We had a 6 hour flight from Sydney to Bali, we landed late 11:45 p.m. Grabbed a cab from the airport - the driver did not know where our hotel was ... thank goodness for cell phones, he finally called and found the way. We stayed in Syminyak near Kuta. We found a room earlier on http://www.asiarooms.com/ the hotel was ok - but far out of town.
Asiarooms.com was fine for us when we were arriving into a city late, but better rooms, in better locations ,for better prices, are available if you are willing to risk it and walk around when you get there (we were looking for the $10 to $15 budget rooms - air and private bath).
In the morning we had a quick bite to eat and took off on foot with our packs in search of the beach. It was a long walk, but a nice one. We discovered the main strip full of shops and restaurants. A few galleries to remember! About 6k later we found the waves and beautiful beach!!! We were on the north side of Kuta - we found a great place to relax and people watch ... there were little venders/restaurants right off the beach. Noodle with sate and a couple of large beers $5. - couldn't have been much better! Kuta for the most part is a tourist and party town/beach ... so if that is what you are looking for perfect! If you are looking for culture and exploring the island - move on.
It was near 2:00 so we decided to head off to Ubud - we wanted to find a place to settle in before dark. We cabbed over for the pre-agreed $18. We had a "Rough Guide - traveling on a shoestring" book to refer to, but the hotels don't use addresses, just street and city names. We got dropped off and walked - packs on back. We did find a place on Monkey Forest - for $20 per night. Don't panic (we did) when places were full - there are a lot of rooms in Ubud if you go down smaller side streets and off the two main roads - no one really wanted to barter for better pricing, but we tried. There was a bar not too far away from us with jazz music - we could hear it perfectly from our balcony - great way to relax before bed.
DAY 2
We were woke up by rustling in the trees - in looking out - there was a monkey looking in from a nearby tree! As we got out there there were probably 20-30 monkeys hopping around, playing and causing trouble. We had breakfast watching them - it was a lot of fun! Today we were exploring the city - we packed water and a light bag and headed out. The town is old / new - culture / tourist, incense / sewage, colorful and dirty. It was the weekend of independence so there were people everywhere, music and celebration ... we found a great market that seemed to go for miles ... anything you could want. Many shops catering to the tourists ... out of town a little, we could catch amazing glimpses of the rice fields and the rivers. The shops are smaller and family owned. We saw some great art work - such detail in the story Balinese pieces!!! We took a quick run thru the NEKA Museum and learned a lot about the culture and their forms of painting. Across the street was a great BBQ place "Naughty Nurries" - we sat down for a vegetable curry - yummy! $2.20
It was quite a ways back - we took our time and soaked in all we could!!! Music tonight from the neighboring bar Contemporary. We went to Aris for dinner - maybe used to be something great, but we thought not so great now - Spring roll was the best. Wiped out - slept good!
DAY 3
Today was full but a bit simpler. We explored a bit more - where the people live so it was nice and quiet. Saw a nice painting gallery again - authentic works. We ran into a great restaurant filled with locals right on the corner of Suweta and Raya - Bu Oka - we ordered a "special" and a fanta. Suckling Pig, rice, chilli's, a couple of pork rinds and a bit of blood sausage for garnish - Scott was smiling all the way thru the meal!!! We had to get to the internet cafe (they are all over the place, connection ok, images slow in upload) - .80 for an hour. Spent a couple of hours and ran to the spa - Eve's - which was one of the more affordable. We had 3 hours of pampering - Balinese massage, scrub, bath - me facial, Scott Reflexology foot massage - all for $45. - Talk about relaxing. We loved it, the only one set back was that it was near the main road MF, so we could hear the road noise. Did I tell you the streets are crazy!!! full of motorbikes going every which way and cars trying to get thru them. We would not really suggest driving in the towns - if you have to, be careful and gutzy at the same time.
We had a minute to relax before the Balinese Dance Show $6.50 - 1.5 hours of dance - first a play and then a fire dance. It was interesting we loved the chants and costumes. We were pretty tired - Found a place for spring rolls down a side street - two for $1 - take away, and sat on our deck for a quiet evening. There are a couple of mini marts available here - easy and affordable to grab a beer (Bingtang) and/or snack.
Asiarooms.com was fine for us when we were arriving into a city late, but better rooms, in better locations ,for better prices, are available if you are willing to risk it and walk around when you get there (we were looking for the $10 to $15 budget rooms - air and private bath).
In the morning we had a quick bite to eat and took off on foot with our packs in search of the beach. It was a long walk, but a nice one. We discovered the main strip full of shops and restaurants. A few galleries to remember! About 6k later we found the waves and beautiful beach!!! We were on the north side of Kuta - we found a great place to relax and people watch ... there were little venders/restaurants right off the beach. Noodle with sate and a couple of large beers $5. - couldn't have been much better! Kuta for the most part is a tourist and party town/beach ... so if that is what you are looking for perfect! If you are looking for culture and exploring the island - move on.
It was near 2:00 so we decided to head off to Ubud - we wanted to find a place to settle in before dark. We cabbed over for the pre-agreed $18. We had a "Rough Guide - traveling on a shoestring" book to refer to, but the hotels don't use addresses, just street and city names. We got dropped off and walked - packs on back. We did find a place on Monkey Forest - for $20 per night. Don't panic (we did) when places were full - there are a lot of rooms in Ubud if you go down smaller side streets and off the two main roads - no one really wanted to barter for better pricing, but we tried. There was a bar not too far away from us with jazz music - we could hear it perfectly from our balcony - great way to relax before bed.
DAY 2We were woke up by rustling in the trees - in looking out - there was a monkey looking in from a nearby tree! As we got out there there were probably 20-30 monkeys hopping around, playing and causing trouble. We had breakfast watching them - it was a lot of fun! Today we were exploring the city - we packed water and a light bag and headed out. The town is old / new - culture / tourist, incense / sewage, colorful and dirty. It was the weekend of independence so there were people everywhere, music and celebration ... we found a great market that seemed to go for miles ... anything you could want. Many shops catering to the tourists ... out of town a little, we could catch amazing glimpses of the rice fields and the rivers. The shops are smaller and family owned. We saw some great art work - such detail in the story Balinese pieces!!! We took a quick run thru the NEKA Museum and learned a lot about the culture and their forms of painting. Across the street was a great BBQ place "Naughty Nurries" - we sat down for a vegetable curry - yummy! $2.20
It was quite a ways back - we took our time and soaked in all we could!!! Music tonight from the neighboring bar Contemporary. We went to Aris for dinner - maybe used to be something great, but we thought not so great now - Spring roll was the best. Wiped out - slept good!
DAY 3
Today was full but a bit simpler. We explored a bit more - where the people live so it was nice and quiet. Saw a nice painting gallery again - authentic works. We ran into a great restaurant filled with locals right on the corner of Suweta and Raya - Bu Oka - we ordered a "special" and a fanta. Suckling Pig, rice, chilli's, a couple of pork rinds and a bit of blood sausage for garnish - Scott was smiling all the way thru the meal!!! We had to get to the internet cafe (they are all over the place, connection ok, images slow in upload) - .80 for an hour. Spent a couple of hours and ran to the spa - Eve's - which was one of the more affordable. We had 3 hours of pampering - Balinese massage, scrub, bath - me facial, Scott Reflexology foot massage - all for $45. - Talk about relaxing. We loved it, the only one set back was that it was near the main road MF, so we could hear the road noise. Did I tell you the streets are crazy!!! full of motorbikes going every which way and cars trying to get thru them. We would not really suggest driving in the towns - if you have to, be careful and gutzy at the same time.
We had a minute to relax before the Balinese Dance Show $6.50 - 1.5 hours of dance - first a play and then a fire dance. It was interesting we loved the chants and costumes. We were pretty tired - Found a place for spring rolls down a side street - two for $1 - take away, and sat on our deck for a quiet evening. There are a couple of mini marts available here - easy and affordable to grab a beer (Bingtang) and/or snack.
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