Bali

Bali is part of Indonesia. And a favourite place of mine I have visited Bali 6 times. Once when I was a child with my parents, sometime in the 70's and 5 visits since 2000.With the last visit in 2009.
I will start with the 2000 visit and work up to 2009.
I will share some photos and info I have learnt over the years.

more info on Bali HERE

Bali 2000

A lot of years have passed, since I travelled as a child. And Bali was my first trip as an adult. The trip was booked and the day of departure came quickly. I sat in the car on the way to Sydney airport with mixed feeling.
Touch down at Bali Ngurah Rai International Airport, cleared customs easy.
We got outside the airport, shit and a few other words went through my mind, the smell and heat where enough to kill anyone, what have I got myself in for .The drive from the airport had my head spinning the traffic was crazy, no road rules what so ever horns tooting nonstop .I wanted to get back on the plane and go home.







We arrived at our hotel Bali Rani in Tuban, right next to Kuta .We booked in and the place was really nice so to were the staff of the hotel. I started to feel better.
After a welcome drink and a freshen up we hit the streets to explore , The first bargaining experience was a shambles I’m sure I could of bought 7 pairs of sandals for the price I paid for 1 pair. I’m pleased to say the bargaining got better as time went by. The next few days were enjoyable a bit of shopping done, drunk a lot of Bintang beer and organised a few tours.

Over the next few days we did some tours. I will post a series of photos of the tours as they are much nicer to look at the read my waffling .These are scans of photos.





SOBEK
Ayung white water rafting

website here

An early start to the day as we were picked up from the hotel and driven by minibus to the upper reaches of the Ayung River .It was fantastic to be in the comfort of the air conditioned minivan even though we hurtled along at some fantastic speed weaving in and out of traffic tooting the horn every few minutes.
We arrived at the start point and were fitted up with life jackets, helmets and a paddle and told this way to river. Yer sure, I think it was 150 step short of ending up in china .At the bottom I was greeted by a Balinese guy who gave me a drink in a leaf rolled into a cone and full of water .They gave us a safety lesson and told us the river is full and fast after the rain .We set off and had a great time, there was a few heart stopping moments but a fantastic day with a meal and cold drink waiting for us at the finish.



Barong Dance



Mt Batur - Active Volcano



Monkey Forest Ubud





Tanalot temple



Turtle Island







Bali 2003

On this trip, my eldest daughter Miss C joined me. We stayed at Melasti Beach Resort in Legian.Which was better and quieter than Kuta and only a short cheap taxi ride away or a 20 minute walk along the beach.

Melasti Beach Resort

website here





Elephant Safari Park at Taro

website here

An excellent day out , with an early morning pick up . Elephant ride through the jungle and in the elephant pool and after spend time with the carers and feed the elephants







Bali bird park

website here









Bali Reptil Park

website here





Mother Temple of Besakih - Mount Agung











Bali 2004

I was joined by miss c again on this visit and a few others , so a few place were revisited.
We stayed at the Bali Garden Hotel in Kuta , Was a good hotel except for a lot of noise from the club across the road

Bali Garden Hotel

website here







A few shots from around Kuta









Kuta Memorial





Let's never forget this needless waste of life

Bali Bird park




Elephant Safari Park at Taro







GitGit waterfall













Banjar Hot Springs





Bounty Cruises

website here

A cruise was given to us free of charge when we booked the air tickets. Ended up, being a great night. I got onboard to find out there was free fosters beer all night, how good is this, a free cruise and free food and beer.
We set sail and headed for the harbour entrance, Cool we get to see the coast of Bali at sunset. Wrong, the boat came to a holt 10 minutes later. What was wrong I asked? We have stopped for dinner. And that was the extent of the cruise .Anchored in the middle of Bali harbour .Dinner was served and we enjoyed a traditional Balinese dance .A singer, Then a guy dressed as a women got a comedy act going, and me full of fosters got roped into his act, which ended up being a lot of fun .It was a great night and the food was great.







Rice terraces





Time with friends





Bali 2005

I went back to the Melasti beach resort in Legian, as I stated before it’s a lot quieter and still very easy to get to Kuta. The Melasti is a great hotel, in need of a do over though .It is getting a bit old looking, on the upside the breakfast is getting better every year we go.
This year I travelled with Air Paradise, very cheap fares. We arrived in Bali in the late afternoon of the 23rd of November 2005. Got transferred to our hotel, hit the streets to change some cash, get supplies (beer) and a new t-shirt and shorts for tomorrow . Back to the hotel, to restock the mini bar with my supplies of coke and Bintang. Jumped in the pool to cool down, so humid. Ordered a pizza for dinner and cracked open a Bintang. Bliss
Knock, Knock .Went the hotel door, shit, panic, and find some clothes. Tripping and stumbling over luggage and empty Bintang cans. What a way to wake up. I opened the door to a Balinese staff member smiling saying selamat pagi, I grumbled back pagi. He handed me a piece of paper. Terima kasih I said. Oh shit no, I yelled. The airline has gone bust. What the fire truck will I do now? I found out from another Aussie we had to go to Sanur, QANTAS office. What a way to start a holiday, with no way of getting home. At least I was stuck in Bali. In the QANTAS office I found out QANTAS will fly us home. We leave 3 days earlier then we are supposed to, or stay 3 extra days, Oh gee let me think about that one. STAY

Melasti Beach Hotel







Bali Bird Market



even this guy was for sale



Kuta beach



Kuta beach Sunset





Kuta art market





Ceremony Kuta beach





Bali Quad

website here





Rice





Garuda Wisnu Kencana Cultural Park

website here









Uluwatu and Kecak Dance











Bali Zoo

website here











Sangeh monkey forest







Bali 2009

I had miss c and miss g with me this time it was miss g 1st visit to Bali and she loved it.
We stayed at the Melasti Beach Resort again .

Turikas shop


Fixed price shopping



Kuta beach sunsets









Ubud





Bali Safari & Marine Park

website here

















Bali Dolphins

website here





Bali Bintang Bike Tour

website here

This was something I have wanted to do for years. I finally got to do it .Miss c joined me .We were picked up at 7am and whisked off to the mountains to a coffee plantation. Where we got to taste different teas and coffees and coco was quite good. Then they showed us a Palm Civet some kind of cat animal from Asia. We were told they feed the coffee berries to the Palm Civet and after it passes they make coffee out of its poo and the passed berries. See here for more info .I am not a coffee drinker at any time, but what the heck. Nothing ventured, nothing gained .It cost me about $5 aud for a small cup, and it was very strong and stirred with a stick of cinnamon. Very tasty I must say. Miss c just looked at me with discussed look on her face, don’t kiss me ever again she said.
Back in the minivan and off to Kintamani. Where we had pancake bananas and tea or coffee and had a photo opportunity of the volcano.
We were given gloves a helmet a bike and a bottle of water, we set off on a 45 km ride from Kintamani to Ubud, and it was fantastic way to see Bali. It was very hot about the 32 degrees mark with 85% humidity. Clearly a silly day to do a bike ride. It was great having kids run out for a hi 5 on the way pass.





















That covers 5 of my 6 trips , feel free to leave a reply or send me an email .

Here is some more of my Bali photos

here and here

My driver is Wayan Yasa 08164701287



Here's a few links to some good info on Bali

BALI travel FORUM

here

Trip advisor

here

DON’S BALI VIRGINS GUIDE

here

And why not learn some Indonesian

here

My Bali map with spots of interest

here

Batik Painting

I had bed covers and doona covers made , take your measurements with you and a design , give them about a week to make it .They look fantastic .

Also I had doona covers made at Monica Collection







My latest Bali trip here

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