I went to Bali last November, for 9 nights and it was my first trip. TBH I left feeling good about the trip but had a dose of Salmonella Enteridis which definately put a damnper on the second half of my trip.
Anyway, its been a while so I can't remember every single detail but here it is :)
We left Perth on GA727 at 8am or so, the night before I was full of nerves and anticipation so I hadn't slept very well and I am not a great morning person so the 6am start was pretty hard, but I got to the airport and we got on the plane with no fuss and no real wait. We had a packed flight over and everyone shared the excitement of getting there, especially with the landing.. wow who needs to go on a roller coaster :D We were there and it was only midday and the holiday was starting!
We were the only plane landing so we went through VOA and luggage quickly and with no problems, and found our transfer who took us to the Bounty hotel...
I'm only going to say one negative thing about the bounty, and its not really a negative for all, but for me it definately was. I am 27, so not very old, I like to party and have fun even if I don't go out to pubs and clubs till all hours and whatnot, but if you want a full night sleep then stay elsewhere :) The bounty has a motto on the sign out the front, which is along the lines of eat drink drink drink drink sex? or something. Then has a picture of someone crawling with a bottle in their hand on one of them yellow workman signs. The hotel seems to make all their money selling booze to young kiddies who happily sink it and spend all their cash in the hotel or one of their nights... and they do it well! So uh my rant is just if you are young love to drink and have a non stop party go to the bounty. If you want t a more sedate holiday and some quiet beers then perhaps go elsewhere :) Now some positives! The hotel staff were absolutely unreal, We tipped Suki quite well before leaving as he always smiled, always helped when required, and kept our rooms so clean. I'd go back to any hotel if he was working there because he made the biggest difference in my trip :) So I rant but I guess the hotel is a big part of the trip as its your home away from home for the time you are away. We were in quiet rooms on the back half of the hotel and the place was nice and quiet all day and even into the early evening until about 3am or so... then it go loud :/ Twinkletoes the elephant kept stomping up and down them damn stairs and it seriously ruined sleep night after night. So yeah, another hotel if you want uninterupted sleep :)
What did I do in Bali?
I shopped a fair bit. I went to some of the big malls, Discovery, Matahari, Supa Nova. I walked along the streets and had a look in the shops as we went along. I went to the Legian Art Markets... they were pretty good to get large amounts of stuff, but the ladies there were pretty desperate for sales, it didn't look like many people went there to shop... We went on a couple day trips, I went with a driver called Ketut. We were put onto him from George at Bagus pub. George and I got along great since he could remember my name... George... anyway, he approached us and asked if we needed a driver, which in fact we did, drivers were a bit tied up, well the good ones i got the numbers from the forum for as the summit in bali was on... He said HE would be taking us out for the day and what not. We asked him a lot of questions, to make sure he knew what was going on and that he wasn't going ot just take our money, and agreed on a price on the proviso that our other companions didn't object, we later confirmed with him. The day our trip came George was waiting in the lobby with Ketut, Ketut was going to take us for the day, I guess thats why I thought George looked a bit shifty, he made the sale as if he was going to take us but Ketut did... looks like its a common thing to be done but its a shame he didn't just go upfront with us as we would have still been happy that way... I rant, sorry. So Ketut took us on the regular trip, seeing all the bali arts and skills, gold/silver, wood carving, painting, barong dance. Went to the volcano's and had lunch there, 100k goddamn! What an overpriced lunch, I was at this stage sick with the stomach bug so I only had one spare plate and that was about it ... not real good value for me. The trip itself was good, getting to see more of Bali than just the Touristy stuff as he took us back ways through villages and we got to see how some of them lived. We did this another day and went in the other direction to Lovina/SingaRaja and saw Monkey Forrest that day as well. Was okay but I was feeling crap so didn't absorb it as much as I normally would have. I went on the yellow cat, the bounty catamarang to the island, Lembongan? I think. The buffet lunch is what I am 99% sure what gave me the salmonella. In its defence it was delicious, but just a bit cold and probably combined with my skill of getting sick just tipped it off.
My recollection isn't very ordered, its kinda all over the place but i did do all these things, just maybe not in that order.
We changed money at a Government money changer near Bemo Corner. The money changer was just before the corner if you were going on the flow of traffic, on the left hand side if you were also heading in the same direction of the traffic. There is another one just before it, but we always went to the second one. The place is guarded by a guy with a AK47, so I had to get a photo with him looking tuff :D Real nice guy though. We never had any issue and the correct money was always tendered and always a good rate.
I ate at a few places, they were all pretty good, I'm not too fussy and seemed to gravitate to Nasi Goreng and Pisang Goreng for desert with BINTANG! Exceptional food was found at Indo National, we went there on the last night and after a week of seeing bali hygene, and whilst clean in some places or not, this was extremely refreshing, and the food great, even if it cost more than the other places... still cheap when you look at what you pay in aussie money. Another good place to eat is upstairs on poppies ii. Jus on the left hand side after the bounty about 50-100m, before you get to the circle K on the right hand side you see a small lane you can walk down and some stairs to go up. Up there is a really nice restaurant, cheap, clean and tasty! Bagus Pub is great for cold beers, bloody cold beers I should say :D and the food wasn't too bad.
Since going to bali I have been on another trip to Penang and Singapore. Can't compare Singapore to Bali as its like a western modern city almost, but can Penang, and Bali is so much more alive and vibrant, and cheaper, and more fun, and nicer food, and cheaper beer so I'd definately go back to Bali over penang... well I am definately going back to bali :)
I went there with an open mind, hoping to try learn a bit about the place, and I did, I saw a decent amount of the island, admittedly only touristy parts, but some non touristy stuff in between. I talked to the people, mainly on a superficial basis, but some you get to have a good geniune chat with you get to learn about their lives a bit and it makes you really feel lucky to live in Australia! Well not Australia, but to have a lifestyle that enables you to travel and eat regularly, buy clothing and live in a clean and functional home, which most of them do, but I think we got it a lot easier here.
I left bali sick... but not sick of the place and already am planning to go back :) My missus who would never ever have agreed to go there, she was well and truly scared by the two bombs, and that she'll get done like Chappelle... has even agreed to come with me... so hopefully I'll get back sometime this year :D And then there's the boys trip early next year... and so on :D
Thanks for reading, if you read my dribble to the end :) I haven't included many specifics, but if you did want to ask, then please don't hesistate and i'll try dredge it up from my memory to answer :)