Day 6 - Scoot boat back to Sanur where our dear friend Burhan was waiting to pick us up and take us back to Kuta. We were booked into the Adi Dharma. On arrival the airconditioners were not on in either room so we turned them on and went out to lunch. Came back 3 hours later, rooms were both still the same temperature - hot! Used the loo - our room - when we "flushed" black slime came out of cistern - disgusting. Our daughters room - "flushed" and nothing happened at all. We walked down to Kuta Townhouses and booked a 2 bed, 2 bath apartment(big, clean & roomy - and very reasonably priced), went back and checked out of Adi Dharma - they made us pay for the night anyway.
Spent 8 nights in and around Kuta. The days were spent doing the usual things - a little shopping (endeavouring to fill a seacontainer), relaxing by the pool, a lot of eating and a lot of drinking. We always like to catch up with old friends at Uncle Norm's in Jl Melasti, Indo National, Jl Padma, TJ's Poppies Lane, and when shopping in Denpasar - Bakers Corner.
8th May - Friends arrived from Perth and we headed off to Ubud. Booked Puri Saron over the net, which was supposedly a 10 minute drive from the art market. It was actually in the middle of nowhere - 45 minutes from Ubud. The "resort" would have been very nice back in its heyday - but a little run down now. The 2 bedroom villa had glorius views of the rainforrest and you could hear the waterfall and the children swimming and playing in the river. The villa was clean and very roomy. The outdoor shower was lovely, the only downfall being that anyone sitting on the balcony could get a fantastic view - which is fine if it is only you and your other half - not so good when you have a friend, her 21 year old son and our balinese friend Burhan staying in the villa with us. (I must say though that it is the best shower we have ever had in the 10 or so years we have been going). The water pressure was fantastic and instantly boiling. Daughter and her boyfriend had own room. They were not so lucky with the indoor shower - the water didn't get beyond luke warm.
There were birds, squirrels and ghekkos in abundance - and come nightfall - just as many mosquitos and bugs. It had an infinity pool that looked out over the rainforrest. Looked lovely from a distance but wasn't very clean on closer look. (we didnt swim) The pool lounges were very dirty and covered in mould. We were the only 6 guests. We decided to have dinner at the hotel (as we did not wish to drive the 45 minutes back to Ubud) - bad mistake - took over an hour for us to get our food - Stone Cold. Up the next morning for a quick breakfast before heading off to Safari Park. Big mistake - we waited nearly an hour for stone cold bacon & eggs. We had a fantastic day at the Safari Park. We decided rather than go back to the hotel for another dissapointing dinner we went straight to Ubud, wandered around the art market and got some bargains. Went to a lovely restaurant for dinner (sorry can't remember the name). We enjoyed it so much we decided rather than eat the complimentary cold breakfast at the hotel we went and had Mothers Day brekkie at the same place. (Yumm!)
Sunday 10th - After breakfast the daughter & boyfriend headed back to Kuta and the rest of us went to Amed. Stayed at the Bayu Cottages - The rooms were quite reasonable - again the bathroom setup was a little strange - big picture window so you could see through your room and out over the ocean (you could see out, but they could also see in) - rather difficult when my hubby, my girlfriend and I shared one room while her son Ryan shared with our friend Burhan. Hubby & Ryan went snorkelling. My friend doesn't snorkel so we sat by the pool and watched (and had a few bintangs). The pool was not much more than a splash pool but it was really lovely - So lovely we haved decided to put one just the same in at home. Went and had dinner at Anda Amed Resort - the food was great and the pool/restaurant area was also lovely - we may stay there next time.
11/5 - After a lovely breakfast - we set off for Lovina. Booked into Aditya Beach Resort. This resort is great and I recommend it to anyone wanting to visit Lovina. We had a Deluxe Sea View Cottage (actually just a very large room with adjoining bathroom) and a Superior Garden View room for Ryan & Burhan. From the balcony of the cottage we could see the ocean. The gardens in this resort are beautiful. Birds everywhere, little huts with daybeds along the beachfront. You dont even have to leave the hotel grounds to shop - just walk down to the wall and the shopping comes to you. The pool area is lovely - swim up bar, kiddies pool off the side, with a circular pool attached that is like a spa with no jets. Along the other side of the pool is a ledge with about 10cm of water that you can sit or lay on. Plenty of sun lounges. The restaurant and food is great. We will definitely being going back to this resort.
to be cont...