I arrived in Melbourne this morning after an action packed 7 days in Bali. After debating whether I should still go on the trip or not (my ex and I broke up a week before we left) I'm so glad I stuck with it. The ex and I got along great, and we had an amazing time. Here's some of the highlights (and lowlights of our trip) - I tend to ramble on a bit so expect a long one..!
Day 1 - we flew into Bali around 2pm on Sunday arvo. I'm so glad I did research on this forum about what to expect and what to do, because otherwise I would have felt quite lost. It took us about 30 mins to get through the airport, and we got a taxi no problems. The first 3 nights were spent at the Desamuda Village in Seminyak... and OH MY GOD how amazing this place was. We had booked in for a 1 bedroom villa with private pool (i had heard it was basically the size of a plunge pool/jacuzzi) but when we checked in, no 1 bedroom villas were available, so we were upgraded to a 3 bedroom villa. This meant we had a fantastic sized pool, a dining area, and a living room, all set outside. It really was paradise, and the staff were lovely as well. After our first swim and cocktail we headed off to check out the surrounding areas. Stopped at a Circle K to buy some supplies (hello bintangs and weird flavoured Pringles!) then headed back for drinks by our private pool. That night we retracted our earlier steps, but went further and stumbled upon Rumours. After hearing good things we decided to eat there, and it was great. The biggest strawberry daiquiris I've ever seen (soon to be upstaged by Ultimo though) for RP30,000. Ex had the cordon bleu, and I had the spaghetti alio oligio, and both were delish (although I could have killed a vampire with my breath afterwards.... tablespoons of crushed garlic... haha). Left feeling so full and spinning out that the whole meal only cost us A$25.
Day 2 - after a disappointing breakfast at the hotel (being a vegetarian who doesn't eat eggs doesn't leave a whole lot of options for breakfast) we decided to head into Kuta to check it out. Got dropped out the front of the hard rock cafe, and the chaos began. So many different people offering transport, and trying to get us to fill in surveys, do scratchies etc. For a first timer like me I found it pretty overwhelming. We wandered up Poppies 2 and made our way along Legian St. Stopped off at a lovely place called Nasi Bali for a refreshing Bintang (which felt quite medicinal against the humidity!), then caught a taxi to Matahari. Saw the flesh eating fish I had heard so much about. It grossed me out and I was never once tempted to give it a go. One thing I can leave off my 'to do list' lol. That night we just hung out at the hotel, and got treated to some traditional Balinese dancing by 2 lovely young girls. The make up, costumes, and dance moves were all so beautiful, and I really enjoyed the Gamelan as well.
Day 3 - must say this was the day we got suckered in. The day before, at Kuta, we got stopped by a 'student' doing research on Tourism. We spent 2 mins answering her questions, and stupidly told her where we were staying. That night we got a call from a british lady calling from the Peninsula group, saying we had won 7 nights accommodation at their resort in Nusa Dua. The only catch was to go to the hotel the next morning for a look around, and a free breakfast. When I told her we had planned to get a driver to explore the area, she offered one of the hotel's drivers to take us around for the entire day once we were done. We thought there would of course be some scan involved, but as we had no set plans we decided to give it a go. we got picked up by the driver in the morning, and taken to Hot Dogs water sports place before going to the hotel. We ended up signing up for Parasailing, Fly Fishing (not involving a rod or fish!) and Jet Skiing for 2 days later. Once we got to the hotel we were then given the hard sell about spending A$7,000 to become a member of the group and use their hotels all around the world. Told them we weren't interested, so they didn't even bother to show us around the place, which was fine as it didn't waste our time. The driver suggested he take us to Ubud, and we decided 'why not'. He of course took us on a 'special program' which meant stopping at a Batik shop, a silver shop in Celuk, and some dodgy restaurant in Ubud. After the silver shop we told him no more shops, and he was ok with that. After lunch we went to the Monkey Forest, and thats when the monsoon season decided to get in. We got absolutely drenched, but we had a lot of fun, and enjoyed the experience. Traffic getting out of Ubud was crazy, and we made it back to Seminyak about 2 hours later. That night we walked down to Ultimo and had a really lovely dinner for about A$45 for 2 people (including 2 cocktails, 2 bintangs, 1 small steak, 1 pasta, 1 side of mashed potato, and 2 desserts). The white chocolate creme brulee was to die for. Soooo delicious.
Day 4 - today was a sad day as we had to check out of the Desamuda Village. we had tried to stay longer but they were unfortunately fully booked :( We got a taxi to the Lokha Legian and were able to check in at midday. I wasn't expecting too much of the Lokha, but after staying in somewhere so beautiful as Desamuda, it was really hard to adjust. The rooms (we had a deluxe room on the 3rd floor) looked fairly run down and dirty (mouldy bathroom, greyish white sheets etc), and being confined to just 1 room was also hard. The only positive was that the pool had a wet bar which I was excited about. it also gave us the social element of mixing with other people, which the Desamuda did not (whilst the Desamuda had 2 beautiful common pools, everyone seemed to keep to their own private pools). Drinks were so expensive though... from memory I think it was nearly RP50,000 for a large bintang which was just crazy. We headed back into Kuta and had lunch at TJs on Poppies 1, which was pretty nice Mexican food. That night we stayed in and had pizza from Saprinos, attached to the Lokha, which was delicious, and watched a DVD.
Day 5 - today was the day we had booked in for the water sports at Nusa Dua. I've never done anything like that before, and probably wouldn't have considered it if it weren't for the fact that the driver had taken us there on Day 3, but we ended up having an amazing 2 hours at this place. The drive there was a killer.... nearly 2 hours in a van with no airconditioning, stuck in horrendous traffic due to the roads being flooded from rain the night before. The parasailing was lots of fun, but the winner was Jet Skiing. I was a little apprehensive about doing it on my own, but it was just such a blast. Such a sense of freedom, and i was sad when the 15 mins was over. We then did the fly fishing, which was pretty cool. Basically the 2 of you lie on this raft, with a guy who hangs on and helps guide the raft. It gets towed along by a speed boat, then flies up into the air so you are standing up right. Was a lot of fun and something I had never heard of before. We had a beer at the end of it, then got driven back to the hotel. That night we had booked in for a fancy dinner at Ku De Ta. Leaving the hotel though, I fell down the stairs and badly sprained by ankle. I was in pain the rest of the night, but still had a fantastic time. Ku De Ta at night time is so beautiful, and we felt like one of the 'beautiful people' if only for a few hours ;) The pineapple vanilla martinis were beautiful, and the meal I had (a zuchinni and ricotta tart, followed by mushroom and truffle risotto) was divine. My ex had ordered an entree which we were then told later was unavailable, and we didn't get charged for that which was pretty great I reckon. A fancy lovely dinner still only set us back about A$60 and we really enjoyed it. We then tried to walk along the beach afterwards, but my foot was agony, and so we walked up through one of the hotels (the Legian I think.... AMAZING looking) and got a taxi back to the hotel.
Day 6 - woke up to a swollen and painful left foot. Was bad timing, as today we had booked in for an Elephant ride and white water rafting. I had heard that the white water rafting involved a LOT of stairs, and i wasn't sure if I'd be able to manage it with my foot, but thought I'd go along and give it a go. We had assumed we were going to the Elephant Safari Park, but this was incorrect, and we were taken to the Bali Elephant Camp instead... which kind of seemed like a poor mans, dodgy imitation. The ride lasted about 30 mins though and the surroundings were really nice, but there was just a bad/weird undertone which was confirmed when as soon as we turned our back, we saw the Elephant guide whacking the elephant on the head with a metal pick several times. When he saw us looking though, he stopped. We just got a sense that the Elephants aren't looked after or treated well, and so it made us feel bad that we were kind of buying into/supporting that type of thing. We left the camp and went to the white water rafting spot. All the staff were concerned with my foot, but suggested I give it a go, and if I had any problems getting down there, I could just pull out. Walking down to where the rafts were was TOUGH. There were about 300 steep steps to walk down, and my foot was screaming in protest the whole time. I almost felt like passing out several times (the pain combined with the humidity was a bad force to be reckoned with!), and was so glad when I could crash into the raft. We then went on the most incredible 2 hour trip along the river. I honestly can't say enough good things about white wafter rafting. I think whatever company you went with, it would be incredible. The scenery is just STUNNING. Passing through a tropical rainforest, seeing stone carvings, waterfalls, and natural wildlife, is something I will never forget. It was never rough or scary, the rapids just enough to keep things exciting. The walk back up at the end of the trip was really hard though. 200 steps uphill left us all panting, and my foot screaming "i hate you so much right now". A hot shower was incredible welcomed, followed by a really lovely lunch of Indonesian food. I hadn't advised them that I was a vegetarian, yet there was gado gado, mie goreng, and spring rolls which were all meat (and egg) free. Yay! That night we went to Queens Tandoor in Seminyak for delicious Indian then fell into bed fairly early.
Day 7 - We wandered around in the morning, then lay by the pool, then went to Carrefour to check out the shopping. The taxi driver who took us there heard that we were planning to go to Uluwatu that night, and offered to pick us up that afternoon at 4pm to take us. We took him up on it, as he was really friendly and easy to talk to... he was right on top, and the hours drive was full of lots of conversation and interesting local facts. we had assumed he was just dropping us off there and leaving, but he parked the car, turned off the meter (after writing the fare down) and took us around the temple. Uluwatu was STUNNING. So beautiful, although the monkeys really freaked me out. We saw so many people (mostly Japanese tourists who got to close when taking pictures) get earrings ripped out, hats taken etc, so I was keen to keep my distance. We made our way to the performance area at about 5:30 and waited for the Fire Dance to start. we were amazed by how many people were packed into a fairly small space. The performance was wonderful though.... the chanting by the men was awesome, and it was a really nice way to welcome in the night. After we finished, Putu (the Bluebird taxi driver) drove us to Jimbaran Bay where we sat on the beach and had a beer. As I don't eat seafood, we didn't eat there, but enjoyed seeing it (seeing thousands of tables with candles spread all along the beach is something to see) none the less. We were then driven home, and the total fare, for 5 hours, was RP270,000. We gave Putu RP350,000 as he was such a pleasure to deal with. We then went out for a late dinner to Mozzarella (which is pretty much across the road from the Lokha) and it was a really way to wrap up a great night. The food was lovely, and the cosmopolitans were going down a treat. Halfway through the meal the band started playing, and while I'm never usually a fan of cover bands, they were really great, and I could have stayed there all night drinking and tapping my feet to the music (my non-injured foot that is).
Day 8 - This was our last chance to do some shopping/running around. I went and bought some of those beautiful puppets/dolls (of the Hindu version of Romeo and Juliet) for family members, and we then went to Poppies Restaurant for a drink. I had the poppies pina colada, which came in a hand carved Coconut, and was decorated like a face. The most incredible looking drink I've ever had, and was delicious. It was RP89,000 but totally worth it for the fun/novelty factor. The idea was to then go back to the hotel, check out and have lunch at Ku De Ta before heading to the airport, but this didn't go to plan. Upon checkout I discovered that I had lost my Credit Card, and had no way of paying for the accommodation (we had just spent all of the remaining money we had). I called my parents and they were happy to give their credit card details to the hotel so the room could be charged to them, but the Hotel refused this, and said the only way they could accept my parents credit card is if they had a scanned copy of their passports, bank statements, credit card and a letter authorizing the amount to be charged to them. This was annoying, but what caused the most problems was that my parents were staying on the Gold Coast that weekend (they live in Brisbane) and their passports were back home in Brisbane. They had to drive to Brisbane (1 hour), get the relevant info, then go to my mum's work to use the scanner and fax. while this was going on, we had to sit in reception and wait until everything had been received. 2 hours later payment was finally authorised and we were able to leave. I was kicking myself that I didnt bring my other credit cards/debit cards along on the trip... a stupid stupid mistake and I have learnt my lesson! It was all done just in time for us to get a taxi to the airport and check in. We went to the Premier Lounge. Got absolutely ripped off (embarrassed to even say what we paid!) but we just didn't care by that point. A few relaxing drinks and some chilled out time, and I was back to being ok and happy. Our flight was delayed 45 mins, and we then went to Jakarta for 2 hours before flying back to Melbourne.
I know this has been incredibly long and detailed, but its just a way for me to write down what we did... we had some great times, and other times that were annoying, or where we were foolish etc.. This was my first time traveling overseas without my parents, and so I wasn't as smart as what I should have been (being stranded in the hotel unable to pay the bill is evidence of this!), but its all a learning experience, and I will forever remember the 7/8 days I spent in Bali.
I definitely plan to go back... Kuta/Legian wasn't my scene though so I think next time I would try other parts of the island. I think it would be a great place to go for a girls holiday with my mum and sister, so I plan to propose that to them for 2010...
Just wanted to thank everyone who posts on this forum. Your posts were such a wonderful guide to my first time in Bali x