Bali Trip 31/3-2/4/2010

*It took me a month to complete this post. Ha.*

I always wonder - what is so unique about Bali? Most travellers seem to love this little island and more and more couples choose to hold their romantic wedding ceremony on the beautiful white sand beaches here. Let's look at our Malaysian Top Model, Amber Chia, who just got married in Bali recently.

Bali is definitely an attractive place with its long white sandy beaches with crystal clear sea, vividly blue sky, temple on the edge of sheer cliff, well-known world heritage, handicrafts, local delicacies, traditional dances etc.

31st March 2010

Picture 1: Sunset view from the aircraft.

We arrived at Bali Ngurah Rai International Airport at about 9pm. We were stunned at the moment when we stepped out of the arrival hall by the crowd of travel agents holding names of visitors from all over the world. However, we were quite lucky as we managed to spot my colleague's name in just a few seconds.

It's about a 5-minute-drive from airport to our hotel, Anston Inn Tuban. After checking in, we walked to a nearby warung to have a simple dinner.

Picture 2: I'm a Millionaire!!! =p
Picture 3: Purple colour is the theme of the hotel.. =)

Picture 4: Basok Ayam, a local delicacy (taste a bit like Sarawak kolok-mee in chicken soup) with Rp 5,000 (~RM1.85)
Picture 5: The "Teh Botol" can be seen anywhere in Bali but the taste is a little bit weird accoding to my colleague. Others are just normal soft drinks with Strawberry, Lemon and Blueberry flavours. Rp 21,000 for 4 bottles (~RM1.90 per person)

Picture 6: Doing last-minute work after taking hot shower. From all the brochures taken from the airport, we managed to get a good bargain for a driver at USD80 (~RM66 per person) for 2 full days (10-12 hours). One thing good about Bali is that you can do reservation on tour packages / car rental at any hours at your convenience. We had already planned our own itinerary before coming to Bali. Since our trip was a bit too short, we did not want to spend our time visiting too many temples or "appreciating" their local cultural shows. After settling everything, we went to bed at about 3am.

1st April 2010

We woke up early that day at about 7am. Free breakfast was provided by the hotel. The breakfast was just like the ordinary breakfast we could see in any hotel in any country. Maybe the only special food was the "Indonesian fried rice".

Picture 7: The swimming pool in front of the hotel restaurant.
Picture 8: Another cute pose of me during breakfast.. =)

We had appointment with the driver at 9 that morning. Our driver, Wayang, is a quite friendly man. But, I didn't really get his "cold joke" sometimes. Ha. Anyway, special thanks to my colleague, Ah Mi (this is what I usually call her), who became our PR officer throughout the journey. Her main "job" was to "entertain" the driver while 3 of us behind enjoyed chit-chatting among each others. =p

First stop was Pura Luhur Uluwatu. We were warned to be careful with the aggresive monkeys there which love to snatch jewelleries and accessories, especially sunglasses. The entrace fee is Rp 3,000 per person (~RM1.10). We were wrapped with a sarong before entering the compound.

Picture 9: Petai tree
Picture 10: Sheer cliff

Picture 11: The Uluwatu Temple built on the edge of a 70 meter high cliff overlooking the vast Indian Ocean.
Picture 12: My colleagues and I in sarong...

Next stop was Garuda Wisnu Kencana (GWK) Cultural Park. I was quite disappointed with the park as I thought, in the first place, the park would be something like our cultural park in Kuching, or at least showing some Balinese cultures. The Garuda is the main (and only) interest in the park. According to the Balinese, the Garuda will be the tallest statue in the world after the completion of the project (the statue is not completed yet at the moment). The entrance fee for foreigner is Rp 50,000 (~RM18.45) per person. However, Wayang told us the park is not worth with that much of money. In the end, we pretended as Indonesian and thus paid half price for the fee (~RM9.20).

Picture 13: The body of the Garuda yet to be completed
Picture 14: Balinese Lion Dance

Next stops were Legian Street, Kuta Street and Kuta Beach. There was nothing much to do at these places except shopping. We didn't buy many things though since the prices there were much too expensive, according to the driver again.

Picture 15: The monument built to all the people killed in the bombing incident here at Legian Street in year 2002.
Picture 16: My colleague and I at Kuta Beach


Picture 17: Kuta beach
Picture 18：Horse-drawn carriage in front of Kuta Beach

At 3.30pm, we headed to our next destination, Pura Tanah Lot, one of the "must-go-places" in Bali. It took about 40 minutes journey from Kuta. Entrance fee is Rp 10,000 (~RM3.69). The place is a popular spot to enjoy the sunset in Bali. The temple is built on a huge rock and at high tide, as the water surrounds the temple, it looks as if it is floating on the ocean.

Picture 19: Me again with the Tanah Lot Temple as the background
Picture 20: Sunset view. Unfortunately the thick cloud blocked the view of sunset :(

Next, we headed south to Jimbaran Beach for our seafood dinner. It took about 1 hour drive from Tanah Lot.

Picture 21: Oh yeah, we were having our candlelight dinner here at Jimbaran Beach! It was romantic, wasn't it? :P

Picture 22: A group of Balinese singing and playing their local music instruments. Of course, you need to pay if you need them to sing in front of your table.

Picture 23: Just a random shot.
Picture 24: My cousin and I.

Picture 25-28: Our dinner: Welcoming soup, muscles (no idea what it was called as muscle, it's scallop I think), grilled squid, butter prawn, free kankong, white rice and fruits, and young coconut. Whole dinner costed us Rp 322,000 (~RM118.80). My colleague said we should order fish in the first place since the price was quite reasonable.

With this, I ended the story of our first full day in Bali.

2nd April 2010

Same as the previous morning, we had our breakfast in the hotel. We checked out from the hotel before starting our jouney at 9am.

Picture 29: The first destination of the day was Goa Gajah (Elephant Cave). Again, we need to wrap ourselves with sarong before entering the sacred place. Me, in front of the entrance into the cave. Entrace fee: Rp 6,000 (~RM2.20)
Picture 30: The bathing place which was built to ward off evil spirits.

Picture 31: Tree with protruding root. I don't really know why people are so interested with its structure since it can be found anywhere (at least in Malaysia, Ha).
Picture 32: We found a waterfall here.

Picture 33: Next stop - Pura Tirta Empul. The temple is famous for its holy water where the Balinese (mostly Hindus) will come all the way here for purification. Entrance fee: Rp 6,000 (~RM2.20)

Picture 34: Mt. Batur, an active volcano, viewed from Kintamani, a small highland in Bali. Entrance fee: Rp 5,000 (~RM1.85)
Picture 35: A picture taken with our driver for our 2 full days in Bali.

Picture 36: We visited a coffee plantation, on the way to Ubud. Shown in the picture is cocoa tree.
Picture 37: Coffee tree

Picture 38: The roasted coffee bean
Picture 39: Free cocoa, coffee and tea

Picture 40-41: According to the poster, the Bali coffee is processed from the shit of this animal! We bought some coffee back to Malaysia as souvenirs! Shh... :P

Last stop was Ubud town. Ubud Pasar is the biggest traditional market in Bali. You can see all sorts of things sold here, but remember to bargain at least up to 70% before deciding to buy anything here. You can really get that price most of the time and it is useful if you speak Malay here.

Picture 42: Lunch was the famous Babi Guling, a must-eat dish in Bali

Picture 43-44: Dinner was another must-eat dish, the Dirty Duck


Picture 45-46: Sunset view on the way to airport

With this, we ended our 2 days 2 nights Bali trip. We really enjoyed ourselves there and hope to come back here one day in the future. To those who haven't visited the place yet, I strongly recommend the island to you.