Landed in Bali December 29th late flight Air Asia. All good and we were out of the airport very quickly. Our driver we had organised was waiting for us and he bought each of us (4 of us) a frangipani ley in the area before the carpark. This was a first for us and it was lovely for the two first timers (18 and 16) we had with us. I love frangipanis so this was a big hit with me!
Eddie drove us to our hotel in Seminyak and we had a good chat and a laugh on the way as we already knew him a little from facebook. He had to get up at 4.00am to go fishing and it was now 1.00am but he was not concerned.
We had 5 nights in Seminyak and we love this area. Our hotel is close to Ku De Ta and eat Street via a couple of gangs so we did lots of walking. Getting taxis on Dec 30th and 31st was not easy and they did not want to go into Kuta/Legian area due to traffic jams. We havnt been in Bali on New Years before and I must say it was pretty chaotic and noisy!! Fireworks and trumpets being blown continously for a couple of days. Fireworks being set off pretty much anywhere!!
We went to Tanjung Benoa for water sports on our second day. Jetski, banana boat and parasailing although the company we went through could not do the parasailing as it was too windy. Funny though up the beach a bit there were heaps of them. Different company. Hubby wasnt pleased about that and got the option of two banana boats or jetskis. Never mind. It was a fun outing and nice to see the area. The ocean was like a highway with jetskis, boats, sails, glass bottom boats, and various other water crafts....like the roads though it all seemed to work....
I got a touch of bali belly on our 4th day and spent a full 24 hours in bed sleeping. Panadol and sleep fixed me and I was back into it. We hired scooters and hubby and I headed off to Balian beach for two nights. We had booked a room at Pondok Pisces. The trip there was on the main road through Tabanan and it was busy and hot. We managed to take all the right turns though and then I missed our turn off to Balian beach and we continued about 15 minutes up the coast road before I realised we had gone to far. We were very happy to arrive at our hotel.....we were hot and tired...what a lovely little place it was and for the next two days we did nothing....read, got massages, sat by the pool and had a great time.
Then we rode back to Kuta to check on our travelling companions who were staying at the Masa Inn. They were fine and we ended up staying 2 nights with them. I am not a fan of Kuta but did enjoy the couple of days and got shopping out of the way. We then left them again to head to Padang Bai. Nice ride, the roads and signs were pretty good, busy highway again but not as bad as the West Coast. Padang Bai was pretty and we stopped for a late lunch. I rode straight into the ferry point by accident and the polisi stopped us and checked our bike registrations and licenses and let us go on our way. Phew! Then a quick trip up to Candi Dasa. We didnt realise it was so close. A local on a bike offered to show us a hotel so we followed him but it was not to our liking so he took us to a more pricey one and we stopped there. Bali Shangrila - very nice!! We were exhausted and needed to just sit and relax and we did. It was right on the beach and it was quite charming.
Next morning we left for Amed. We were expecting another long ride but were surprised it was quite an easy ride this time and the roads were good once again. It began to rain for the first time as we entered Amed so we stopped for a while on the side of the road. I was lucky to have stopped right next to an internet shop so went in there to pass the time. Hubby had gone further up so he was chatting to some locals. We had bought rain jackets in Kuta before we left so it wasnt a problem. When we set off to find a hotel we checked out about 5 before we finally decided on Apa Kabar. It was a nice place to stay and due to the rain we checked in and then ate at their restaurant and didnt see any more of Amed than the hotel and beach out the front. I would have liked to go snorkelling but the beach was too rough in the morning.
to be continued....