We had a great flight over on Jetstar, nothing special, but no dramas considering Melbourne-Sydney-Despasar flights. Got into Bali around 10pm but were sooo tired & after checking into the Bali Dynasty, had a night cap and went to sleep!
BTW Bali Dynasty is still under construction in the front section, so first time guests would wonder 'what the' , as its not a pretty sight. We had a family garden room & I must say that we heard NO noise from the front construction that was being carried out in the front of Dynasty.
1st full day in Bali we had a bit of a relaxing one, getting money changed at the Kodak shop in the front, then up to Discovery to buy brekkie at KFC (which was much cheaper than the 100,000+ each person Dynasty were charging for their American brekkie) which worked out to cost 100,000rp to feed 4 of us. Next it was off to Makro store for our stock up supplies of shampoo, snacks, drinks, panadole, tissues and two boxes of 48 cups of drinking water!!! Along with getting huge bags of rice, books, pencils & pens for the orphanage we had intended to visit in the coming days. These items are too heavy to bring from Oz & much cheaper to buy here, plus the fact that our bags where full with soft toys & clothing also to donate. Once back at the hotel (staff looked at us funny with the amount of shopping we brought back to our room. I'm sure it must have looked like we were staying a year.) and once unpacked, it was time for some R & R by the pool. Thank goodness you can still get drinks by the bucket! Order of the day was a bucket of pina colada, followed by a second. Later that day we went & got sim cards for our phones. We had our first evening meal at Bali Colada, which is at the back of Discovery facing the ocean. Was a good meal there & over the next two weeks we went there maybe two or 3 more times.
2nd day was our first trip day (we were trying to do a trip day & then a rest/shopping day, trip day, rest day etc so we don't get too worn out). After this tie having brekkie at Breadtalk it was off too Ubud to the Monkey forest, god it's so cool there! Every time I come here I am in awe at the little critters, even when one grabbed me by the pants to try and find the banana's I was hiding in my top. We wandered around there for about 45 mins, even seen the monkeys jiggy jig! ha ha ha. After the monkey forest we went with our driver Peter Brock to his house to meet his family. He has one son named Abby 12 years, and a daughter named Melika 8 years, who is handicapped and in a wheel chair. His wife does not work as she needs to look after the daughter. They live (as a lot of Balinese do) in like a commune with extended family members. There were maybe up to 20 family members living here. This way its a lot cheaper to afford land and houses and food etc. After our drivers house we went to the Dharma Jati I orphanage OMG its was pretty sad, but at the same time a really cool experience & one that I will do the next time I travel back to Bali. Between myself, my youngest sister & two sister-in-laws we took a full suitcase full of clothes, one of soft toys, many pens & pencils and writing pads! Oh and some big bags of rice and lollies! There were about 30 orphans who came to greet us (120 total live there all together) and they were so nice, they even sang songs for us. All 30 were looked after by one woman "Miss Morning". She was choice! When they posed for pictures they would say "1.2.3. whiskey" and instead of doing the peace sign their fingers were around the other way! So funny! After the orphanage we went to the Bali Safari and Marine park. This was an amazing place! Never on any of my other trips to Bali had I been. We took soooooooooooo many pictures! I had a baby orang-utan called "Effie" hanging around my neck! I had a baby lion cub named "chebby" sitting (yes sitting!!!) on my knee, AND I rode an elephant!!!!! And although there was glass between us I had a full grown white tiger only 6 inches from my nose looking right at me. OMG that was totally amazing!!! The stone carvings there were amazing too. We had got there some what later than the normal visitors to the park, but that was NO problem to the park staff, which made sure we got our monies worth & keep us in the park until around 6.00 maybe 6.30, when it normally closes at 5. A close to another eventful day that tuckered us out
3rd day Was a total shopping day! My sister was chuffed when she brought 2 pairs of shoes! one pair of Nike free running shoes (NZD$40) and a pair of Nike + to match her ipod chip (NZD$55) that she had just purchased, she is also getting a 4 piece suit tailored (pants, skirt, vest, jacket) which will cost approx NZD$120 at Browns suits, although we ended up calling him 'Mr Brown Town' every time we visited him, We have also negotiated a good price for a tattoos, which will be getting started on 7th April. Im going first & getting 4 tattoos in all, although two are old faded ones that are in need of a good re-colour, on the 8th my sister and is pretty much getting a dragon the full length of her thigh which will need to be done in two sitting and be approx 10 hours work, I have negotiated this and its works out to be approx NZD$270 - stoked! 10th sister & sister-in-law for more tattoo work. A close to another busy day shopping, bargaining & eating
4th day - We had another trip day. This time we are heading to Nusa Dua, this is at the bottom end of Bali. Again we engaged Peter Brock as our driver, as he is pretty good at getting from A to B & understands what we want to do and where we want to go. We had a blast and done parasailing, as well we all went snorkelling (my sister seen a sea snake swimming right by her - eww!). Visibility wasn't that crash hot, but it was refreshing to have a splash in the water from the sun heat. We did see many fish though. After snorkelling we went to Turtle Island. This was pretty cool as we got to hold turtles, an eagle, a bat, a toucan bird (like Guinness bird), a python AND we got to watch a cock fight! Where the roosters fight to the death - except this was a safe one where there weren't any razor blades strapped to their feet so none of them died awesome! After Turtle island we went to Uluwatu Temple - my sister's second home in Bali! Seen some awesome waves at a break called "Temples"! There were about 3 bus loads of Japanese tourists there & we sort of got mobbed by them! They kept taking our photos with them. They started saying my sister looked like David Beckham, so maybe that's why they were taking photos or maybe it was because some of us had tatt's or maybe because they hadn't really seen many westerners before......who knows, but now I know how it feel to be like a celebrity a little with the paparazzi. After the temple we went to Uluwatu surf break! OMG it was awesome, probably about 4 foot waves and PERFECT, only thing was there was about 100 people out in the surf!!!! We didn't go out because my sister didn't take her board, but we all went reef swimming which was great! We are going to try & take a trip back next week and we will definitely take the surfboard and our snorkelling gear cause the water is blue crystal clear, much better than in Nusa Dua! After we got home from our trip we went to Legian for dinner, we have been pretty cautious about where we eat as we want to steer clear of Bali belly, as my sister had got it when she visited 6 months earlier! so we go to this nice restaurant and I order a chicken wings, only problem when they came out they did not look like chicken wings at all and tasted like duck! Next my sister ordered "Tenderloin Steak' We were all starving from swimming most of the day and only having bread for brekkie! Her plate comes out and she digs in - she says the meat tastes a little weird but she was so hungry & I eat most of it anyway. She offers my sister-in law Eleana a try and she smells it and is like "HELLO NO!" I smell it & it was like nothing I have ever tried before - and now we are all convinced she was eating DOG! Ewwww! To make matters worse we even asked the taxi driver on the way back to hotel if he has eaten dog, to which he replied that he had & that it is VERY good for you & full of vitamins. Oh well she didn't get sick from it! After dinner we went to the HULU Cafe which is a drag cabaret, we went last time but wanted to take Astrid as its a hoot, everyone loved it. one of the "girls" got my sister up and on stage with her! ha ha ha - the pictures and video are hilarious!
Today I got up early and went for my beach walk, my sister was also up and went for a surf for a couple of hours at Kuta Beach, the surf was pretty small, but she loves surfing with all the locals - they are so friendly and its great sharing stories with them. We walked back along the beach to our hotel and seen 2 young kids surfing, probably around 6 and 8 - holy heck could they rip!! And I mean they were awesome! After surfing we went to the surf factory shops and Harley Davidson shop, they are expensive compared to the markets. We had lunch at Planet Hollywood. It was SO empty there & Galleria (to me) isn't that great. After that we went to ACE hardware store. I wanted to show my sister where it was, she thought it odd me wanting to take her there of all places, seems weird but its kinda like a big "warehouse" they sell everything including a 2 person bath with jets, bubbles, leather head rests AND a LCD screen!! I ended up buy from Ace, a reverse mirror for my car with pink diamantes!!! Sad but true. Also brought a really nice bathroom set.
Took our shopping back to the hotel, then it was time to hit the shops in Kuta again, have dinner and get some much need sleep.
Well its been a few day fantastic days in paradise.
Today is the day for my tattoos. We had done a lot of looking around for a tattooist that was not only good, but had the cleanest equipment and rooms. After much talking and looking at a whole range of tattooists from Legian to Kuta, we settled on Bali Ink on Jalan Kartika plaza. It hadn't even officially opened, but they are a very friendly bunch there, from Yogi (manager), Froggy (tattooist) & fox man (scout). From that day forward we payed a visit every time we were walking up to the plaza. I got 4 tattoos done that day, which cost me $130au. My tattoo on my back alone would have cost me maybe $400-$500au had I got it done back here in Melbourne.
While at the tattooists I received a text message from NZ saying I was an aunty again, as my sister in law delivered a 6lb baby girl though there is some bad news she is intensive care as she has a hole in the heart & some other problems. She is going to pull through as our family is a bunch of fighters.
All the other girls went shopping for the day. Our hotel room is now starting to look like a Chinese laundry with all the stuff we have hanging around.
Today we went to Tanha Lot Temple again to take in the sights, although the foulest thing! Well my sister and I had just had a photo of a HUGE python around our necks and then when it was on me it vomited (but wait there's more), yuk! Once it was off me and the 2 guys were carrying it back to the shade, it had a massive case of the runs ! ewww - worst thing was the smell! Eleana has a pretty strong stomach and she was dry reaching! ha ha ha.
My sister hadn't seen Kerobokan Prison, so we stopped on the way back for her to take some pic's. Its kinda weird cause around the prison is all suburban and stuff. You could easily drive past and miss it.
Next we went to Denpasar Markets, it was horrible! We got hassled & mobbed so bad! All the locals are literally tugging and pulling at you to buy from them! I don't remember it being that bad the last time I went there. They kept away from my sister as they could tell she was getting mad. One man even stood on her. It hasn't nice at all, so we promptly left, without buying anything or having a good look around. Our next stop we looked around the mall in Denpasar and it was weird as we were the only white people there. Shop attendants were dropping things because they were staring so much! ha ah ha. Its quite funny cause all the Indo people give them selves a European name! So far I have met Lulu big tits big bum, jingle bells, peter Brock etc etc! you know what I mean so my sister-in-law the name "sponge boba" & my sister is going by "Ketut Diablo Beckham" - It might be one of those you have to be there things, but its pretty funny!
it was my sister-in-laws birthday so we all went to Hard Rock Cafe for dinner - oh my gosh the food was sooooooo good! AND we told them it was Eleana's birthday and they done this birthday song, about 10 people came out all clanging and banging drums and gongs and singing! Was sooooooo cool & unexpected.
Today was my sister's birthday & she started off with surf at Kuta beach, I think she was in the water for only about 5 mins before hoping out because the pollution was sooo disgusting! She went to surf through one wave and came up with a plastic bag on her head! After that, had a quick brekkie then went to the tattooists! Today it was my sister's turn, which ended up being a 5 hour session for her. While the rest of us went shopping but popping in every so often to check how she was going. Next it was my sister-in-laws turn & only an hour's session for her. Both girl were licking their wounds (so to speak) for the rest of the night....so took it easy that evening.
Today was a shopping day, we took a trip to Seminyak to shop - we checked out a few shops, but we didn't really like it there so we headed back to Legian and Kuta area! We done sooooo much shopping - we were all like 'bag' ladies). I think we went for dinner at a nice seafood place at the Kartika plaza and more shopping after dinner.
10th day we had a trip day, a trip we had all been looking forward to - The Truyan (True - yarn) Village. We hired a driver and explained where we wanted to go (not many tourists go there so its a bit out of the way) first he took us to Nusa Dua which is in the complete opposite direction from where we wanted to go! Back on track and we set out on our journey. It took approx 3 hours to get to the crater lake which is situated between 2 active volcanos. Just out of Ubud just a police road block. They waved our driver over, but our driver didn't stop!!! By now we were getting a little suspicious & thought; maybe he didn't have a driver's licence. For some reason the police did not chase us.
we got taken down to the lake to catch a boat across the other side of the lake to the Truyan Village, after battling off hawkers and hustlers we were offered a boat at 500,000rp each person. They would not bargain with us, so we told the driver to take us back to Kuta, somewhat disappointed. As we were pulling out of the gate another guy flagged us down (whom we thought was with the other bunch), but it turned out he wasn't. Sorted out a price with him and finally caught a boat (expensive by Indonesian standards). Once in the village we first visited the temple, there were soooooo many offerings, even seen a skinned cows tail and lots of Chinese coins. Next we went to the cemetery (which is why we went) in this village they don't bury the dead, they leave them above ground with cane/bamboo cages over them (to stop animals getting them) once the flesh has all decomposed and its just the bones left, they take the skulls and put them on this stone & moss wall and pretty much just rake the bones away! We were literally standing on old human bones - it was like they had just made a big pile of all the old offerings and bones - yuk! We were lucky enough to have seen a 5 day old corps, like literally they dont cover them (apart from clothes), so you could see the face and feet etc! Weird thing is there is no smell at all! The chief told us this was because of a tree they have in the cemetery - it takes away any odour! I was quite appalled at what lengths they would go to just to make a buck! I mean if that was NZ there would be no way at all that would happen - I mean they even offered if we wanted a photo holding a skull - we politely declined as we/ I think we had more respect for the dead! Well after that experience it was back on the boat across the crater lake! By village I mean village - the people were literally fishing from canoes they had carved from tree trunks ( I have pics) it was amazing!! Back on our 3 hour trip back to the hotel. The drivers we had today were d-heads! We told them so many times to turn the music down & every time a song came on that they liked, up went the volume again. Again heading into Ubud the police now had police stops on both sides of the road. This time our driver couldn't escape and had to stop. He asked for 10,000 before the officer got to the car door & handed it to the police officer in a manner that no one else could see. We were then waved through. Once clear we asked him why he paid off the police officer. Turns out he didn't had a registration cert for the car! Oh well lucky our police cant be paid off as cheaply. We then asked our drivers to stop in Ubud so we could get some food & the go to the Ubud markets. You guessed it, they went right through Ubud without stopping and we ended up in some out of the way restaurant of their choosing. We didn't even get out of the car, instead we had decided we had had enough & just wanted to get back to Kuta. They were young, did as they pleased, so we didn't give them a tip because of the slack service! We had a shower then went to dinner at a Italian place right on the beach - I ordered a bloody Mary and heck was it HOT!!! I think they used half the bottle of Tabasco sauce. I couldn't even drink it, Spent the rest of the night with more shopping.
11 day - I went for my morning walk along the beach, while my sister went for a run. After her run we met up & went to go and see the beach vendors and a guy I had made friends with "Johan" - my sister had arranged a deal for her shoes, he wanted her old adidas running shoes and in trade for them he swapped a string of pearls and a pearl ring! She had just been for a 2km run in the heat, so you imagine how much she was sweating! She took of her shoes for him and he said "oh I like your socks too, I'll have them as well"!. We both said, but they are wet & sweaty and in need of washing, but he didn't care, so she gave them to him as well. After brekkie my sister went and sat for another 3 hours for her leg tattoo and another hour for her elbow tattoo (which was much more painful). Next was my sister-laws turn for her second go on her tattoo. After the tats were done we headed off and we went to Kuta square for the night, shopping, ha ha ha surprise surprise!
12 dayl - Our last day, we went and negotiated prices on the bags we all liked. packed our bags (All over weight) and checked out at 12 noon. After this we went and got our hair braided again and pedicures. We done some final gift buying and had a lovely dinner at an Indonesian place in Discovery Mall. It was quite funny one of the workers walked into the glass door there and got this huge bump on his head, when we went to walk out the door we could see the mark on the glass window and could see his eye and mouth marks - was sooo funny we laughed sooo hard! our final bags weighed in at Tanya - 10 kg hand luggage, 18 kg checked bag plus a 5 kg surfboard! Eleana - 12 kg hand luggage, 22 kg checked luggage! Me 15 kg hand luggage & 22kg checked (not bad for a girl that only took one pair of shorts and a tee shirt over) WE had a nice shower and went off to say goodbye to the boys at "Bali Ink" where we got our tats, they presented each of us girls with a Bali Ink tee shirt, cap and car sticker. We also said our good by's to all the street vendors along the way we had gotten to know quite well.
It was the final count down to our flight, we had this weird feeling of not really wanting to leave, but having too.
We got through Bali customs sweet as, caught our plane to Melbourne, it was a hideous night flight and sleeping was a minimum.
13th day
When we got to Melbourne airport it took us about 1 hour to wait in line just to get through customs, we cleared customs in about 5 mins with 800 DVD's between 3 of us!!!.