Hooooolidaaay! Ceeeeelebrate!.... 😂 After six weeks changing place every second day in NZ and few days in Sydney, and long flights, we arrived to Indonesia! Our holiday destination. We had decided to stay only in three different places here. We are going to just relax, take it easy and enjoy our stay!
When we arrived to Denpasar, the capital of Bali, we started to hear "taxi", "taxi, "taxi"... We had checked that an airport taxi would cost around 30€ - 35€ to Sanur. That was way too much. Our friend Minna, who "lives" in Bali for the moment told that the blue taxis are quite cheap but we would have to walk a bit out from the airport. Then there was Uber, but we needed internet so we bought a local prepaid sim card. Luckily they hadn't blocked Uber from the airport as many places did in Latin-America.
But there was another problem, namely the taxi drivers. When we tried to find the pickup place they shouted to us that Uber is not coming and that it's not legal. The taxi drivers were quite aggressive. Then we finally found the pickup place that is at the international drop off zone. The price to Sanur was around 4€, so quite a big difference. We hard that the taxi drivers have even beaten up Uber drivers so that they have ended up in hospital.
We stayed one night in Sanur before we went to Gili Air. We took a nice body scrub with some light massage at our hotel. It was quite cheap, 120,000 rp (~9€) for an hour. The women who did the scrub were also very nice. They told us about how it is to be woman in Bali. It didn't sound easy or nice. Luckily they told that the situation is slowly getting better, so there is still hope. 😊 We found also a really nice cafe close to our hotel, Soul in a Bowl. They had really delicious foods and shots! Ginger shots! 😜
To Gili islands we went with a speed boat that had even speakers and they played 90's hits so it was quite fun to sit on the roof of the boat in sunshine and listen to old songs. We used Easygili.com to buy the tickets. It was the cheapest (69 U$D return for two persons) and it included also transfer to and from the boat. The boat ride was around two hours to Gili Air. At Gili there are no cars or other vehicles, just horse drawn wagons! 😂 Our bungalow was a bit from the harbor so we took the wagon! It was a nice experience even if it was a bit expensive. We had heard already about the price from a local French guy. It was 100,000 rp (~7,5€).
We stayed at Salili bungalows and it was a quite nice place. The bathroom could need a "face lift" but otherwise it was ok. The few first days we just took it easy as we were still sick. We got a flue in Sydney and Markus had 38,5 fever in Sanur and Edda had it the first night at Gili. There are worse places to get well from a flu.
We had a really nice view at breakfast! And the breakfast was quite good and Edda loved their banana pancakes. One day we rented fat tire bikes from the villas. It was a good choice! With normal tires we would have had to walk with the bikes a lot. The "road" around the island was in many places soft sand. It took only 15-20 minutes around when we biked ally slowly. We stopped also for a thyme latte. After that it started to rain so we had a refreshing shower during our biking trip.
Markus went few times snorkeling. It was not the best place for that. Almost all of the corals were dead. 😢 It looked like they had died from tramping, boats, anchors and other man made damage. But he found a sea turtle both times and swam with it for a while. There were also some fish and some coral left. And Markus loved to stay in the water because it was so warm, around 28c! 😉
One day we were tricked to a holiday club sales event. We went to ask for a menu at Scratch restaurant and the receptionist asked if we want to come and listen to a presentation of their new ecological resort and give feedback of it and we would get a 500,000 rp (~35€) voucher to Scratch. Well, that sounded like a good deal. When we then went there, the woman started to talk about their holiday club... And she talked, talked and talked! After two hours they finally told the price for joining the club. Wow! they asked "only" for 7400€ including a discount and with "only" 19% interest. This was the cheaper one, the other option was only 12,000€ 😂😈 We thanked no, took our voucher and left.
Then it was Markus' birthday. Edda had managed to get a chocolate birthday cake for breakfast! 😃 It was a nice surprise! Edda had also asked the staff to decorate our room while we were walking around the island. They had done a good job! 😊 In the evening we went to Scratch to use our voucher. It was a bit more fancy restaurant and they had a live band and also a fire show. It was a nice birthday dinner!
Markus got excited at breakfast! There was some wind! Not much, but just enough to be able to kitesurf a little bit. Markus had ordered a WOO (a device to monitor kiting) in December, and his parents brought it to NZ so he got it, but he hadn't had a chance to use it, so now he could test it for the first time. Even in very light wind the jump readings showed 3,8m high, not much but OK when it was even a bit difficult to stay upwind. Maybe later Markus gets to test it in proper wind! 😁
In the evening we went to an outdoor movie. It was a nice experience! A bit old movie but we hadn't seen it (Eat Pray Love). We don't know how the copyrights are in Indonesia... In the end there was a text: "thepiratebay.se" 😂 In the evening we took a night swim at the pool.
In the morning when we were leaving back to Bali, we saw a big thunder at the sea. It was really loud and we were a bit worried that it would come over us. Luckily it was just raining so the boat ride to Bali was ok. Next place is Ubud. 😊
But there was another problem, namely the taxi drivers. When we tried to find the pickup place they shouted to us that Uber is not coming and that it's not legal. The taxi drivers were quite aggressive. Then we finally found the pickup place that is at the international drop off zone. The price to Sanur was around 4€, so quite a big difference. We hard that the taxi drivers have even beaten up Uber drivers so that they have ended up in hospital.
We stayed one night in Sanur before we went to Gili Air. We took a nice body scrub with some light massage at our hotel. It was quite cheap, 120,000 rp (~9€) for an hour. The women who did the scrub were also very nice. They told us about how it is to be woman in Bali. It didn't sound easy or nice. Luckily they told that the situation is slowly getting better, so there is still hope. 😊 We found also a really nice cafe close to our hotel, Soul in a Bowl. They had really delicious foods and shots! Ginger shots! 😜
Ginger shot! 😋
To Gili islands we went with a speed boat that had even speakers and they played 90's hits so it was quite fun to sit on the roof of the boat in sunshine and listen to old songs. We used Easygili.com to buy the tickets. It was the cheapest (69 U$D return for two persons) and it included also transfer to and from the boat. The boat ride was around two hours to Gili Air. At Gili there are no cars or other vehicles, just horse drawn wagons! 😂 Our bungalow was a bit from the harbor so we took the wagon! It was a nice experience even if it was a bit expensive. We had heard already about the price from a local French guy. It was 100,000 rp (~7,5€).
Party boat! 😂
Local taxi
We stayed at Salili bungalows and it was a quite nice place. The bathroom could need a "face lift" but otherwise it was ok. The few first days we just took it easy as we were still sick. We got a flue in Sydney and Markus had 38,5 fever in Sanur and Edda had it the first night at Gili. There are worse places to get well from a flu.
Our room, and in the picture below is our breakfast "table" 😊
We had a really nice view at breakfast! And the breakfast was quite good and Edda loved their banana pancakes. One day we rented fat tire bikes from the villas. It was a good choice! With normal tires we would have had to walk with the bikes a lot. The "road" around the island was in many places soft sand. It took only 15-20 minutes around when we biked ally slowly. We stopped also for a thyme latte. After that it started to rain so we had a refreshing shower during our biking trip.
Biking with fat tire bike
Locals trying to get a boat up from the sea.
A boy playing with a kite
Thyme latte (well, looked like a cappuchino), quite interesting
Markus went few times snorkeling. It was not the best place for that. Almost all of the corals were dead. 😢 It looked like they had died from tramping, boats, anchors and other man made damage. But he found a sea turtle both times and swam with it for a while. There were also some fish and some coral left. And Markus loved to stay in the water because it was so warm, around 28c! 😉
One day we were tricked to a holiday club sales event. We went to ask for a menu at Scratch restaurant and the receptionist asked if we want to come and listen to a presentation of their new ecological resort and give feedback of it and we would get a 500,000 rp (~35€) voucher to Scratch. Well, that sounded like a good deal. When we then went there, the woman started to talk about their holiday club... And she talked, talked and talked! After two hours they finally told the price for joining the club. Wow! they asked "only" for 7400€ including a discount and with "only" 19% interest. This was the cheaper one, the other option was only 12,000€ 😂😈 We thanked no, took our voucher and left.
Then it was Markus' birthday. Edda had managed to get a chocolate birthday cake for breakfast! 😃 It was a nice surprise! Edda had also asked the staff to decorate our room while we were walking around the island. They had done a good job! 😊 In the evening we went to Scratch to use our voucher. It was a bit more fancy restaurant and they had a live band and also a fire show. It was a nice birthday dinner!
Sunset at the restaurant
Markus got excited at breakfast! There was some wind! Not much, but just enough to be able to kitesurf a little bit. Markus had ordered a WOO (a device to monitor kiting) in December, and his parents brought it to NZ so he got it, but he hadn't had a chance to use it, so now he could test it for the first time. Even in very light wind the jump readings showed 3,8m high, not much but OK when it was even a bit difficult to stay upwind. Maybe later Markus gets to test it in proper wind! 😁
In the evening we went to an outdoor movie. It was a nice experience! A bit old movie but we hadn't seen it (Eat Pray Love). We don't know how the copyrights are in Indonesia... In the end there was a text: "thepiratebay.se" 😂 In the evening we took a night swim at the pool.
Movie theater
In the morning when we were leaving back to Bali, we saw a big thunder at the sea. It was really loud and we were a bit worried that it would come over us. Luckily it was just raining so the boat ride to Bali was ok. Next place is Ubud. 😊
Good taxi savings!
ReplyDeleteHow's fat tire bike riding? Does it feel much different from a regular one?
Well, I don't know how fat tire biking would feel on normal roads but on sand it was a must! It would've been impossible to ride with a normal bike! But I would've somehow thought it would feel heavier but quite the contrary!
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