HERE IS THE FINAL - PART 3 - I HOPE SOME OF THE INFO HAS BEEN HELPFUL AND ONCE AGAIN, APOLOGIES IF IT IS TOO LONG.
ACTIVTIES
BALI HAI SUNSET DINNER CRUISE
We set out on the Friday night on the sunset dinner cruise. I booked through tourist out outside mataharis and he did it for $38USD per person. Which I was delighted with. It includes transferes to and from Benoa harbour, meal and entertainment.
Beautiful cruise, they took our picture with a Balinese lady in traditional costume and we later purchased it when we left the cruise for 40,000rp. Such a gorgeous memory.
My guess is there was no more than 80-100 people on the cruise the night we went.
Such great value, food was deliciuous. You have to purchase drinks on board. Entertainment was fantastic. They had a group of male and female dancers, drag queen, and Balinese bodybuilders - boy were they huge! My jaw hit the floor lol.
I was very happy with every aspect of the cruise.
BUGGY RIDING
Our travel companion booked this on our behalf. Paid $108USD through tourist hut
For a tandem buggy
It included transfers to and from hotel, buffet lunch and ride in buggy through villages and rice fields.
I loved it, it had moments where I cried laughing when everyone got stuck up these huge steep hill and about 6 men have to come and push you up.
It was over too soon for me. We saw some breathtaking and great photographic sites, you get the little children in the villages come out waving and shouting hello.
The buffet lunch wasn't very tasty. Green curry chicken, some type of meet and noodles. Not a lot to choose from. But to be honest I didn't care, I was on such a high from the buggys and the fact that there are so many great places to eat and that are cheap in bali, I know I wasn't going to starve lol.
The downfall was the drive to and from the hotel, it was about one and half to two hours. And traffic was bad in a lot of spots too.
SHOPPING
There was so much shopping close to the hotel so I didn't travel too far out for shopping
MELASTI STREET - lots of markets
PADMA STREET - great for shopping
GARLIC LANE - great for shopping too - I finally found ketuts shop on my second last day. Definitely going back next time. She is fixed price and sooo fair in pricing. She has 3 stalls around her.
MATAHARIS - shopped here for bathers, and some stylish clothes for the kids. Also got the canvas prints done here too. Be prepared to wait as sometimes there are people who take a million photos on their memory card and take ages to find the photos that they want. I planned before I went, I saved the photos I wanted done on my memory stick and told the guy, its all on there. You can easily miss the guy, he is hidden away behind the jewellery. Very very happy with my prints
CARREFORE: got snacks, vodka premixes, vanilla bean, Kentucky chicken crumbs, yummy pastries from their bakery, milk (for my baileys), nibbles, and some shoes and clothing for the kids. I laughed so hard when I saw the warranty sign that was near the childrens inflatable pools. You get a huge 3 days warranty. I have never seen that sort of warranty before lol.. my husband was not impressed with how long I took in here, we only came in for milk and snacks, but we walked out with a trolley full of stuff. Hehehehehe.
GENEVAS - this homewears place is huge! Didn't make it to the 4th floor, too tired. Lots of wooden statues, nicknaks, towels, table runners, hairclips, serving bowls, etc etc etc
Well priced too
ARTMARKETS - KUTA - great shopping here, brought some of the Balinese umbrellas so cheap. Lots of clothes.
Here are some items I brought during my holiday, if you have any questions feel free to ask. Wooden umbrellas, imitations addidas kids shoes, kids shoes, kids thongs, placemats, table runners, jewellery (beaded kind), ladies and mens clothing of all sorts, medium size double layered scrolls (stunning), Balinese wooden dolls, naughty shaped wooden bottle openers, remote control toy cars, kites, purses, handbags. Watches, sunglasses
MONEY CHANGER: Melasti street, I think they are called BCM or BMC. I have their card somewhere. They are authorized and very very honest. No problem here. If your staying at kuta lagoon, when you get to the front of hotel turn left , turm right at the lights and after the while long fence, it's the 2nd shop there.
TRAFFIC: it is true, traffic is very very very bad. In the morning its not too bad, but in the afternoon it is a nightmare. I think its quicker to walk from our hotel to kuta square than to catch a cab. Lucky for us, most of our favourite eats and shopping were within 10 minutes of our hotel. This is why we would love to stay here again.
Were coming back with our young kids in feb, staying at dynasty, but were definitely heading up this way to take them to blue skyz and sheppys.
We spent 10 nights in bali and loved every minute of it. The people are just beautiful, there is so much to do here.
RETURNING HOME 13th AUGUST
Denpsar airport - once again very impressed, check in was fast, just made it with my luggage 500g under, they didn't weigh hand luggage YES!
Before the entering the departure lounge, they checked our carry on bags and handbag with a fine tooth comb. I had the remote control toy cars in my handluggage, and I had to remove all the batteries from them all up 28 batteries. I had no idea you cant
take batteries on a plane. Well , better they took the batteries than the toy lol.
Smooth flight back home. I was worried flying back on Friday 13th, but I did panick a bit after our lovely pilots welcoming message when he ended it with 'may god bless our souls' I havent had a pilot say that before, and being Friday 13th a little wave of panic set in lol..... all good, he was a great pilot, drove smooth, great smooth landing.
I prebooked a meal of chicken foccaccia - it was soooo yummy, really fresh bread too.
Back home in perth, used the new passport scanner. We were in and out the airport within 30 mins, and that included picking up duty free, checking through a suitcase full of wood items. Only got 1 thing taken off me, which was one of the wooden sticks in one of my many scrolls, all sticks but one were fine.
The thing to look out for when purchasing wood is make sure it has no pin/needle holes in the wood.
It was a perfect holiday for me!
A HUGE thank you to all the forumites out there, the ones who post messages with questions that have helped me, and the ones who are kind enough to answer and share their wealth of information about bali with us. thanks to all those that have responded to my many questions as well, without the forum, i wouldnt have as much confidence on my trips to bali. the information you have given me has been priceless. Thank you!