Michael From New York

Travel Reports

Part 1: NUSA DUA

The first thing I can comment on is this...The Balinese are a lovely, friendly, kind, and beautiful people. Everyone I dealt with, from hotel staff, drivers, cabbies, waitstaff in restaurants, sales clerks in shops, and even a guard for a private home after I stumbled onto the property mistakenly thinking it was a hotel...were all unfailingly gracious and appreciative and eager to please.

My flight from New York was two hours and change late in leaving - so instead of leaving at 1015PM we left at about 1230AM. THis was October 19th/20th.. Ultimately I arrived in Hong Kong, on Saturday the 21st at 830AM. I wasnt that disturbed because I had a layover until the 1030 AM flight to Denpasar. I Met Mr and Mrs Gula from Toronto...as pre-arranged..via this travel board. We angled around and ultimately had a $20Hong Kong cup of coffee. WE later found out that Cathay Pacific had issued breakfast vouchers for the same place. Oh well.

The Gulas were in the back of the plane and I was in the exit row aisle seat 31H on Cathay Pacific's HK-Bali flight. Which was about 4 1/2 hrs. So I didnt see them again. They were scheduled to stay at the Kartika Plaza in Kuta, and I was to begin my 13 days in Bali in Nusa Dua.

The flight went by easily enough. I remembered the word on the board about there being a little side room off to one side of the Main Immigration Counters im Ngurah Rai Intl Airport...but since I was in the first row of coach I got off the plane rather quickly...and there were only a couple of people ahead of me on line. The Immigration officer said not a word, and took his time...but I was passed through. Luggage retrieval was a little slow...but my two cases arrived. Always buy RED luggage...its a rare color on the conveyor belt so the bags are spottable immediately.

Then just like everyone said..when you exit the arrivals hall you will see more than 100 drivers all holding up a sign with a name on it. THey have NO idea who their client is so they are all jostling for a favorable position, and everyone is calling out the name on the card...it is a daunting experience IF you are looking for your man. I took the advice of this board and DID not have a pre-arranged driver waiting. Instead I made my way to the taxi desk. Fares to all areas have recently been raised so the fare to Nusa Dua was 33,000 (this is $4 dollars US)said the board. Fortunatley there is a money changing window right there as well. I received 8910 Rupiah per dollar and I gave in a US $100 so immediately I had a stash of 891,000 rupiah.

Somehow I missed the porter scam, and my bags were carried to a taxi by a pleasant enough young man...but the smallest notes I had were 20,000 rupiah..so he got about two dollars and change for carrying my two bags about 60 ft. The drive to the Sheraton Nusah Indah took bout 18 minutes. 

Yes, Nusa Dua is swank. And Yes it isn't your everyday Bali...but right before you enter through those gates, you do pass some real Bali shops, stores, homes, school children walking home in their uniforms, dogs, chickens, a kazillion people drive motor bikes and scooters, and sometimes you see a family of four on one bike...and the traffic seems so chaotic...but it is really quite measured.

IN the states and Europe, and probably Australia, everyone is accustomed to traffic controls, red-light and green-light, and stop signs. In Bali, there are hardly any traffic lights. So who goes? And when? The quickest and the bravest...that's who. So before I had even rolled into the elegant Sheraton Nusah Indah driveway...I had my first real taste of the real Bali.

Without traffic controls, you must be both Aggressive and Defensive at the same time...It was scary at times but ultimately fascinating to watch the traffic interweave...

So I exit the taxi at the Sheraton Nusa Indah Hotel and there are two beautiful dancing girls and a small three piece band. They immediately launch into the music, and the girls weave their magic. The song concludes and they shower me with flower petals. Bali's magic has me...and I am already enchanted. Exhausted...but enchanted.

I step to to the registration counter and then move to a special counter for the Starwood Preferred Guests. Starwood is the Sheraton's parent company, and I was enrolled immediately when I made my initial reservation via the Sheraton's website. The registration was mercifully brief, and I was given a key and made my way to room. I had a nice pool view room on the 4th floor. Room was quite large with a nice living room area (couch and chair and table) as well as a huge kingsize bed. The balcony was big enough for a small table and a chair. Bathroom had shower and tub and the toilet was in a separate room with a door within the bathroom itself. The hotel provided a fruit basket and a 'welcome drink' coupon. My room cost $98 a night. The Buffet Breakfast was kind of steep at $15 per but was simply grand. 

The Sheraton Nusah Indah is one of a strip of four hotels in a row. A single sidewalk runs the length of the beach and basically connects the hotels. You can walk into any of the beach areas or pool areas or ultimately the hotel lobbies right from this pathway. You have the Nusa Dua Beach Hotel, The Sheraton Nusah Indah, The Sheraton Laguna, and the Melia Bali. All of these hotels have magnificent gardens and pool areas. They are all quite beautiful. The beach itself is a wide horse-shoe. The beach is kind of narrow and doesn't have much depth to it, even at high tide. There are only a few hawkers on this beach which has a police presence all day long. I noted one sarong lady, one man selling watches, and one man selling kites. They have the rights to this beach but they are not permitted to approach you...they walk their routes up and back...and you must go to them. There is one souvenier stand along this beach, and you can hire a boat, or even do parasailing, or jet ski...

Nusa Dua itself is manicured lawns and gardens, and the street is immaculate. From the Sheraton Nusa Indah, it was about a 8 minute walk to the Galleria. Plenty of shops, a department store, some restaurants, a few food stalls, a hair braiding stall, and a non-permanent tattoo stall. The Galleria will not be inexpensive, and you may also find anything you want in the department store. I bought a bathing suit in one store. She began at 80,000 rp, and I offered 50,000. We settled at 65,000 which is about $7 US. The suit was nice enough but it didn't last the trip, as a tear developed.
You can easily walk to the Galleria from the above hotels.

I look at all of them. The Melia Bali had the nicest looking lobby. The Sheraton Laguna had the prettiest pool area, including a lagoon with its own beach. All of these hotels had beach side restaurants, and bars right near the pools. And they had massages available as well.

Dinners at the Sheraton (I was there five nights). My first night I had room service as I was too tired to go anywhere. Second evening I had a Seafood Buffet Dinner at the Hotel.And it was magnificent. Third night I ate in the hotel's ala carte restaurant - pizza, salad, and a large Bintang. Fourth Night was a Thai Buffet. 

The next day, I hired a guy to drive me from the hotel into Kuta as I needed to buy a camera. I asked him his rate. 30,000 rp to Kuta he says. And how much to wait and bring me back, another 30,000 he says. So I agree to go one-way. We walke to the parking lot and there someone appears out of the bushes. Oh, that's my Uncle he says. He drives. I am a little concerned...but there wasnt a problem, other than a nonstop pitch to hire him out for an all day tour. 

Kuta wasn't pleasing at all. I exited his van at matahari's Department Store, and was immediately beseiged by Transport? Boss, questions. The sidewalks were narrow, the shops open and not well lit and the streets weren't too clean. Plenty of money changers and souvenier shops. I couldnot find any kind of worthwhile camera shops. The were stores that had a small selection of point and shoots, but nothing appealed to me. I took a taxi back for 22,000.

On my last full day at the Sheraton, I hooked up with a friend that I had met here on the Bali Travel Board. He had hired a car for a half day tour which included the Mengwi Temple, The Monkey Forest, and Tanah Lot. The Tour had been book through his hotel, The Melia Bali, and was rather steep at 300,000 rp. But we were six people, so at 50,000 rp per person it was very reasonable. The driver showed up at 230 and we dismayed because he wasn't adeept at English...and our group was all from the United States. So a call was made and a guide arrived within fifteen minutes. 

The Mengwi Temple was my first temple in Bali, and it didn't take a lot of time to tour it. Each of us had to pay 3000 Rp entry fee and thats about 30 cents. 

The Monkey Forest was bout twenty minutes from the Temple. There is and admission fee, and you are taken around the Monkey Forest by a lady guide. There are quite a few monkeys and we were warned that they might run off with anything they could grab, but I didnt see much of that. One man got a surprise when a friendly monkey jumped onto his shoulder, but they were fairly tame. The Monkey Forest also has a bat colony that dangles from a tree. Fortunately we left before they took flight. Each lady guide at the Monkey Forest turns out to be a shop-keeper as the Monkey Forest has dozens of stands and stalls all selling teeshirts, sarongs, and the Balinese arts...

We then headed for Tanah Lot as you want to get there before sundown. It is a major tourist spot. You Pay in the parking lot as an attendent is there as you park. Thousand of people ar there. Canmera flashes are ubiquitous, but you will not have seen anything like Tanah Lot anywhere else. The surf, and the rocks, and the people make it unique. Little girls try to sell you post cards, and you must be carefulto not walk into anyone's photo...Ultimately it gets dark, and you hike back up the hill...where there must be at least 100 -200 shops and stands. All selling something...We were collected by the guide, and this is important, if you are a group, try to stay together because everyone leaves at the same time as it gets dark quickly. The guide was very nice, and capable, and spoke good English, and knew his stuff. So we made up between us to give him more money on the side. So the six of us put up 10,000 rp each and gave him the 60,000. Well his face lit up and his smiles beamed at us as he hadn't expected a separate payment.

We were driven back to the Melia Bali, and Jason and I had dinner at the Coffee shop at his hotel. He was leaving for Hong Kong the next day, with his group tour (Smartours.net on the web)and I was was changing hotels the next day.

Nusa Dua is an immaculate enclave. The hotels are indeed spectacular. But the beach isn't grand at all. Comments have said that this isnt the real Bali and that is true...but I had plenty to do, relaxed in comfort, and had good shopping at the Galleria. I wasn't a buyer...justlooking around was plenty of fun.

I had a neat lunch in the Galleria at a stand where I had an order of spring rolls and two ckes for just 29,000 rps (about 3.00 US). And there is a convenience store in the Galleria where you can buy sodas, snacks, and beer, at prices far below any at the hotels.

I Left NY on the 19th of October, arrived in Bali on the 21st, and left Nusa Dua on the 26th.

NEXT ENTRY: I move to Kerobokan on the West Coast.