Girls trip to Bali from 14-26th July, its taken me all this time to get back on here as its sooo depressing being back after the best holiday!!
Great flight with Garuda ex Sydney, no problems everyone very excited. 2 Mum's and 2 daughters 16 & 19, their first trip to Bali.I had not been for 20 years, and as soon as I was off that plane it was like WOW yes that is the smell, the feeling, everything as I remembered it.
Puri Raja was just fantastic... can't speak highly enough of it, the staff were so friendly, the resort was very busy, but quiet when you wanted it to be. Loved the restaurant, we attended 2 nights of the buffet with live music, many jugs of Illusions were had, met so many great people, just cant rave enough about it. We found the breakfast great, they were happy to let us have whatever we wanted each day, never a problem. The rooms were very clean and comfortable.
We had two great days planned prior to leaving, the first being with Jimmy a driver my friend used 2 years ago. Lovely man, took us to all the cultural touristy things, Ubud, Monkey forest, Barong Dance, etc etc topped off with a visit to Tanah Lot at sunset. A fantastic day, and a real eye opener for the girls too. We did lots of shopping (suprise suprise) and really enjoyed lunch at Indus, Ubud.
The real Gem of this trip was our day spent with Ketut. What a treat! Nicki Lawson, the greatest travel agent to grace this earth, recommended Ketut as I had asked if we could visit an orphanage and do a cooking class. After afew discussion, we decided to do the traditional cooking class in the village with Ketut's sister Made. Ketut picked us up, and wow he is such a laugh and alot of fun, anyway, we had a few hiccups, like the van breaking down, with many "paper sellers" at every window of the car, he left us and took off to find a mechanic... all we could do was laugh. He arrived back, a quick TOE and an hour later we were back on the road! Poor Ketut, so embarrased as we had to assist with the bill for the car repairs but all was good. We arrived at the orphanage and met the mother and around 40 of the children. We had taken our bags full of treats for the kids, which we laid out and had a xmas in july with them! IT was the most moving experience, both the girls have said , "life changing" and want to go back every year. We spent afew hours with the children, then said our goodbyes. We gave mother a donantion also, and signed the visitors book. Ketut then took us to his village where we met his family. They were very excited to meet us and we began the cooking class. Words cannot describe the looks on my daughters face, as we chopped chicken, blended spices and wrapped in banana leaves. We prepared a bean and coconut salad, along with chicken something... A family arrived from France, with good looking teenage boys, so of course the mood of our teenage girls stepped up, and what a night we all had! The children in the village did a traditional show, then it was time to eat. The girls were very slow to the floor, and we all sat around waiting for our eating utensils - ah WRONG fingers here11 so out came the hand sanitizer, what a laugh!! IT was the best night, we sang all the way home with ketut at the wheel and is something none of us will ever forget.
Other higlights of the trip were daily visits to the Melasti Day Spa next door to Puri Raja, excellence in everything they do. Dinners at Seaside restaurant, just north or Puri Raja, sensational food and views.
I want to thank all the people on this site, as I had obtained loads of info prior to leaving, and used it all, so thankyou to everyone who is so eager to answer questions and post great information.... great part of it all is NOW I have to take my Hubby back, had confirmation from Nicki this morning , back to Puri Raja on the 6th December!!!