Our two weeks on Bali

  Bali, Bali, Indonesia Saturday, February 7, 2015

We landed at Bali airport - yes we have been here before so again the wow factor of being somewhere new was diminished. Our expectation of Bali was very low this time too so there was some trepidation about being here again. We hadn't enjoyed our time on Bali last time - we had expected a beautiful paradise island that was all chilled out and quaint. For those who have been here, you know that Bali is anything but. A busy, jostling city that sprawls for miles, full of mopeds bombing around everywhere, cars squeezing through narrow alleyways and the constant shout of touts - "massage? want a watch? just looky at my shop? want a dvd? want some viagra? it is relentless. The only reason we had come here at all was because our good friends Kiki & Per from Sweden, are holidaying on the island on Matarua off Borneo (Indonesian Kalimantan) and had suggested we meet up with them there. Of course we said yes. Now we just had to get there! We had tried to find a route on the Internet already but had been unable to find anything out about it.  So here we are, in the hub of all Indonesia to sort it out now. Anyway, we jumped in a taxi to our first guesthouse we had booked on-line. As we had to sleep at the airport in Brisbane the night before, we knew we would be very tired and didn’t want the hassle of having to find somewhere for night one. We arrived at Pondok Guesthouse and it looked lovely. Traditional Balinese design building with the family Temple in the yard. The staff were lovely and showed us to our room. Well, we have stayed in worse is all I can say. Very few people reading this will understand what a typical backpacker room is like, but it was like that. But the bed seemed comfy and that was all we needed right now. Our first full day here was a Monday so off to Bali Mode - a visa agency, to apply for our visa extensions. We needed to be in Matarua after our 30 day on arrival visa we had been issued with at the airport would expire. So we left our passports in good faith that by the end of the week we would have them back and could make plans to visit Lombok and Komodo, somewhere we had not had time to visit before. We planned one more night in Pondok Guesthouse but the bathroom was starting to smell and we couldn’t stand it so, we spent the afternoon looking for somewhere else  We had a place in mind (thank you Trip Advisor) and after dinner at Bamboo, we walked to the area it was supposed to be. Do you think we could find it? We asked lots of people “oh it’s just down there" they kept saying. Grrr! down where? Well we found it eventually down a long dark alley. It sounds grim but it was beautiful! Typical Balinese building again with lots of greenery. The lady was really friendly and said she would keep a room for us tomorrow. The following day we went back and we were so glad we did. We had a lovely bright sunny room on the first floor. And the bathroom is CLEAN with HOT water. Yippee! It is also very quiet all you can hear are birds singing, it’s lovely. With all the noise and traffic just a short walk away down the alley way, it was impossible to believe we were in the same place. We had Internet here too which was a bonus but still no email from Bali Mode to say immigration was ready for us to do our fingerprints and photos. Mainly we just worked on getting a route to Matarua. We found a few places to eat around here but none were that special  Jody was still finding the only choices for her were pizza or spaghetti in tomato sauce  so one day we walked a bit further up the beach. Quite a lot further actually. We walked to Kuta Square which is a bit like Benedorm meets Rodeo Drive, L.A.. We found these shops selling watches. There was one after the other after the other. They were all really busy, full of people and curiosity got the better of us and we popped in one. We were surprised to find they were all Rolex, Breitling, Cartier, Bulgari, Omega, Tag etc at the top end and Gucci, Armarni, CK at the bottom end range. And the prices were really reasonable. £20 upwards. Obviously they were all copy watches - which are legal out here, but they were really good quality watches. Some of the top end brands were going for £100 for an automatic movement. It’s fair to say we treated one or two people and Jody bought one (maybe two) for herself. Some friends had asked us to look out for some good copy watches for them on our travels so we knew we would be back. During our first week, we did two special things. The first was the car trip around the island which we found on-line. and the second thing (being a week before Valentines Day) was our beautiful meal on the beach. Both of these we have written about separatelyThe trip was a good day out but the meal on the beach was really special. We moved to Kuta Angel Luxury Living Hotel that weekend. Bryan was fed up with the Internet keep dropping off which was a shame because we had slept really well and liked Nakula a lot. The Internet here though was much better and faster and as Bryan has to keep on top of his work, it was important. Still it wasn’t so bad, it was a really lovely room for £23 a night - you would pay much more in England - more like £100 so we were still happy. They didn’t have room numbers though, all the rooms had names. We were given “think different” which we felt was appropriate for us. So by moving further up towards Kuta central, we moved nearer those copy watch shops. Uh oh! Dangerous! The thing about these shops is that they don’t just sell watches. You want Prada sunglasses, Tiffany jewellery, Pandora bracelets, Bulgari Jewellery, Mont Blanc pens? You name it, they’ve got it. And so have we now! Oh dear! Not forgetting the items we had bought for other people too, our suitcases could take no more. Time to send some more parcels back home we think. Another Monday came around again and we had spent most of our week trying to work out how to get to Maratua. We had also expected to hear from Bali Mode by now so we also chased them but with no luck  Immigration hadn’t moved our passports up in the queue and weren’t ready for us to go there so we had to sit tight on those again. “Think Different” shower had packed up too so we moved next door into “All In One” - not so appropriately named for us we felt. Apart from copy watch shops, there were some really nice restaurants around the Kuta Angel hotel. The first night we looked for a vegetarian restaurant we found on Trip Advisor as it was rated really highly. We found the location on the map and stood in the exact location, but there was nothing there.  It looked like the restaurant was in a  more remote area near a beach than in the centre of Kuta.  We walked up and down for ages before deciding the map on Trip Advisor was wrong. Instead we found a lovely French restaurant called Un’s down small alley next to a temple. It was lovely, food was gorgeous and the drinks refreshing - especially the frozen margaritas!  The setting was local with a touch of European but with all these ugly masks on the wall behind where Bryan was sitting. Of course Jody just had to take advantage and she asked Bryan to make a face unbeknown to him he was pulling a face which made him look like one of the collection on the wall behind him which was quite funny. The next day we found the “Secret Garden” where we had breakfast most days  And the "Club Havana Bar” where they always seemed to have a live Latin band playing good music. Their food was delicious. Jody had been craving salad for weeks now and here she was finally able to satisfy it. Excellent! Bryan opted for a mega Burrito one night and it fed him for 2 days it was that big! There are also some great massage places around too. A facial for £3, a 1 hour foot massage for £2, a full body massage for £3 too and not forgetting the four handed massages for an hour for just £8. It’s fair to say we took full advantage at these prices, especially Bryan who is on a quest to have a massage in every country we visit. One night we walked to the monument to the victims of the Bali Bomb incident in 2002. Over 200 people were killed in this attack and it often gets forgotten because of the Twin Tower and London bomb attacks which overshadow it. We were still getting nowhere with our travel plans to Matarua so in desperation, we jumped in a taxi and went to the ferry headquarters itself. Bryan had already been once but they had shut in the half hour it took between phoning them and getting there. So frustrating! After a long process of the man typing in dates and destinations on the computer, we finally managed to establish we could get a ferry. But it went from Surabaya on Java so we would have to get there first. That wouldn’t be a problem but without our passports we couldn’t book the ferry. Round in circles here! Most other countries in Asia, this ferry would not have been a problem as an agent will just do the booking for you and even send a car to pick you up  Not here though, the Pelni Ferry Company has no agents - you have to do everything in person at their office. When we post our pictures and blog about what we have been doing, you really only get to see all the fabulous stuff we do. Sometimes when we are travelling, there is an awful lot of frustration and red tape to get things done and that’s the bit you don’t see - but it’s all part of the fun!!. And we were getting no joy from Bali Mode either. We had tried to ring several times but we could never get the man who dealt with us on the phone; someone else always answered the phone then he would send us an excuse i mean response, by email. Fed up of not being able to speak to him we decided to head over to their office and confront them about it. Our efforts didn’t get us anywhere though, just a feeling that they would push harder for it now which was all we really wanted them to do in the first place. Later that day we got an email saying immigration have a slot for you tomorrow so we will pick you up at 10am and take you. Success! No - Guess what? 10am no pick up just an email saying it will be tomorrow now as Immigration have a power cut!  GRRR! We extended our stay at the Angel for another night (reluctantly as the prices were getting more expensive each day that got closer to Valentines day) and decided to get a bottle of wine that evening. We don’t do that very often as it can get quite expensive for something drinkable. But we needed to drown our sorrows. Still stuck on Bali! Yes we know - there are worse places we could be stuck like the M25! Finally on Friday 13th, it all came together, we got picked up, we went to Immigration, we got our fingerprints done and photos taken, then later the same day, as promised, we got our passports back! Phew it was good to see them again, we thought they were lost in the immigration black hole. As last we could leave. We booked a bus for next day to go to Lombok for the weekend and checked into a cheaper hotel - Grandmas, to wait it out. At last we had a plan - but no ferry tickets yet! So how do we feel about Bali after all this? Well surprisingly we liked it more. The beaches are still rubbish, the streets are still busy but we knew that before we came so maybe we had lowered our expectations. We had some good experiences this time too and we met some really nice people. Would we come back?  We would say no - but you know what? We will probably have to. Bali is a real hub where all the cheap flight fly to and from, and we’ll need to come back if we are ever to get to Komodo one day.   [gallery columns="4" ids="5983,5987,5991,5994,5996,5999,6001,6005,6006,6008,6011,6017,6023,6027,6032"]