meters without a single person asking us to buy something, if we needed transport or to come in for a meal. What a treat! Fortunately, there are only three hotels with pools so it was easy to decide where to stay. By the way, before arriving in Bali, we only booked the first two nights in Sanur and all the other places we stayed we just chose upon arrival (although we had a list of places recommended on this forum to choose from). We snorkelled off Blue Lagoon and enjoyed the beautiful White Sands Beach, both on either side of Padangbai Bay. When we arrived to White Sands beach after walking the ten minute track through bush and rubbish tip, it was like taking a step back in time. About seven or so bamboo and thatch warungs. Very basic and cheap food. A few sellers quietly plying the sands for lounging tourists. A beautiful crescent shaped bay, white sand and very few tourists. Not a hotel or electricity in sight. No roads for cars or busses. It was like Bali back in the old days. But wait! It won't be here for long. Yes, this little relic of a beachfront is soon to be history. Apparently a foreign concern (some said Korean or Japanese whilst others said European or American and Javanese) has bought White Sands Beach and the hillside behind it. It will be developed with Villas, resort and a flash beachside restaurant. All the little warungs on the beach must go in a few months time. The unassuming, unpretentious will be replaced by assuming and pretentious. Our favourite warung cook and masseuse, Ilu will be out of a job. Even the mobile art gallery owner, Nyoman, will not be allowed to come down to the beach to sell to tourists because he says that one will be required to go through the development's new walkway and only tourists can do that, not sellers. So, for those lucky enough to get there soon they will see a bit of history because 'progress' is on the way. Over on the other side of Padangbai harbour, at Blue Lagoon, something similar is happening. Villas are being constructed and the relatively quiet low key atmosphere of Blue Lagoon may be at risk. So, once again, I am grateful that my kids were able to experience something similar to what their parents saw the first time they went to Bali.
I suppose I have rambled on enough. Oh yea, I was going to say something about ATMs and money. I spent heaps of time on this subject in this forum's archives. I even asked questions and got many replies. And I must say, my experience was easy easy easy. Yes, we took some cash with us, to be safe and prepared should the cards not work. But there was only one time in 16 days when our cash was needed. We used the VISA card to make cash withdrawals. About exchange rate: As good as or better than on the streets. About commission: 1%. Nothing more. We paid for hotels with VISA—no commission and a good exchange rate. We used ATMs and withdrew the max (1.5 million rupiah). We didn't have to worry about carrying around lots of US or Kiwi dollars. I really highly recommend using this method. Only in Padangbai where we could find only one ATM machine were we stuck. It didn't accommodate Plus credit cards so we couldn't use this machine. So we went to a money changer and changed some Kiwi dollars totally relaxed, got a good exchange rate, easy and honest. No fast change, slight of hand work, bad notes or short changing. The whole money exchange thing for us was an absolute non-issue.
So there you have it. I hope some of this JBR will prove useful if not entertaining for someone. This forum is a wonderful asset and I want to thank all out there who helped me and my family prepare for a most memorable holiday to Bali.