KUTA...............
We enjoyed the 3 hour drive back to Kuta, very scenic. Our 10 night stay was at Kuta Beach Club (KBC). Ended up booking this with info i read on forum. Thanks Larry. Our room was a standard, lucky enough to get one close to pool. The other standard rooms are out the back of hotel. I looked at a deluxe and bungalow while we were there, would be happy enough to stay in a standard again though. Was an older room, but clean and comfortable. Air con was great, as was the tv. Staff here were all friendly, especially Ana at breakfast who asked us our names on day 1 and welcomed us each morning with our names. The pools were beautiful, never busy, could always get a pool lounge. There were no kids staying here which was great, very quiet. Not that i have anything against kids. Just different as we usually stay at the Melasti. Breakie was a buffet, adequate. Cooked eggs any way you like, pancakes every second morning. Location of hotel is fantastic, close to Kuta Square and Kuta Art Markets. Room was cleaned every day although some days they didn't come until 4pm or later so we didn't worry about it.
From this forum i found a few places to visit which i didn't know about. I went to Geneva, which was good, thought it would be a good place for a first timer to visit before hitting the markets, just to see what things cost. Wanted to go to Unagi after but the taxi driver didn't know what i was talking about. Leave that for next time. Also went to Carrefour which was massive. Bought a dvd player to use in the room as the portable i took with us decided to not work after watching our first dvd. Just got a cheap small one and we will keep it for future trips to Bali.
I prefer shopping at markets then places like Discovery. Bought all the usual stuff, Billabong kids clothes, dresses, dvds, jewellery, sunglasses, watches, shoes. My partner posted 60 kilos back by sea as he buys things to sell at the markets. Much cheaper then getting hit at the airport with excess baggage. I found Ketut's fixed price store after reading many posts on here about her. She was rather busy so decided not to worry about shopping there.
I checked out a few hotels that people on the forum are always discussing. Went to KP, KTH and Bali Garden. Have stayed at Bali Garden in the past but the new pools are beautiful. Had dinner here on our last night, very enjoyable, except the bird in the tree above us relieving itself in my partners soup. I thought KP was too busy for my liking, the pool was gorgeous but full of people, and kids!! I think i would be happy to stay at KBC again, except if we take our son next time they don't have a kids club.
I borrowed a Bali Sim off a forumite. It was a Mentari. Wow, very cheap to use, was suprised how cheap it was to ring and text home. My partner also bought one and it was free to contact each other, very handy as we could go our seperate ways and then catch up for meals. Will definitely use them next time.
Was planning to go to Echo Beach for dinner but our driver was busy as he now works for a villa, so had to cancel a few times. Will go next time and check it out. I know we could have a got a taxi, but it can wait.
I don't take note of the names of restaurants, but one that did stand out was Black Canyon Coffee at Seminyak Square. Beautiful drinks, smoothies, juices and frappes. We went out there twice before discovering it at the Discovery Mall. The food is also great and reasonably priced. Also went to Gateway To India as discussed on this forum, i thought it had a buffet on Sunday nights but it didn't, bit disappointed with that but the food was delicious. I don't think we had any bad meals, enjoyed all the food.
Flight home was 30mins late leaving Bali. There were 3 flights trying to enter the one gate at airport, took forever as they were checking liquids and bags. Stood in line for a long time. Flight home wasn't full so had a spare seat next to us. We left at 1245am, supposed to leave at around 3pm but Virgin has changed the flight time. Not happy about the change as i was excited not to have the dreaded midnight flight. Not to worry, we breezed through immigration and customs at Brisbane airport. Nice relief after past trips landing in Sydney and taking over an hour to get out of airport.
Now i have the Bali blues, no plans for another trip, although i would love to go before Christmas.
Thanks for reading......
Vanessa