We are off on a cheeky, last minute, unplanned 'holiday' to Bali!
13 October - Kuala Lumpur to Bali
We managed to book our flight with Malindo Air costing £20 each! We were a little nervous about what to expect considering the alternative with Air Asia was over £120! Our flight was early so we set an alarm for 5am, just as I was about to get out of bed I had to email to say our flight was delayed until 11! No problem we got another couple of hours in before getting a taxi to the airport (apparently it costs the same to go by train as it does by taxi but I think we got scammed!). Anyway, at the airport we checked in and 11am came and went then they informed us we were even further delayed by an hour. We played chess passing the time and we actually boarded an hour later on a real plane! But check out our view ...
Luckily the plane wasn't full so we managed to move seats and had a pretty smooth journey for 3 hours. Bargain! The landing was a little scary as the runway is parallel to the beach. We circled round and we really thought we were going to land in the water!
The taxi drivers at Bali airport are like no other we have ever encountered. They are like vultures. As soon as you say no to one guy the next is right there in your face asking you. We had at least 100 meters of this before getting to the exit of the airport. We couldn't see any other taxis so we asked one of the annoying guys how much. 400,000 rupiah he quoted us! It was extortionate as we read it should cost 50,000! Feeling like we didn't have a choice we tried to withdraw money from the cash machine - cards blocked again! We exchanged our last 50 USD and gave the taxi nearly all of it ... robbing so and so!! The journey was less than 20 minutes to Legian (this works out more expensive than home!). Next drama ... checking in. We had pre booked our hotel but had to pay on arrival. With no cash and no cards working we couldn't check in as the hotel wouldn't let us in the room without payment. We were tired and fuming by this point! With the last bit of change from our 50 USD we bought a phone card and credit to call the bank. Surprise surprise my credit ran out just as I was about to talk to the right person! Luckily, we managed to get hold of my amazing mum who went straight into the bank to unblock our cards. Feeling stressed out we dumped our bags and went for a walk down to the beach and watched the sunset with our first of many Bintang!
Back at the hotel we paid and checked in. The room is actually really nice. The hotel is Hotel at Kuta and was rated number 1 on trip advisor only costing around £30 a night. It was so late by this point we ignored the shower and went straight out for some food, we ended up in European restaurant but after our day we weren't really feeling Balinese food. After which we went for a walk up the strip. We came across the memorial from the 2002 nightclub bombing which turned out the be the anniversary today. Pretty scary stuff.
It is true what they say about Bali it is full of brash Aussies! Everyone seemed to be on a stag or hen and absolutely hammered. We jumped into one of the many bars which proved to be good people watching spot watching all the drunk people stumbling down the road to the next pub!
14 October - Bali (Kuta)
Feeling more relaxed this morning we had breakfast at the hotel and checked out and got a metered taxi to our private villa. We have booked a villa on airbnb.com to stay with Grimo and Pamela for 5 nights for £40 each per night per couple. We drove for about 20 minutes and then the taxi stopped at Villa Kuba, a hotel. We are staying at Villa Kuba Metali which is a private residence. We drove around and around before spotting the gates from the photos driving down a small road. The taxi cost 40,000 rupiah which is a good price (compared to the rip off 400,000 for the same amount of time from the airport!). The housekeepers husband met us there and gave us the keys. There a two villas facing each other with a pool in the middle. Each has a bedroom, ensuite bathroom, kitchen and lounge. The villas are amazing and it will be so nice to have our own space.
Looking closer there were a few niggles; the wifi did not work, no pillow cases, 1 tv was black and white, one cooker was not hooked up to the gas, mice droppings in the cupboard but we can live with most of that but it is annoying after seeing a good description and reviews. We called the housekeeper Leona and said she would sort the wifi out. After an hour and a half we heard nothing and called back and got no response. I called another number and she said she would come and fix it tomorrow but we needed the wifi to keep in contact with Grimo to give him the address. Leona came round within a hour and could not fix the wifi or anything else.
Shaun and I walked down to the beach which took a good half an hour stopping for some lunch along the way. The food seems quite cheap here, we had some nice fresh seafood (well I had some beautifully cooked mahi mahi and Shaun had some charcoaled tuna). After a stroll along the boiling hot sand we headed back to the villa to wait for our guests to arrive and stock the beers in the fridge.
Grimo and Pam were due to arrive at 8pm so we waited around for them. It was dark so we needed some way signal we were here ... the Guernsey flag!! We tied it up on the gate and sent the photo to Grimo. By this point we were so hungry we headed out to the nearest Warang for some Nasi Gorang (fried rice and fried egg) and rushed back for 9pm. Midnight came and they still weren't here so we wrote a note on front door, sent them a message and headed to bed. Just as we got into bed Grimo finally sent Shaun a message after radio silence for whole 2 days. They were nearby and would be here soon. We jumped out of bed and waited by the door to greet them. Half an hour later they were banging on the gate looking tired and fed up. They came in and unloaded their bags and unloaded their version of events from the past 2 days. In short, they were robbed unknowingly, taking their Ipad and their money pouch containing over £300 of rupiah as well as other currencies, then they climbed a volcano and had a ridiculous journey trying to get here on local transport getting completely ripped off with the little money they had left. You can read all about their dramas on their blog http://www.getjealous.com/shanpam/journal/3333937/con-men-and-being-mugged-v039s-the-amazi.html. They are on a similar trek to us travelling for a few months and then going to work in New Zealand.
15 October - Bali (Seminyak)
We all had a long lie in this morning. Shannon and Pamela deserved it after their shitty day yesterday. We headed for breakfast down the road then bought some beers from the shop and chilled out in the pool catching up all day. It is nice to talk to some people from home and also some travellers that are going through the same thing as us. We all agreed that there are shit days but we keep that bit quiet and only tell you the good things!!
This evening we headed down to the beach and literally just missed the sunset. We walked along the beach and ended up at a nice looking restaurant. It wasn't so nice and we waiting ages for our food. Then we were feeling greedy and ordered dessert. We waited half an hour before cancelling our order and making our way home. More beers and we had a really nice evening dipping our feet in the pool and catching up swapping stories from the last 2 months.
16 October - Bali (Seminyak)
This morning after some cereal in the villa we headed down to Seminyak beach. The boys hired surf boards for 2 hours and on their first wave they suddenly turned into pros and got up!!
Pam and I chilled out on the sunbeds, it's so hot we couldn't even sunbathe and had to take cover under the umbrella. We stayed on the beach all day and watched the sunset before getting a pizza to take back to the villa. We tried to get a taxi home as it is a 30 minute walk from the beach but they were all set price at 50 rupiah, we paid 40 by meter to travel 30 minutes so we refused and walked home. We chilled out in the evening eating pizza and drinking Bintang before an early night.
Ever since we got to Bali I have felt an ear infection coming on, typical as soon as Shaun is better I get it! Today my ear infection is agonising. We managed to get the same antibiotics that Shaun had from the pharmacy. Going to sleep tonight I was in tears because it hurt too much to lay down. With Shaun resting my head and after popping an ibuprofen and a co-codomol I managed to get a few hours sleep.
17 October - Bali (Seminyak)
Today we chilled in the pool again having competitions of who can hold their breath under water the longest!
In the evening we headed to Kuta and took a walk to the beach. The main strip on Jalan Legian is a good 15 minute walk to the beach through winding streets of shops and restaurants. We had dinner at the Sky Garden which does an all you can eat for 50,000r, that's £2.50!!! It was a proper BBQ buffet with all the sides and meats you could need. Unfortunately, we had just missed out of the free flowing beer 5-6pm but still £2.50 for dinner suits us just fine! Everything in Kuta is a lot cheaper than in Seminyak. Afterwards we hit a bar where Pam and the boys shared a 3 litre keg of beer (i'm on antibiotics for my ear infection so I'm stuck on the milkshake!). As always every taxi we tried were complete con men (seems to be the trend in Bali) and all wanted 100,000r to get home! After asking maybe 3 different cabs we stopped one in the road who agreed to go by meter and guess what it cost 15,000! I really don't know why everyone here takes the mick. One for the road at home then to bed as the boys booked an all day off road bike tour tomorrow.
18 October - Bali (Seminyak)
Whilst the boys are going out on a bike tour today, Pam and I are having a relaxing pamper day!!
{Shaun} Me and Grim were supposed to be picked up at 7.15 from our villa but because it is in the middle of nowhere the driver could not find us. We walked into the town and eventually got picked up by what can only be described as the worst copy of a Range Rover I have ever seen. It took a long and very bumpy one and half hour drive to the centre of Bali where we arrived at an equestrian centre. The dirt bikes where lined up ready to go. They geared us up in the oldest and shittest motocross gear I've seen, but I figure we're going to wreck it anyway. Before we could head out on the tour the guides wanted to see if we could actually ride and would be ok on the tour hey had planned. We were both "really good on the bikes.... not!" we didn't even stall the bikes several times and look like fools, really we didn't. We started our tour on the beach where we raced each other to the other side. it sounds simple riding on the sand but believe me it's not. The bikes kept slipping and sliding and more than a few times me and grim thought we where coming off. We stayed on the beach for around hour before heading over some rice paddies and seeing the locals work them. Bali is covered in these fields and its provides the local not just with a source of income but also food. After a few hours of screaming the bikes around various beaches and coves we headed for lunch in the mountains. I thought we would be taking the dirt roads to the lunch stop but unfortunately it was roads for around 1.15mins not impressed.....The lunch spot was a more of a shack than restaurant but served up some well needed food and local flavours. Best of all it sat at the top of a mountain over looking two of Bali's biggest volcanoes, one of which we would be climbing in a few days. After lunch we had another boring 1.15mins ride back to the beach. No wonder these bikes all have balled tyres. Once back in the land of fun we headed to a quarry where our two tour guides gave us a little show of what we can do here. Lots of fast bums small jumps big wheelies and if you had the balls huge dune climbs. Me and grim tried all of it and had a blast. Considering Grim has never ridden off road before he was really good even getting up super tricky deep sandy dunes. I have some trial ridding experience but even then I was caught picking up the bike a few times, just a few mind. By the time we left the quarry my hands where bleeding from trying to many wheelies and we where knackered and could hardly stay on the bikes. The more we rode the more we fell off. It just shows fitness plays a big part of off road ridding. After seeing a few more sights like bat caves and temples we headed back to the ranch for a bbq and a much needed bintang.
{Back to Jodie} The boys were up and out by 7am this morning so Pam and I had a nice lie in and relaxed writing blog and catching some rays. And whilst the boys were out we managed to get in a sneaky massage at a posh hotel down the road! At last we have found a massage where they don't try to kill you! Check out the sexy hospital pants they made us wear!!
We are really enjoying Semiyak and spending time with Shan and Pam so we all decided to book 2 more nights here then we will go to Ubud together for a few days.
In the evening we went on a big long walk to find a restaurant Shaun had spotted only to find it after an entire loop back where we started! But to be fair it was a really cool cafe called Dusty Cafe serving French/Italian food in a steel framed room. We had our first 3 course meal, still costing under £20 per couple. On the way home we picked up a few more beers from the shop and chilled out before the boys were practically falling asleep from their big day out.
19 October - Bali (Seminyak)
Another chilled out day by the pool. We got up to some mischief creating Bar Kubu ...
This evening we went back to the Sky Garden in Kuta as it's Sunday they do an all you can eat roast dinner!!! Well is was half roast and half BBQ but still they had the basics and again all for £2.50 you can't go wrong. Afterwards we took a stroll down the strip and sat outside a bottle shop which had a seating area out front made of beer crates. We sampled Bali's not so fine beers and had a few Bintangs whist playing cards. This time for the taxi bartering we had a plan just to stop a taxi instead of going to the rank, first time he says ok and off we go!
20 October - Bali (Seminyak)
This afternoon the boys wanted another go at surfing so we headed back to the beach. The surf was pretty knarly with one big dump wave rolling in so the boys came back early after fighting with the waves!
This evening we planned to go to the cinema in Kuta but when we got there the movie times didn't work for us so instead we walked along the beach to the Hard Rock Cafe. We had a giant pitcher of Bintang and some epic portions of food!
We walked down to the beach and got tried to get a taxi back. You guessed it they were quoting extortionate prices. Eventually one said yes meter, we get in and he says ok 50,000 rupiah, nope so we get out. Another cab agrees meter, we get in, he says how much did you pay to get here, we say 15,000, he says get out! He literally stopped the car and made us get out! We jump in another cap and finally we go by meter! What the hell!
Tomorrow we are leaving our paradise and heading into central Bali to Ubud for a few days.
A la perchoine
Jodie and Shaun
xx
