Ketut, his son, the 6 of us and our luggage loaded into the car for the short trip to Sanur and our next stay, Sanur Beach hotel. Ketut had ask if his son could come on the shorter trips to try and get him to practice his English. He was shy, but we were able to have small conversations, with the help of his dad. Ketut's English and local knowledge are great, we had a fantastic time with him. if you need a driver I would not hesitate to recommend this man he is Brilliant his details are pugabali@pop.denpasar.indo.net.id and his mobile:081 239 32990 (written with permission)
Now Sanur Beach Hotel, we felt like the Hillbillies in Beverley Hills, it was lovely, way more then we had expected. we had interconnecting room, mum was a happy camper. Dinner was over the road and we found the slower, quieter pace of Sanur refreshing, we had not realized how busy Kuta felt until we hit Sanur. We also noticed how much cheaper it was to eat.
The next day was an Early start, we were booked to do a bike tour with Bali Eco tours (also Knowns as Bali Budaya)what a wonderful day, we were picked up at 7.30 and informed we had to pick up 5 more people, I was guessing it would be our friends who had stayed at the Safrai park for another night,and I was right, we were not expecting to meet up with the until Breakfast at Kinamanti, it was a clear day so we had a clear view of the volcano, awesome. From there we headed back down the Mountian to a coffee plantation and Darma our guide was very educational, we got to learn about the coffee making process, even the process of making the most expensive coffee in the world, Luwak coffee (around $50.00 a cup),the beans go through the digestive tract of a civet cat. The men paid for a sample and said it was good. Then we went on our 25km bike ride through some amazing country side, we visited a family compound, a school and stopped at various rice paddy's for some education on certain parts of rice growing. Out of the 7 kids we had two stacks and they were both from my family, Darma was straight onto the fallen rider applying first aide and heaping on the encouragement to get back up and going. Lunch was at the end of the ride in a lovely setting, this was one of my favorite meals of the whole trip. These guys where brilliant and if you are thinking of doing a ride e-mail them at: bulanindah@dps.centrin.net.id you will not be dissappointed. we got back to the hotel about 3pm.
After a couple of quieter days around Sanur, I had a foot message on the beach one day and a little shopping. we headed back to Kuta and the Febris, this was our last trip with Ketut which was sad. On arrival in Kuta we could not find our second mobile so I sent an sms to find it and received a message saying it was still in Sanur, we rang Ketut and he was happy to go and get it for us, we let the hotel know and an hour later we were paying Ketut and saying our second and final farewells.
Saturday the four older girls went shopping, my friend who has been to Bali a couple of times before was ready with a list of places worth a visit so off we went to Unangi and Geneva, 2 huge warehouse style shops with loads of souvenir type stuff at great prices, we also visited Syah paintings, these art works were amazing and I wished that I had a spot crying out for the artwork, the eye for detail was wonderful. The younger two girls were mesmerized by the artists working. The final two days where spent shopping, getting hair and nails done, we did these out side Matahari's and the girls did a good job. We did our hair at the beginning and at the end of our trip. Hubby paid the DR fish a visit also in the entrance of Matahari's and we brought the kids all a pair of those roller shoes each, then spent the next two days telling them to put the wheels away, trying to avoid an international incident.
I will do a list of restaurants we ate at but we did go to Queens of India for an Indian feast with our friends, it was amazing, but the price of the rice was over the top, everything else was responsible. I enjoyed my only wine in Bali, thanks to a lovely Aussie who gave us her bottle when she saw my friend drinking White wine, if you are reading this and it was you, again we Say a massive thank you. We brought copious amounts of DVD's, Sarongs, clothes, shoes, sunglasses and bags. I think I was beginning to get the hang of bartering, but still think I was maybe paying more then I needed to, but I am on the road of learning :-)
Restaurants
Poppies ***
Green Garden ***
Impalua 68 **
Bubba Gumps *** kids favorite, we ate there twice
Lang Sum @ Jimbaran ***
Puri Boja Restaurant**
Bukit Jambual
Febris**
I Made Joni @ Ubud ***
Tsavo Lion Restaurant ** the experience was great
Tia Gardens @ Sanur*** Cheap and great, Pizza was the best we had had for a while.
Donald's on the beach @ Sanur *** made 3 visits
Bobby's @ Sanur, but it was not a patch on Donald's.
Queens of India ***
Warung Pama* sadly the worst meal we had and our last lunch.
we had an Early tea at Bubba Gumps on our last day, it was great, but you miss the atmosphere of when it is busy.
We headed back to the Febris for a swim and get our transfer transport to the airport. At the airport we got Checked and then had a two hour delay for the plane to leave, due to a problem and we were back at Perth at 4am. The only thing we lost was a photo Frame with Bamboo leaf on it and we had to send a couple of drums East to be treated. not bad all in all.
Well that is our adventure, thank you for the advice and info over the last 10 months, it has helped alot. We had a great time and hubby is wanting to start planning the next trip.
Kerryn