Bali
Looking out the window of the flyscoot airplane we are greeted with the strange spectacle of oceans and mountains that we don't generally see back home in India. I poked at my wife to look out the window at the strange mountain that was kind of sawed off at the tip. She said “probably a volcano”. I nodded. We were probably looking at Mount Batur or Kintamani as the locals call it. She asked me “Shall we visit it?”. I replied, “Probably Not. Since we are new here, we will a pretty much packed schedule and will probably have a lot of other things to see and experience as well.”
Soon the Bali airport came to view and we were descending to the airport fast. The whole airport experience somehow reminded me of home, the smallness and airport being amidst small mountains, somehow reminded me of the Guwahati and the Silchar Airports as opposed to the big city airport of Bengaluru. Even the attitude of the airport officials at customs, the way they called was strangely reminiscent of the calls that the local tribals in the place that I grew up, the Dimasas. We came out of the airport and was greeted by our local guide Tini. She called the driver who was supposed to take us to our hotel.
The Hotel and Seminyak Beack — the first day
Once we got into our cars and drove towards our hotels we were welcomed with the scenic beauty of the small town that is Bali. There was a small spring in the heart of the small town boy that I am. I got lost watching the surroundings when there came our hotel which again felt like the a big house painted in colors that must have been chosen by an imaginative child. The old popular song came to mind. “I may not be an artist, but since I saw you I have become one.”
The receptionist welcomed us and gave us our room keys. Since we were hungry we first went to the hotel restaurant. It was a nice restaurant with well natured waiters. This well nature and polite behavior is something that we recieved throughout our stay in Bali. Looking at the menu things seemed a bit expensive but we had a roll and some juice which cost us 80 IDR. By the end of the stay our misconception would be blown away. This restaurant at the hotel of Park Regis will be one of the best restaurants and cheapest that we will eat in the whole duration of our stay.
After taking some rest in our rooms we started planning to go out for the evening. To our delight we found that Uber provides service there, although they are not viewed favorably by the locals. Hence many websites cautioned us to ride them cautiously. Still we decided that it will probably be better and cheaper to take a cab wherever we go. Another advantage that we thought would be there is that we will get to meet different locals in the cabs and then we will be able to know many things about the land and culture and other practical guidelines on how to efficiently and cheaply make the best of the stay that is Bali.
We took a ride to the nearby Seminyak Beach. The driver left us near an open restaurant where we thought it would be better to get some snacks before going for a round. We ordered some juice and a burger which cost us 71 IDR. In the meantime, my wife started a conversation with an Australian and his local friend. They were most kind giving us list of places where it would be good and cheap to eat and list of places to visit. We would visit a lot of his recommendations. Then we went out for a walk. Asking the nearby pedestrians we went to the beach. We stayed at the Seminyak beach till nightfall. The Seminyak beach had a lot of these pubs/bars where you could sit and have a beer or two for some time and get the feel of the ocean wind. It was a my first experience to get some ocean wind with a beer in hand with the stars slowly creeping over you. The bars also have live music, predominantly western and rock which was kind of juxtaposed and lively. As expected such a lively atmosphere would be expensive and two beers and some french fries set us back by 250 IDR. Later we took a ride and came back to the hotel, on the way the driver showed us a restaurant named pork ribs which he told us served the best pork ribs in Bali. We were tired for the day so we chose the restaurant food and asked him to take us back to the hotel.
The Island, Kuta and Denpasar — the second day
The next day we had our breakfast at the hotel and our sweet guide greeted us in the lobby. We went on a tour of the entire Denpasar and the Kuta city. The first stop was the Bali museum where we saw the history of the indigenious people of Bali. Interestingly they were attacked and held as a colony briefly by the Dutch and the Japanese but they never lost their fighting spirit. Then we went to the Denpasar city market where my wife, Saionee, started buying some clothes and stuff. In the meantime a family tour that was predominantly Gujaratis came to the market as well. They were talking in Hindi and they observed the prices to be quite high. Since Saionee also understands Hindi she asked them about it and these ladies advised her to not buy stuff from this market area as it was quite expensive. We only took two hats which served us a great deal. It was quite hot the whole day and we were able to move in the sun thanks to those hats.
After that we went to the Tanah Lot temple which had an interesting architecture. It was built on top of a small mound at the edge of the sea. After that we went to a marketplace nearby and Saionee bought some clothes and souvenirs for friends.
The next stop was at a coffee farm where they make the famous Lewak coffee which they say is the most expensive coffee in the world. The guide tried her best to say that even though the coffee beans passes through the whole gastrointestinal tract of the Asian palm civet, they are thorughly washes and processed. Still it was tough for Saionee to get the taste of the coffee. I guess they get that a lot. As for me I kind of liked the coffee and bought some back to India. But when I tried it here they seemed more bland to me. My appreciation for the local Mysore coffee has since then increased manifold.
Later we came back to the hotel. Since we were quite tired we stayed back in our rooms and the evening was largely uneventful.
Water Sports — the third day
The third day was the day when we would be blessed by Poseidon, the god of the sea. We were greeted by our driver and then we were taken to the water sports adventure camp to take enjoy water activities. Within our package, that we had bought from MakeMyTrip.com some activities like jetski and flying boat was included, but we bought paragliding and sea diving. Paragliding was fun. But sea diving was scary. We were barely able to hold ourselves and our heads inside the water. Deep sea diving is something that scared me a lot and hence am looking forward to experiencing diving the next time I get a chance. Another mistake that I made is that I misunderstood the salesperson in the camp when she was telling me that additional items that I would be buying like deep sea diving would cost me around 150. I assumed it was 150 rupiah and hence didnt think much about it. But when paying with my card it actually cost me 150 dollars and hence I had to pay 10000 INR. This was something that I should have checked when negotiating with them.
While returning we were clubbed with some other Indian couples. Among them was an Kannada girl married to a Gujarati guy. Coming back to it seemed like we were only meeting Gujarati families in our trip.
Trip to Ubud
Once in the hotel we had lunch and then we decided we would go on a tour to the nearby Ubud. We had heard a lot about Monkey Forest and wanted to see it. But as it was already more than 3PM we were afraid if we would be able to reach on time as the gate closes by 5PM.
After the monkey forest we requested our driver to take us to the rice terrace lands and there we had the privilege to see the traditional rice terrace. It was out of the world. Later since it was getting dark went back to the cab and the driver brought us back to the hotel.
We rested at a our rooms and later went to a nearby joint to have some pork ribs which was delicious. Also it was cheap and cost around 30 rupiah which was our lowest dinner expense in the whole trip that we were there.
Once we were done with the dinner we went and took out some cash from a nearby ATM as we were almost out of cash. This was the first time we were taking out some cash. On an earlier to keep the context we had taken cash from the airport which was a huge mistake. The cash counter at the airport cost a lot of charges but the ATM charged us a lot less. It was almost half of what we got at the airport. This was a huge mistake on our part and the lesson is to never buy currency from the airport.
Last day
On the last day we decided that it would be a rest and relaxing day for us and hence after breakfast we went to find a place which would give us a good message and spa facilities at a reasonable rate. Our first instinct was to find a place where the reviews were good and people were saying that its cheap online. But when we went to such a place we found that it was quite expensive. Hence we decided that we ourselves find such a place. After some searching in the nearby Kuta market area which was quite reasonable and we had a relaxing spa there. After that we came back to the hotel and had lunch. In the evening we decided that we would have exotic food for dinner and hence we went to the Kuta market place again as it had a lot of restaurants as well.We found a Japanese restaurant. It was a different experience so we would only recommend it if people are used to it. Later we came back home and then we started packing for our flight the next morning.
Leaving Bali we were grateful for the hospitality of the people of Bali. Its a beautiful place. We have felt the utter delight on the faces and expressions of Bali to see us visitors. Bali reinforced my belief that the more inclusive the people are the more happy they are. Bali left us with happy memories and we hope to return there again someday.
