Left Adelaide 24th April on a cool day lucky to escape the crappy weather that was to be on that weekend . Travelling with 2 Bali virgins and my daughter and son in law on there honeymoon with 15mth old son , we were to be part time babysitters .
We flew virgin which was on time and no problems , we took a packed lunch and was glad we did we were starving before we got there .
Got through VOA and customs in about 15 minutes to be picked by our punctual driver Made Sima and his associate Linger , we were staying in Sanur and daughter at Kumala Pantai . At this point I must say that Made would have to be one of the most professional drivers I have used and we always found him to be wealth of info and nothing was too much trouble his ph no is 081 2390 8302 .
We arrived at our prebooked hotel which is on the lower budget scale only to find it was under renovation , I will not name the hotel because probably by now they would be finished and it is not fair to give them a bad review as renovations are very common at this time of the year and it would not normally affect it . we stayed only the one night as hammers and grinders do not add up to a relaxing stay.
We then moved into the Bumi Ayu for 5 nights in a very nice room and well kept gardens , the pool was nice and this hotel is good for us as we dont like staying in big places, the only problem for some people is it could be too far up a lane and not close enough to beach but as we hire scooters it is not a problem the cost of scooters was 30000rp per day but if you are going to do this consider buying a helmet there , 150000rp at hardys and give it away when you leave .
We ate at bennos , bonsai , beach cafe , massimos and Kesumas , aladdins and mings , all were good however since our last visit to mings it has dropped off a bit with beer not really cold and and it was the most expensive of all abovementioned , special mention must go to Kesumas which is right at the southern end of the beach in a setting that could be seen as dodgy if waking in from the southern end however the seafood is fantastic and cooked fresh and not cremated , whole snapper each, 3 king prawns each, rice and vegies plus a few beers for each person was very cheap $58 for 4 adults plus a plate of nibbles for toddler .
After a few days of shopping and a couple of beers with Ron and Pete it ws off to Lembongan Island for a couple of days at this stage a special thanks to Ron for his help with a flat tyre on my bike and his always helpful tips , even showing me how to style my hair with our time frame this trip and showing other people around I could not catch up later but will be back in February .
Lembongan Island is well worth a look and we had great lunch at the mangroves restaurant , the best Nasi Goreng the whole trip , we again hired the scooters but be aware if you have a bad back dont as the goat tracks that are the roads are very bumpy and suspension on the bikes is pretty non existent . Good snorkelling out here and a really nice couple of days .
By now our Bali virgins are already planning there next trip to
Bali and checking out places to stay for next time
We now head into Legian for the remainder of our trip and stay at the kusnadi in rum jungle road ( thanks ron for this tip)
this hotel was really nice and worked out at 370000rp per night inc brekky all good about this place from staff to rooms to food and a great little pool. we relaxed did our grandparents thing as it is just around the corner from KP so was very handy , ate at a few of the beach restaurants , Lanai good , Zanzibar good , Kumala Pantai was not that impressed with there pizzas abit too oily for us and the lasagne didnt look like anything that even resembled it . Also ate at Bali beach shack average , La casa good all these eateries were seving edible food some was just better than others,
We went white water rafting with Lampana about 330 steps going down and 150 going up , the water was flowing well and a good time was had by all , the lunch was very good and the scenery on these trips is awesome it cost 230000rp per person from a ticket booth near Mataharis, the steps are steep but if you cant do steps maybe the rafting itself might be a bit much as you can almost be thrown from the boat .
A trip to ubud with Made and also Ulawatu on two other days kept us busy and thirsty
We also went to Bali Safari park and was a bit dissapointed for the money they are now charging this is an expensive day out for a family by bali standards 400000rp plus food for lunch when compared to white water rafting or the bali bike tour it did seem a bit staged with the animals just our opinion , the pool part is great for young kids though as at waterbom you have to a certain height to on a lot of the slides
Summary
Another great trip not a bad meal for the whole time some better than others , always seem not to get everything done that we would like to . A bit more agression from the shopkeepers this time in kuta area if you did not pay there price, one guy tried to run my wife over on his scooter because we would not pay wha
t he wanted for his wallets but bought two from next door for what we had offered the first guy
( exactly the same item)
Would I return ? Of course have already booked flights and room
Flight home uneventful did prada lounge and flight delayed 1 hour was glad we did, got home to dent in car door ( son" has no idea how it got there dad ")
also got dvds fom H and have not had a bad one yet
hurry up February