Sue's "Just Back" ReportPart Two |
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June 2001 |
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Before I begin I forgot to mention in Part 1 that we are/were first-timers to Bali, but that was probably pretty obvious. Also, I had better warn you again - this is even longer than the last one but who cares, there's nothing on TV anyway! True to their word, it was 100% holiday in one day and we had a fabulous time. Himself and the children took their own masks and snorkels while I used the Bali Hai's and we all borrowed their fins. Once we were in the water we were totally mesmerised by all the beautiful fish, their colours were just amazing and we loved it. It wasn't all snorkelling though, the banana boat rides were a lot of fun (it's jolly hard getting back on if you come off!), as were the water slide and mini-submarine. Lunch was a delicious buffet and don't tell anyone but the children had a ball sneaking some of the left-over bread rolls to feed the fish - you couldn't see the pair of them through the boiling finny curtain! Doing the island tour after lunch and learning about the Lembongan locals was very interesting, they are a hardy lot. One big disappointment for me was not having any money with me. The cruise info says to bring money for drinks and souvenirs but we weren't interested in teeshirts, hats, etc that we thought that meant and left our money back at the hotel for security. Thus I missed the opportunity to buy a beautiful hand-made sarong from the lady who actually made it. She gave a demonstration and all I can say is that they are so clever as they have their patterns and designs in their head, passed down from their mother before them. We could also have bought carvings, etc as well. Being so busy, the day went very quickly unfortunately but it was one of the best days of our holiday. We were supposed to have a 'rest' day after the cruise, but I'm a believer of striking while the iron is hot. You never know what tomorrow could bring and if one of us was struck down with Bali Belly then we would be kicking ourselves for not taking opportunities when we had them. It was with this in mind that on the spur of the moment we decided to do the 'Kintamani thing'. Himself soon got chatting and bargaining with a driver who we had already had a short trip with and knew what his Kijang was like and we were soon away. First of all Putu took us to the Barong dance at Batubulan which we really enjoyed, it was quite humorous and very well done. Next we had a short stop at Ubud for 'brunch' at Cafe Wayan; again very nice. Had a very quick trot down Monkey Forest Road to look in the shops but had no time to see more as it was 'getting cloudy' so we were soon off again to the volcano. The scenery from Ubud to Kintamani was nice and once there we were lucky that there was no low cloud obstructing our view. It was a pity we couldn't say the same about the hawkers. I knew about them from the forum of course, but had accidentally left my notes back at the hotel along with the advice to admire the view from the restaurant. Himself and the children forgot my instructions to ignore the vultures and instead were attracted to the ridiculous prices being offered for goods. Once they got their attention and their wallets came out the price suddenly changed from rupiah to US dollars, ie 10,000 for three teeshirts to $US10 each! One guy even had a wooden chess 'set' for '5,000rp' and although he didn't believe it, Himself called the guy's bluff but upon offering the money he was presented with just two of the chess pieces! No deal was done there needless to say. Then to top it off a woman was draping teeshirts over my arm while I was in the car trying to shut the door to leave and when I wouldn't buy them she pinched my arm quite hard when retrieving them, leaving a big mark that turned into an ugly bruise the next day. After all that the driver was going to take us down to Lake Batur but fortunately I remembered White Devil's advice on passing there as fast as possible due to even worse hawkers so we said No Thanks and headed for 'home'. Excluding the vulture experience it was a pleasant day with lots of interesting things to see. A couple of days later and with a new driver, Alun (pronounced Ah-LUN) from outside the Bali Rani hotel, we once again headed north, this time through Seminyak and the back roads before reaching the main road to Lake Bratan. On the way we visited a family temple, Pura Taman Ayun, which was very picturesque, and if we thought the scenery and views were nice on the way to Kintamani they were nothing compared to this trip! It was simply beautiful all the way from Seminyak to the lake where we had a wander around the temple Pura Ulun Danu Beratan and the botanical gardens at Lake Bratan. I was rapt to find that White Devil's information regarding Mister Johnny was correct - he was there with his "little photo op menagerie", including the 5 meter python. Well, one of them must have been Mister Johnny, as there were actually two "little photo op" menageries. It was very tempting, but we got too many shivers for us to partake in a "photo op" - those beasties were HUGE! What really put me off though, was watching a woman getting rather freaked out when she had not just one, like she expected, but THREE of those serpents draped around her neck! Yuck!! Still sends shivers down me spine! From Lake Bratan the driver then took us to the Puri Dewata restaurant for lunch. We would never have found that restaurant ourselves, as it was down a rather insignificant little back road leading to where we feared we might get chopped up ourselves! However, like he warned us, the food wasn't anything special, but the views of the rice terraces were - they were stunning. It was also spectacular when the rain started just as we finished eating - it poured down. On the road again the scooters had scattered undercover and those brave enough (or silly enough) to travel looked quite funny with their 'scooter ponchos' on. Fortunately we ran out of the rain not far down the road, long before we got to Pura Alas Kedaton and the monkey forest there. We weren't disappointed. The little furbags were hugely entertaining and really cute, especially the many baby ones. We didn't buy food and I felt confident without my stick this time as just like White Devil promised, they did behave. Well, most of them anyway. The only fright we got was when we wandered off on a walk away from the crowds. A big monkey decided to have a game with us and started chasing us. Tom was at the back and began running but I thought that might aggravate the terrorist and quietly told him to just walk quickly. Don't know if it was good advice or not, but the monkey still got close enough to put his hand on Tom's leg but very fortunately did not bite. Boy we were very shaken and relieved! After that we decided not to overstay our welcome and got the hell out of there. Guides were available and seemed to command a lot of respect from them but my best advice is don't wander off alone. Tag along or stick with a group - animals know all about safety in numbers! The next and final stop was Tanah Lot not far down the road. This was a busy place and with good reason - it too is spectacular. It was just as well we hadn't planned on staying for the sunset - it had been a big enough day as it was - because the clouds had caught up with us and it wasn't going to be a nice sunset anyway. One thing that really amused us at the monkey forest as well as here, was the number of Java and Asian people who kept asking us to have our photo taken with them. I could understand them photographing our beautiful children (!) but when they wanted me and Himself in the picture as well I got the giggles! Admittedly we were very outnumbered by these other nationalities and someone said that the Javanese have hardly ever seen a white person before so I then understood how Mister Johnny's snakes felt! The rice paddies along the road back from Tanah Lot are worth mentioning - they too are lovely. For our second to last day we debated going river rafting but as there had been heavy rain overnight and most mornings that week I chickened out. So far the only damage we had done to ourselves was Himself and his elbow and I didn't want to push our luck. The last holiday that we tried some "adventureous" stuff Pickles got quite badly hurt so I suggested we do the east coast thing and go diving at Amed and Tulamben. This got an enthusiastic nod from everyone and once again we jacked up a driver for the day. We were up at sparrow's fart and away at 6.30am to beat the traffic - a jolly good idea as it turned out as the trip would have been a lot longer than two and a half hours otherwise. Once again the scenery was very beautiful, totally different from the previous two trips. At Amed we hired three sets of fins and I took turns with Pickles in doing the snorkelling. We found the snorkelling almost as good as Lembongan Island in fish quantities, but better in fish quality as there were some much bigger fish. We didn't spend long at Amed and didn't really do justice to the place by exploring properly as what we really wanted to see this time was the wreck of the USS Liberty at Tulamben. By the time we got to Tulamben the wind had come up and it was rather choppy and I wasn't that keen. Himself and the children weren't worried however, and off they went again. Later, when it was my turn I could see why they were so excited - the wreck WAS awesome! There were scuba divers everywhere here and we saw a few groups way down below from the surface. It was worth coming to see even for the quick look that I got and Himself has vowed to return to see more. It took three hours to return instead of the four that the driver told us, but that was probably due to leaving early enough to miss the worst of the traffic, or maybe it was his crazy driving. Anyway, it was another good day, rounding off the holiday quite nicely. Sammie and Susie's Forum Bar:Being the very keen forum participant that I am, I was eager to put faces to
the names of some of the wonderful people who had made our holiday so much
more enjoyable with the valuable advice they have given via the forum. So keen, in fact, that we were the first ones to turn up at the scheduled The Weather:Weatherwise we were very lucky. We mostly had brilliant weather everyday. As I mentioned previously, on some nights in our second week it rained during the night and for a few hours into the morning. However, it always cleared up by mid morning and boy, did it get humid and hot then! We were lucky that none of our trips happened to be on the days it rained, except after we had returned. When it rains there, it pours man! On our last day it rained so hard for half an hour that the street outside the Bali Rani was flooded out for 100 metres in either direction. The water was nearly lapping at the hotel doorstep at one stage! Apparently it was the same further along nearer Kuta, and it was very amusing seeing a lot of the scooters driving along the foothpaths or bravely holding their feet up high while surfing through the waves on the street. Drivers:I can see the merit in choosing and using a driver recommended by others on this forum but unfortunately for us they were pretty much unavailable when we needed them so we just had to chance it. My advice if you can't or don't want to use a recommended driver, is to talk to someone outside your hotel fairly soon during your holiday. See if they speak good English, inspect their vehicle, talk about their prices and do some bargaining. If you are happy with them, get them to take you on a short trip somewhere first, such as Denpasar for a few hours, or Ulu Watu or Tanah Lot. Then, if you still like them and their vehicle talk to them some more about where you would like to go and see how helpful they are. If they still pass the test, book them for a longer trip, and if you are STILL happy with them, discuss prices and book them for the rest of your trips straight away. That way you know what you are getting - it is not very nice starting on a long trip and discovering that a driver turns out to be completely different to what you were expecting when it is too late to change, take it from me. Also, if you aren't happy with a driver you still have time to find a better one for the big trips. One other thing - quite a few drivers had a 'tout' who would do all the prospecting for customers then passed us on to the actual driver once we had agreed on a price. Make sure you ask if they are the actual driver before you get too far into the conversation, and do not be afraid to inspect their vehicle. Sometimes they are parked a wee way down the road or around the corner. Booking activities:Apart from the Bali Hai cruise, which was open-dated anyway, I was very relunctant to book anything before arriving in Bali. This is because you can't possibly know how you will be feeling until the time comes. Pickles got a bit of a cold just before we left home and didn't shrug it off until nearly the end of the first week. We could also have got Bali Belly or Himself's battle with the humongous wasp could have been much worse. Sometimes something that seems like a good idea from the comfort of home turns out to be the opposite when you actually arrive. I like my freedom and even if I did pay the price of getting one dud driver instead of a recommended one, too bad. A Warning:While waiting in the final departure lounge before coming home, a young woman got the once-over by the x-ray cops. She had to completely empty and spread out her considerable hand luggage for their inspection and there was a lot of arguing going on. Her crime? A Stanley knife in her bag was picked up on the x-ray. Himself overheard her telling her friends that they wanted a $US1,000 fine (probably for their 'social club') but she managed to talk her way out of it, saying she didn't have any money left. Not long after two more passengers got pulled up for having Swiss Army knives in their hand luggage. All of them had their 'weapons' confiscated for the flight and put into envelopes and I presume that they would have had them returned once we were in New Zealand. I never go anywhere without my Swiss Army pocket knife (so useful) and what I can't work out is why Himself's and my knives weren't taken off us. We both had them in our bumbags which went through the x-ray and they would have been highly visible. Maybe it was because we were a family and less of a 'terrorist risk', whereas the others were all either single or couples with no children. We might not be so lucky next time... $US1,000 - ouch!!
I feel so much better now - there's nothing like writing a book for therapy and the Bali Travel Forum is worth its megabytes in gold for providing such an opportunity for miserable returned-Bali-travellers. I've left out a lot but had to try to keep it as brief as possible (true!) so feel free to email me if you have any questions you would like answered. Finally, thank you very much to all the people who freely provided so much valuable information via this forum and on your own personal web pages before our holiday. Without it I am quite positive that we would never have had a fraction of the amount of fun that we did. And you can all take the blame for stringing one more Bali addict on the line! Will we go back? Well... are there any dogs in Bali?! |