Here is my Day 1 report.
Air Asia flight from Perth to Bali leaving at 04:50 left on time and arrived into Denpasar airport 10 minutes early. The seats were comfy, and while there were no extras, it was a quickish flight and Bel and I had a seat spare in our group of 3 so we could stretch out a bit. Bel and I are both larger ladies... and we fit, it was a tinsy bit snug, but we weren't uncomfortable. We had managed to get seats at the front of the plane (as recommended), and were quick to exit once we landed, practically running down the corridors towards the Visa on Arrival booths.
At 08:20 the airport was all but deserted, and even though Belinda and I were the first to reach the VOA booths, it didn't make any difference to when we got out.
I forgot that we would have to wait for our luggage to appear!
When it finally did, and we collected our three heavy bags, we moved straight through customs. No lines, just walked straight through and we were outside of the airport within 20 minutes. WOW!!! We were in Bali!
The smell of incense was so intense. How can an entire Island smell of Incense????? It definitely brought back a scent memory from nearly 30 years ago. Truly amazing.
Next we lined up at the Taxi counter, and pre-paid for our cab. 50k from the airport to Kuta.... :)
I then made a terrible mistake. I had my driver lined up, was just collecting my luggage, when a lovely man picked up my bag and smiled at me... I (in the rush) assumed he was a friend of the cab driver... and when his friend picked up my other bag I was a bit confuzzled... until Bel mentioned that I was being portered... *sigh* 20k it cost me (I didn't have anything smaller). Oh well, I was getting a sore shoulder from carrying the big heavy sports bag anyway.
A fun filled drive to the hotel commenced... a family of 4 on a single bike was interesting... the driving wherever and whenever was also a bit of an eye opener. I will NEVER drive anywhere myself in this mad country! hehehe.
We arrived at the Bounty Hotel at about 09:30. Our room of course wasn't ready yet, check in is at 14:00, so the reception staff sent us down for a free breakfast, with free drink vouchers while they prepared a room quickly for us.
As requested, we received a room near the back pool. Ground floor, two steps from the pool with some greenery to mask a bit of the noise and offer some privacy for us. Excellent location!! Room 603.
The room smelt a bit musty but was neat and relatively clean.
The hotel porter noted that the a/con wasn't working very well, and immediately hustled off to organise maintenance to repair it.
We got changed, unpacked, and went out to do some essentials shopping.
We got ripped off again... Blue Taxi... 30k for the trip to Discovery Shopping Centre. I was in the back seat, and failed to remind him to put the meter on. Oh well.. we insisted from this point on! A quick browse through Discovery, not buying anything on our first day.. then we headed to the Matahari Shopping Centre which has a Foodsafe store. Very handy for all your cleaning basics, drinks, toiletries, snacks etc.
We stocked up big time, and headed out to find a taxi. This time we insisted on the meter being turned on (it was off!) and made sure it was working. I think it was broken... because it started off at 5k (flagfall) and only went up to just under 8k by the time we got to the hotel. Bargain! I love this island!!! Thats only $1 for a 5 minute taxi drive.
Kuta doesn't seem to be that busy at the moment. By 2pm the lunch crowd hadn't materialised. Most restaurants and shops were empty, and while I thought the traffic was heavy our drivers assured us that it wasn't.
I don't think I will ever grow accustomed to the driving here!! They are all insane!
By the time we got back to the Bounty, maintenance were in attendance and after pushing a bunch of buttons on the a/con remote, then going and banging on the exterior unit with what sounded like a hammer, the air con started working perfectly.
Belinda and I got to work. The room while neat and tidy smelt very musty, and needed a good scrub to keep us happy.
A bottle of bleach and half an hour later and our room was spotless, and smelling clean and fresh. We also cleaned the aircon vents and filters.. they were filthy, and I definitely reckon any guests staying here should take the 5 minutes it takes to clean them. eww! Seriously, I recommend that you always take a few minutes to check your air con vents no matter where you stay. It makes such a difference!
Now, Bel and I are pretty fussy, so the room cleanliness when we arrived was fine, most would be quite happy with it, we're just a bit touchy.
In regards to the Bounty Hotel itself, I must say I am pleasantly surprised. After quite a few dubious reports I was dreading what we would find.
The majority of the guests are 18-25yrs, but there is a good contingent of 25-40yrs represented also. Under 18's and over 40's might feel a little out of place, and I wouldn't recommend the Bounty Hotel for a young family.
That being said, the one child I have seen was having a lot of fun in the pool.
The linen is clean, the pool towels are thick, fluffy and generous. Breakfast is okay, fresh fruit, a few choices of hot food, a variety of pastries and a 'to die for' omelette bar. Belinda is very fussy, so is going to grab herself a box of cereal as she reckons she can't live on croissants alone for 2 weeks, but I'm quite content.
The staff have been very polite and accommodating. Show yourself to be other than a drunken yobbo and they are all smiles.
Plenty of sun lounges, the restaurant is open air, and is clean enough.
Drinks are yummy at the two pool bars, around 48.5k for a standard cocktail, and 90k for a huge one.
Bel and I went for a swim after cleaning our room, and decided to sample a cocktail or two. We got halfway through the list (also ate at the pool bar) before crashing.... at 6pm!! What can I say, neither of us had slept more than 1 hour the night before.
I got up at about midnight, and went for a wander out to the front pool bar. I was curious to see what the fuss was about. I ordered a mie goreng (yummy!!) and was impressed with the ambience.
Music was at conversation level, there were only a dozen or so people around the pool, and they were behaving themselves nicely. If you were a light sleeper I'd not want to sleep around the front pool (mostly because of the splashing), but really, it wasn't bad at all.
I went back to bed around 1am... and got woken up at about 05:30 by the drunken yobbo's I'd been warned about.
Seems the reason the pool was so quiet, is because the yobbo's had been out clubbing. One particular teen boy was swearing and cussing up a storm. Not to worry, I expected it, found it kind of amusing, and really wasn't bothered at all. Just had a sticky beak, then went back to sleep.
07:30 we woke up, showered again, tidied up, and headed out for our free breakfast, then a day of pampering, and a bit of shopping.
On the way from the hotel to the internet cafe, Belinda got caught. A few rather pushy ladies surrounded us offering fingernail painting, and bracelets etc. I simply shook my head, and shouldered on through... two shops further down the street, I turned around looking for Bel, and she had disappeared!!! *sigh* I found her inside a shop, 5 ladies surrounding her, fingers being painted, bracelet around her wrist, and a rather panicked look on her face.
They offered one nail painted for free... then proceeded to paint the rest.
Bel got done big time... my phone rang just as the haggling commenced. I told them the 200k they were asking was preposterous, and told Bel 20k was a better price.. then walked away to take the call.
Bel paid 200k (they used the starving children line on her!), and then gave them some Aussie money, and promised to give the pregnant ladies some of the baby clothes she had brought over.
She has learnt her lesson, and removed the "sucker" bracelet immediately upon exiting. From now on, I think I'll do the bargaining!
Pampering today... then off to visit an orphanage and some villages hopefully tomorrow.
Will report back soon.
xxx
Becky (in love with this gorgous country already!)