Hi all
I just got back on Sunday from a brilliant trip to Indonesia. I travelled with my family (three of us, and my uncle joined us for a week in the middle). We flew with Qatar from the UK to Kuala Lumpur (via Doha), then flew Air Asia on to Bali. Here's my report.
Bali
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After spending a day and a night in Kuala Lumpur, we flew into Bali with Air Asia in the morning and landed around lunch time. After ths one night stop over, we all felt fresh and excited to be arriving once again in our favourite island.
The sun was shining as we drove in a taxi towards Poppies 1 to check into the Masa Inn. This was the first time that I had stayed in the Masa, and I found it to be a good option for the price (250,000rp for a double room). The two pools are lovely and the breakfast is good.
After quickly dumping our bags, we made our way down to Kuta beach to Suyit's beach bar, in front of the Inna Kuta beach. It was great to see Suyit, Heri, Rudy, Michael, Jimmy, and all of the other familiar faces that we have come to know over the years. It felt like we had come home as we sat with a Bintang and watched the sunset and caught up with everyone. We spent the next few days relaxing on the beach, eating nasi campur for lunch from a warung on the beach and having dinner at the many cheap restaurants on Poppies 1. Quite a few late nights were also spent dancing the night away in Expresso bar on Jalan Legian. A great way to relax after such a long journey.
Gili Trawangan
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After my uncle's arrival in Bali a few days into our trip, we were all excited to be heading off to Gili Trawangan for some diving, rest, and plenty of cocktails. Although I had been to Gili T a few times before, this was going to be the first time that I was to take the Blue Water Safari speed boat direct from Bali. I had booked this by email from home (600,000rp one way), as we were keen to waste as little time as possible on this short holiday. This is by far the fastest way to get to the Gilis.
After a late night in Expresso (yes, another one!), we had to be up early to get picked up by Blue Water Safari at 6:15am. After picking up a couple of people, we were at Benoa Harbour by 7, and after a very rough and VERY WET journey, we landed on the beach in Gili Trawangan at around 9:30. We climbed onto shore absolutely DRENCHED (I cannot emphasise how wet we were... and to be honest, slightly shaken by the 2 hour roller coaster ride!). However, I think this rough journey is worth gritting your teeth and bearing if you consider the time that they are able to get you to the Gilis... we were there before breakfast! In that respect, the cost and scary experience were most definitely worth it.
After drying off a little in a beach bar with our backpacks, we ventured off to find some accommodation and came across some lovely little rooms that we had never seen before, called Beach Wind Bungalows. These were 100,000rp for one room (cold water, fan, nice and airy and clean) or 175,000rp for a traditional style hut with an open air bathroom (this is what I stayed in - some of my family had the 100,000rp room). Breakfast was included. The staff were friendly and helpful, and towels, toilet paper, and blankets were readily supplied. It is right in the middle of the central strip as well, close to the snorkelling beach and also close to the main bars at the other end (e.g Irish Bar, Trawangan Bar, Rudy's). It suited us perfecty.
We spent 5 nights here chilling out and generally just having a really relaxing time. On Sunday it was my Dad's 50th birthday (the real purpose of this trip to Indonesia!). We had a great breakfast at the Irish Bar, and spent the day on the beach, before having a party (secretly organised by the barmen Razi and Boris) in Trawangan Bar. We had organised it with them a couple of days earlier, and it turned out brilliantly - hundreds of hand-made bamboo leaf decorations were hanging up (courtesy of Razi and Boris themselves), we had 15 massive small lobsters, fireworks on the beach and a special cake iced and delivered from Lombok that day. It was really special.
On another day we caught the island hopper boat service to Gili Air for the day. It left at 9:30 from Gili T and returned from Gili Air at 3pm, and cost about 40,000rp per person return. Gili Air was quiet, but had a quite a few little bars and restaurants to choose from right on the beautiful white sandy beach. We bought a drink from one and made use of their sun beds for the afternoon, snorkelling (this was as good here as Gili T, but with different kinds of fish to see) and eating fresh pineapple, bananas and mango from the local lady sellers. It was a really great day out.
Other activities in Gili T included two dives (lots of turtles, cuttlefish, sharks,and lovely fish!), a trip in a cimodo (horse and cart) to the other side of the island to see a beautiful sunset, lots of snorkelling, and of course lots and lots of realxing in bars on cushions with a cocktail or bintang watching the world go by.
For anyone that hasn't ventured as far as the Gilis yet, I would really recommend it. Gili Trawangan was maybe more busy than I have ever seen it, but was still very quiet and chilled out. The pace of life is so slow there, with no cars, so many people just hanging out and being happy, and it is just so pristinely beautiful... If you haven't been, then you should go.
Bali Again
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The speed boat back to Bali was still a bit wet, but less rough than the outward journey. Sometimes, apparently it isn't rough at all. i guess you just have to be lucky. My uncle was leaving on the same evening, and our plan was to just chill in Bali for a couple of days before heading off on our next adventure. We were in Bali by lunch time (leaving Goli T at 10am), and spent the afternoon back down at Suyit's Bar on Kuta beach. Everyone was happy to see us back and wanted to hear all about our travels.
As there was no room at the Masa, we booked into la Walon on Poppies 1, next door. There was some building work going on here as there are lots of new rooms being built, but we couldn't hear any noise as our room was at the back. The room was 180,000rp (so a bit cheaper than the Masa) for a very similar standard of room.
After a few days on the beach and as many late nights out dancing in the Reggae Bar, Bounty, MBargo and of course Expresso, we were ready to begin our next adventure: volcano climbing in Java.
To be continued....