days 1,2 &3
We spent one month in Bali,my hubby me and four kids ( 16yr old son,13yr old daughter,12 yr old daughter and 5 yr old daughter) We split our holiday with two weeks in Kuta and two weeks in Sanur. I will try and keep this jbr brief ,but from past experience writing one I tend to add details making it a bit lengthy!
Wed 16/9
Flying with Air Asia on the 4:50 am flight from Perth on Wed 16th Sept . We paid $297 return each. We arranged a driver we have used for years to pick us up at 2:00am ,he used to bring the limo but now has a tarago with a trailer.It cost us $88 each way. We had alot of baggage and spent the day before weighing them with our fish scales and we were 15kgs over. We could take 90kgs undercarriage and 42kgs overhead(132kgs total), so I had to ask a friend to take our excess 15kg bag .In case your wandering we took 40 kgs in donations not our personal belongings!
We checked in with no probs and we were spot 90kgs in weight! Now for our Duty free shopping, sat the kids down and off we went to purchase our alcohol for pick up on our return. Too much to choose from! Dosed my girls with some Panadol and anti histamine before we came through to board, they have ear probs. We boarded and took off on time, the flight was good,I just found there is no leg room and felt sorry for the taller folk, I'm only 5'2 and starting to feel claustrophobic toward the end of the flight. But, for the prices Air Asia are selling their seats for you can't complain ( we have booked for March @ $131 return each). Wouldn't it be great if we had the $99 weekend to Bali fares brought back? I'm a terrible flyer with take off and landing I try not to cry but the tears always well up. It's embarrassing when the kids are holding my hand asking if I'm ok.I must say the pilot was great.
We arrived spot on time at 8:30am and VOA took us 30 mins to get through. As we headed towards the baggage area my 13yr old started feeling unwell....Not a good time to be sick!! I was juggling six passports and four kids ,making sure everyone was in tow and we all had our backpacks. So I thought a bit of tough love was called for and told her to wait till we get our bags and get outside and just push through it! Hubby and son went ahead and I turned to see her sweating ,swaying and turning a shade of green! So I dropped everything and sat on the floor fanning her with passports, no one came to help and I couldn't get the attention of any staff. I think lack of sleep and the sudden warmth got to her. 10 mins later she was stable and walking.
In the distance I could see my hubby shaking his head in disbelief, as I approached I could see the problem following him! A trail of my precious happy juice, the tequila bottle didn't survive the trip and just poured out the bottom of the suitcase all the way out to the carpark!! So there I sat again on the floor rummaging through the bag and luckily all the glass was contained in the duty free plastic bag. Disposing of it in the nearest bin . Someone later told me that if I'd kept the unopened lid on the neck of the bottle I could have claimed it through insurance or the airline?? Is there any truth in that? From now on we will buy our grog at the airport and take it on board with us.
We were picked up by our long time friends and taken to the Barong Hotel . Checked into rooms 507 & 508 directly opposite the back pool with 24 hr bar . We chose this hotel because of budget ( we allowed $150 per night for accommodation) and we wanted somewhere that would have some atmosphere around the pool bar of an evening. Again we learn't the hard way, I didn't take into consideration end of footy season! By atmosphere I wasn't expecting foul mouthed ,blind drunk yobbos F'ing and C'ing every second word. So we asked to be moved to the front of the hotel and that couldn't be done for a few days. We seriously considered leaving the Barong altogether!
We headed to the Bintang supermarket and stocked up on supplies, a box of Aqua, nibblies, toiletries, bleach and bug spray and then we went next door and set up our mobiles with Simpati cards.
Room 507 , our bed was honestly the worst bed I'd ever slept in with boinky springs in my back and then when I couldn't tolerate that I'd roll over to my side and have another spring digging into my hip or shoulder. But we had a hair dryer and a power point which room 508 didn't, the kids were in that room and their beds were ok.
Bed bugs?? Maybe! I awoke the first morning with a couple of bites on my chest (not mosie bites) and then my daughter had bites all up her leg and proceeded to break out in a spotty rash all over her torso feet and legs. Here we go I thought she might have measles or something! But then my son came out with the same bites as me on his back and chest. So I assume they were bed bugs. I bought some Baygon and sprayed all skirting boards and beds and we had no more bites after that.
The bathrooms never got a good clean, I bleached them myself because there was poo on the inside of the toilet seat when we arrived and in our room there was poo on the toilet roll holder.YUK! I have stayed two star before and I don't mind cracked tiles, the odd mouldy ceiling but I do expect more from the cleaners.
Thurs 17/9
Our friends arrived and were staying at the Dewi sri, so we got together and went back to Barong ,spent the day swimming and drinking.It was my girlfriends bday so we headed out to Bali Rock for dinner and drinks, we love this place. It's so cheap and there is usually a band on after 9pm. The kids enjoy it as there are pool tables upstairs and lounges for them to chill out on.
Fri 18/9
We spent the day by the pool as it was too hot to go anywhere, unfortunately our winter skin didn't take to well to the searing sun and my hubby and I were lobster red . Note to self, when telling kids to re apply sunblock, I should put my drink down and do the same !!
Next chapter: The earth moves and my hubby does rock my world, but this wasn't good. Awaking to an earthquake !!