Just back from 10 lovely days in my favourite place BALI!
Flew with PACIFIC BLUE out of Brisbane. Plane was delayed by 2 hours, which was a bit annoying because we had been up since 3 am! Finally arrived in the afternoon and as we got off the plane the aroma of bali and balinese music hit me as well as the heat! it was great to be in the heat again - esacaping winter for a while!
Had to fill out a swine info card upon arrival and heaps of people in the airport were wearing swine masks. 5 other planes landed around the same time as us, so as you can imagine it was a lengthy nightmare getting through VOA etc. The lines were massive and only about 4 desks were open at the front!!! and some rude people thought they could try and push in front of other people who had been waiting a long time! I saw a few fights nearly eventuate.
Finally got to the bag carousel 2 hours after landing! This is the longest time it has ever taken in my many trips to Bali!! couldnt find my bag anywhere because it had taken so long and bags wre no longer on the carousel! by this time i was getting a bit nervous! then i finally found it. Phew!!!!!!!!
Caught a taxi to Legian with my mum, dad and brother. Traffic was busy. We stayed for 10 nights at the Bali Coconut Hotel. It was basic, but was all we needed - aircon, hot shower, clean, good location, good breakfast and friendly staff. 300 000Rp per night.
Over our 10 days in paradise we did all sorts of interesting things: including, fish spa at matahari where the little fish eat dead skin off ur legs/ feet, ear candles, cooking school at Casa Luna Ubud (was awesome), discovered hibiscus tea (omg it is sooooooooo good), went to a few temples, bali safari park, heaps of shopping, hit the surf shop sales - not as good as previous years, but still ok. Saw a cremation ceremony, and went to monkey forest...
I have been to Moneky forest many times and this time i decided to have a look around the nearby shops and let my family go in. About 30mins later i discovered that my brother (28) had been attacked by a horrible monkey inside the temple!!! it had bitten his shoulder and scratched his face and had to go and visit the temple doctor - just to be given a band aid! When we got back tot he motel my brother didnt feel too good so we got transport straight to bali SOS medical centre. Upon arrival we had to pass swine testing temperature readings and sterilise our hands before even entering the door!!! It didnt take too long for a doctor to see my brother. Turns out he had to get 2 injections - one for rabies and one tetanus, as well as some medicine/ tablets. Doctor said it more common to get rabies from dogs than monkies, but better to take precautions. Since being home he has had to continue getting the rabies needles and will do so for the next couple of months. So that was a bit of misfortune for my poor brither on his first ever trip to Bali!!
Took the next couple of days easy - layed by the pool, beach, shopping etc.
During our time in Bali, my dad also got a tooth implant at dentist in Denpasar. He was very happy with the result and said they dentist was really friendly and clean and good english etc. and the price was much cheaper than home price for implant.
Ate at heaps of yummy places - warung food is still my favourite though, went to seaside for the first time, was very impressed with the coconut granitas and canneloni!! will definately go back next time!! Went to Kudeta on the last night, great atmosphere was very packed though - was a beautiful last sunset too!!
Another thing i want to mention is Circle K, i have read on the forum that lately you need to becareful for overcharging. And on the first night i went to circle k to get supplies and after i had payed i asked for my receipt and the lady said she cant give me one because the machine is broken!!!! then on the walk back to the motel i realised that i had been overcharged (by about 15000rp)!!!!!!!!!! next time i went in to the same circle k the receipt machine was working fine!!! Then i got caught another time without a receipt and i said can they re add it up again, and suprise suprise it was a different/ cheaper total!!!!!!! so beware everyone, always check for a receipt!!
Had daily massage at LUNA SPA near poco loco, it was so lush and a very reasonable price!! really lovely staff too!!!!
Ok now for the trip home... after packing my loads of shopping into my back it felt slightly heavy. Checked it in at 25kg, and PACIFIC BLUE are really strict on 20kg limit! (my bag was only 12kg going over so i was ok then). My family all checked in together and we had 10kg in total over weight and turns out we had to pay $150US excess baggage - couldnt get out of it. Had to go to a tiny room in the airport to pay which was a bit strange- the guy took away my credit card and took a very long time! i was getting nervous! he gave me a receipt for $150. The correct amount had been taken out when i checked my balance when home. Then we went to the PRADA lounge for the first time. It was 100 000 entry. It was worth it for the comfy leather lounges. Food was a bit boring/ cold though. Food like pastries, spring rolls, fruit. Free internet - but only one computer working!! i must say though it was better that sitting on the cold, uncomfortable metal chairs at the gate!! Then our flight back to brisbane was called so we made our way to the gate. 6 hour trip home went well, slept for a few hours. It was a shock to the system landing into a cool 11* in brisbane after being in 30*+ daily temp in bali!!!
Had another most enjoyable time in bali!!!! cant wait to go again!!! but i will continue to avoid monkies and maybe try to do less shopping next time!