It will be interesting to see what the replies will be to my JBR. This will be a warts and all JBR, as it should be, and I think it's right to talk about our holiday as we experienced it.So here we go...... Left 8th got back 22nd
Trip over good, no worries at the airport, flight on time, staff good, food? well it's airline food nothing more needs to be said.
Arrived on time, did VIP VOA, very efficient, no other planes there at same time (eta 2.30 Sat arvo)drivers waiting and off we go.
I've been to Thailand so knew what to expect (2 fams of 4 ea) our friends were startled, horrified, scared (of the traffic!) awed (by the dare devil motor bike riders!).
Arrived at Jayakarta appts, good security at the boom gate, nice appts great air con. My opinion on the age old debate about the walk to the pool.....yes it takes about 3-5 mins and we (adults) would have used the pool more (after dinners etc) if we'd been a bit closer but the kids swam all the time.Pools very clean, not cold enough though, massage by the pools very expensive, daughter had hair braided (long hair) and all nails flower painted for 200K- $28.00 (at the poolside) not too bad.
Weather? hot....as the balinese said...... bloody hot mate! it was 36 most days with 80% humudity.Not much rain during the day, lots at night. I was very suprised to find that none of the restaurants in our hotel were air-conned...maybe that's just my westernised expectations. Apart from some glass fronted shops, our rooms, and big shopping centres you will not be overly comfortable shopping, sight seeing (walking) or having a meal. Most restaurants do have fans so look for a table under one.
Food.
Some places give you a welcome drink,what a nice gesture...they give them to everyone... including kids...only trouble is that they don't seem to find it a problem giving a 10y/o a frozen margerita! Just be careful.
We ate only around the hotel, too hard to worry about getting table for 8 (the 1st week) and 12 ( a 3rd fam joined us for the last week)
Yutz...make sure you get your steak cooked 1 step up from what you would normally do. eg: if you like it rare ask for med or else it will still be mooing when they bring it out!
Flying Piano-great food, great band - get them to play any Santana-great guitarist!we asked them to sing land down under and instead of "vegemite sandwich" he changed it to Bintang sandwich.
Poco Loco-great mex food-getting expensive tho for Bali $70 fam of 4.
On the beach front- give Blue Ocean a miss- bad food and a damn long wait for it,and please remember this is only my opinion based on our experience.
Lanai, Oceanside,Kumala Pantai,and Zanzibar all very good.Got a birthday cake from Bali Bakery delivered to Zanzibar-highly recommended
A few observations with eating....
Portion sizes are small...I agree that you cannot get western food as you do at home, and perhaps you shouldn't expect it either, but having kids you can't always eat local food. We drank gallons and gallons of water, lots of milkshakes and iced coffees. When you order an iced coffee or choc check to see if it comes with ice cream/cream as a lot don't. In most places a plate of chips is a bread and butter size with approx 12 crinkle cut chips on it. Fish was uniformly good wherever we ate it, as were steaks, pizza, chicken snitzel,pastas. the Indo food was very good, but of course extremely hot. Don't expect a meal not to be spicey just because it's that way at home. If you don't want chilli in something say so.
Many places are running out of spirits. I drink wine and bubbles at home but didn't have any in Bali due to cost, so would have a cocktail with dinner. A lot of places are running out of baileys, tequila, bacardi, cointreau, galliano etc. bintangs still freely available.....is that a sign of relief I hear???
Get a cab everywhere...only Blue birds. to go from Jk to Centro Kuta would be around 25K $3.50.
We used a driver and his car a lot. Our 2 men surfed Canggu and Uluwatu and for ea trip lasting around 5-6 hours they payed 300K which is between $40-50. Cheap as. Another day 2 adults took the 6 kids to Waterbom on it's last day....great fun had a ball(get a cabana-it's a central meeting place and a source of shade). We other 4 adults had a touring day to Sanur, Nusa Dua and Uluwatu. As a group we all went back to Uluwatu, and whilst 4 clambered down the goat track to the surf, we others payed 150k $20.00 and spent the day at the Blues Point resort,swimming in the infinity pool, having lunch and watching a Japanese couple get married in the chapel!
Shopping.
This is where I will probably earn the ire of long time forumites, but hear goes anyhow.
I am a gun shopper....I love shopping and I loved the great bargains that can be had in Bali...BUT....after 2 weeks of "hello mum you look cheap sunglasses, you want Billabong, handbag, t shirt? and continually be grabbed and man handled, I was glad to come home. You truly cannot go anywhere without being badgered and I mean Badgered! If you do go into a shop, you could be surrounded by up to 5 men all talking at the same time trying to get you to buy. I know it is their living and that compared to Aus their standard of living, wages, income etc is very low, again I am giving a first timers impression but I think that people going to Bali for their first time should know what they're in for. Some people might find it very intimidating, and it can be. We had 4 teeenage girls with us and there were a number of times when they were made to feel uncomfortable. All of the men inc my 18 y/o were offered porn..hard core mate,drugs and on one noticable occasion a gun!oh and of course "very special massage". We women found a lot of the shopkkepers to be agro and always touching you, most of the shops are tiny airless rooms with no changing facilities. Having said that, yes we did buy...singlets 25k, sunnies 25k, batik dresses 50-70k, hats 30k,runners-cushion covers 40-80k,jewellery -koren or harmony ball and leather choker 115k, pearl ring 90k, red coral necklace 80k. had glasses made in Centro, 2 pair reading and 1 sunglass bifocal, nice frames (not designer)all for $300. very cheap and good service- took 1 week and took script with us.Everywhere you go expect a man to be called boss and a women to be called mum (including big shops)
Went to Nusa Lembongan for the day, many people were seasick so take some kwells with you- good day, but once you've done it I wouldn't go back. We were going to the Safari park, but a number in our group were not happy to pay money to see animals being drugged so that tourists can have their photo taken with them, so we all opted out. Our kids ages were 18-17-14-14-14-10, so missing the park wasn't that much of a problem, if you have youngers ones I would still go. We were turned off going to both Ubud and Jimbarran bay by other aussies we met who said that both are a rip off, also being honest...the heat probably was a consideration in all decision making.
We walked along the beach from Kuta to Seminyak, and were harrassed all the time. the water is pretty filthy with lots of garbage in it. The surfers were pretty disgusted, also not many waves around, and be careful in the surf, 2 people drowned whilst we were there.
the advice from the BTF was invaluable, we used travelan and for my daughter who cannot take pills she had Cascade raspberry 10mls once a day and none of us got bali belly. A couple in our group got head colds but were able to get stuff from a guardian chemist no less! don't take over all your shampoos/conditions/body lotions etc buy them there. a bottle of vaseline intensive care with aloe vera is $1.20. we had no dramas with getting our luggage inc surfboards back, no excess baggage. dvds are about $1.25 and most places will tell you if it's a good copy or ony 80%! and you will buy heaps of them.
Also we were there when the bombers were executed and many Balinese would say to us good, they are gone , now all you aussies come back to Bali. To us it seemed crowded wherever we went, but the Balinese said it was very quiet. You have no sense of what is happening in the world as the tv coverage is Balinese or american (and you're usually on your way out the door for dinner when the news is on anyway) and you don't see the papers either. The maps you look at here is Aus give no real indication of distances or actual roads, there are lanes everywhere that aren't shown, that's why many people advise using cabs or bikes. We saw lots of tourists on bikes, there are no age restrictions for riding bikes...you would see kids going to school on their own motorbike! I think it would be a great way to get around, but you would take your life in your hands doing it! the road rules are so different.... there aren't any!
Massages etc. We went to a spa close to the JK and had massages, reflexology on the feet, manicares, pedicures. they were brilliant.
Did we have a good holiday...YES we did. a holiday is made up of a lots of differing experiences good and bad. Would we go back maybe, maybe not.. If we did, I would try and go when it's cooler, maybe we would have done more trips etc and seen a differing side to Bali.Go, see, explore, experience, take the good with the bad, this is what makes not only a holiday but great memories. We will all remember the harrassing shopkeepers, but we will also remember the beautiful bright smiles of the kids on their way home from school and how lovely they all looked in their uniforms with their crisp white shirts. There's a lot of world to explore out there, but now we can say we've been to Bali too. cheers and thanks Kim