JBR june6th-26th part five Balangan and Tuban
Left SBV and travelled to Balangan and checked in to Flowerbud bungalows. Had booked last year and at that time there was no swimming pool which was the only downfall with this hotel but they have just finished building a beautiful pool which made life much more enjoyable. Our bungalow was a two story bungalow with twin beds upstairs and a king bed downstairs built in the traditional Lumbung style, all bamboo and timber, with a lovely outdoor bathroom and one fan with no lighting. When I asked about lights was told someone comes around late afternoon with traditional lighting, turned out to be two kero lamps and there was another two in bathroom area. Was actually quite nice and romantic at night and tended to create a very quiet and subdued atmosphere without the harsh lighting that you take for granted at most places, any way everybody seemed to take advantage of it and go to bed quite early, many smiling faces each morning so I gathered they all slept well.
Managed to get some nice surf about head high for the two days we were there and the crowd was not to bad for Bali, If you're prepared to get up early you can still get a surf with only a couple of other people. Only ate at the restaurant in Flowerbud but didn't have any bad meals.
The beach at Belangan is very similar to Dreamland and is made up of coarse yellow white coral sand which is lovely to look at compared to darkish sand of Kuta-Legian, but be warned a romantic stroll at sunset will end up with you sweating profusely as you sink into the sand at least six inches with every step, maybe that's why everyone went to bed early.
I especially loved watching the staff mowing the lawn here which consisted of a couple of people sitting down with a pair of hedge shears and clipping away. Each person would cut about an area about 4 metre's by 4 metre's each day and would pile up there clippings and remove at end of day. If the wind blew to hard the lawnmower was not happy as had to keep rounding up clippings a never ending job but one that can still bring a smile to their face's.
From Belangan we went to Green Garden Beach resort for our last three days before going home, again only a small hotel with about ten rooms and definately more of a hotel than any other place we stayed at this trip, rooms were nice although I wouldn't like to be on top floor as the stairs are a killer and I didn't feel comfortable with going for a swim after dinner as you are in full view of everyone eating dinner at the restaurant, didn't want to put people off eating there dinner. On the plus side it's very close to the airport come the time to go home. Had some great meals in the Tuban area including The Patra, a couple of warungs up from the Green garden, a Greek resturaunt in Jalan Kartika upstairs somewhere near the Santika ,great food but I can't remember the name. Have always had great meals at SA cafe in the past but this year food was very ordinary.
Had a look at Envy restaurant one night and even though I knew it was a bit pricy I was not going to pay 75,000 for a Bingtang so gave it a miss.
Did all the last minute shopping before going home and then panicked about being overweight but actually
Did all the last minute came in under weight somehow. Alison was on a mission to get some black shoes with a bit of heel but not stiletoe's ended up with 4 or 5 pairs of white shoes but no black, I can't comprehend how many pair's of shoe's she must have tried on.
Unfortunately our time in Bali had come to an end, how can three weeks go so fast.
Left for the airport at 1pm for our 4pm flight to Brisbane the first time without the red eye flight. Went to Dewa lounge for comfort before flight and arrived in Brissy at 11:30 pm stayed the night at hotel and drove back to Coffs Harbour next day and back to work day after, 'BUGGER' won't do that again although the day flight back was great. Any way that's it for another year and starting to plan next year, hope I haven't bored you too much but we did have a fantastic trip and met some wonderful people as always and look forward to their Jbr's.
Many thanks to all those who post for making planning a Bali trip easier.
Until next year.
Gary and Alison