A Short Break In BALI

Having gone to Bangkok using Air Asia “Go Holiday” Package and satisfied with the service and facilities provided, we were looking forward to another package that we picked and this time it’s Bali. I have not been to Bali but have heard people having gone to Bali raving over the beauty of the place and how they enjoy the trip. As always, I went into the net and search Bali forums and everything else I could get about the place. There were quite a number of forums where tourists share their experiences and from what I can gather most have a lot of praise of the place in general and there were quite a few who described in detail their experience and about the places they visit. This attracted me to the place more.

Air Asia package to Bali includes a choice of eight hotels from the super five star, where you pay a ‘tidy sum’, to the smaller establishment, the two star hotel that you pay maybe three days equivalent to a one day in the super five star!!. I picked one four star hotel in a location called Nusa Dua that lies at the southern part of Bali and from what I gather its an up-market part of Bali. The rates quoted was very reasonable and I chose to stay four nights, flying into Denpasar in the evening of Monday and returning in the later evening of Friday, that gives four full days in Bali. Not enough, not enough cries those who have been to Bali often. Ahhh … Well!! It’s our first time, so lets just see first what the place offers us and maybe, given the opportunity, we make another trip and stay longer then. The whole package cost only RM 1350 inclusive of air-fare, the four nights in the hotel inclusive of breakfast for both of us. Whoa!!! Someone said, “I pay that amount for my wife, my daughter and me on return air fare alone. That is indeed a good deal”. Well, you gain some, you lose some. It’s worth noting that booking of this package was made two months in advance.

In the meantime, we had gone to Bangkok on a similar package, (see write up on Bangkok), following which Ram had a major problem with her right eye, the one that had a cornea graft procedure done in January 2004, (see write up on cornea graft - oversight). Because of this our trip to Bali hanged in the balance. We had 3 weeks to assess her eye condition and decide whether to go or forgo the trip. The package is neither refundable nor transferable, which means if we do not go we lose out all that we have paid. When the time came, conditions were conducive for Ram to travel but she will have to take extra precautions and protect the eye as best possible.

Ram consulted her doctor in the morning of Monday January 10th. 2005. The condition of her eye has improved a lot, the ulcer on the cornea had gone completely, and the doctor reduced the frequency of consultation to monthly from the weekly visit.

We left home for KLIA at about 1430hrs. by cab to catch the AK 904 flight to Ngurah Rai Airport in Bali scheduled for 1640hrs. On checking-in we were informed that the flight was delayed to 1920hrs. We had about three hours to kill. What do we do? We had a drink in one of the shops, took extra time to finish the drinks while watching the antics of people going by. We also surveyed all the tax-free shops in the satellite building, survey only, did not buy anything. Finally we checked into the gate for our flight at 1850hrs.

The passengers were a mixed crowd, tourists, businessmen, and workers going home. I asked one of them sitting near me in the plane where he is going. He said he is going home for good after working for two years in a plantation in Selangor. He stays in a kampong on an island which is another hour flight from Denpasar, and on arriving at this island he has to take a three hours bus ride home!! I guess he is going home quite loaded now, by his kampong standard I mean!!

The last bit of the flight into Ngurah Rai was very bumpy. There was lightning, thunderstorm and it was really pouring. It also took quite sometime before we could retrieve our luggage. I guess its due to the heavy rain. Meanwhile going through immigration and custom was a breeze. We finally got out of the airport at about 11.30pm. We picked up a self-drive car at the airport, a Toyota Avanza, and went straight to the hotel, in the heavy rain, with directions given by the staff at car rental. We missed the directions twice before arriving at the hotel but, no hassle, there were many people still up and about that we could ask for directions. Finally arrived at the Swiss Belhotel at just after midnight. The hotel is located in a quiet neighbourhood away from the bustle of tourists and commercial populace.

Checked into the hotel, washed up, ate snacks that we brought along as the hotel restaurant, there’s only one, was already closed then and there was no room service beyond 11.00pm. There are restaurants open around the vicinity of the hotel but we decided against going for various reasons, the main one being the rain. The hotel room was large and very comfortable with a king size bed, large writing desk, large lazy lounge chair, TV with satellite channels, in-room safe, and coffee making facilities. The bathroom was spacious too, with long-bath, separate shower cubicle, and complete amenities. At the price we paid it was really good. We peered outside the room but could not see much as it was dark with minimal lighting.

Woke up early the next morning and had breakfast. Quite a reasonable spread and choice of food for breakfast. Our room opens directly to the centre courtyard. There are two swimming pools and most ground floor rooms opens directly into either of the swimming pool. The set up, décor and landscaping was very nice, typical Bali. A lot of plants, wood and stone carvings, receptacles and other indigenous objects were arranged artistically in the landscapes.

After breakfast we followed the shuttle to the beach club, about 10 minutes drive from the hotel. The white sandy beach was impressive and clean. The hotel provides a gazebo and beach paraphernalia for guests’ use and serves snacks. There are masseuses providing their services at the beach at a very reasonable rate, a lot cheaper than the rate in the hotels or the many spas all over Bali. I later learnt that these masseuses are assigned specific areas at the beach and they are to take care of the cleanliness of the assigned beach as well. At low tide, they will gather all the leaves and other stuff washed down into the beach in the area allocated to them and buries the stuff. This is done daily, so the beach stays clean always. I also learnt that these people, the locals, the authorities, businesses, pay a lot of attention to making Bali an attractive tourism destination. Any anti-tourism activity reported will get immediate attention of the authorities. They realize that their income is from the tourists. We stayed awhile at the beach and returned to the hotel with the shuttle service.

We went for a drive around the Kuta area and stopped for lunch at a Padang/Minang restaurant close to the airport. Nice, cosy, air-conditioned and with very friendly service. We had the beef rendang and dendeng, the dendeng is dried deep-fried beef just like beef jerky, baked brinjals, sambal olek and sambal hijau with rice. These are the signature dishes in Minang cooking. My wife had avocado juice. Its creamy, with the added chocolate and milk I think, and was very tasty. I had susu gedek, I wondered what it was when they suggested it to me, and it turned out to be soya juice, my favourite anyway. The bill came to only Rp 75,000 or about US 10.00.

Throughout this afternoon outing, our first outing in Bali, we noticed the overwhelming Hindu cultural and religious influence with reverence towards idols, sculptured objects and monuments. Little idols and sculptured objects are noticed at entrances to buildings, shops and even some nooks and corners, while monuments are built in the centre of road roundabouts, road dividers and junctions. Walls are decorated with sculptures and figure carvings that depicts characters of ancient folklores and fairytales. We also noticed that almost all statues standing in public places are wrapped in black and white chequered (sarong) cloth. I wondered what the significance was but did not get an opportunity to get an answer.

Like any other town, the roads are busy with all sorts and types of vehicles, noticeably predominant are motorcycles that weave in and out of traffic. It’s amazing that I did not notice any accident throughout my stay, and I had quite a hard time avoiding any mishaps with the motorcycles when driving around. There are no skyscrapers, not even tall buildings in the city. The buildings are generally two or three storey high and quite a few goes higher but no higher than five storey high, I think.

In Kuta, the busy and highly touristy part of Bali, you see the extreme ends of cultures, mannerisms and behaviours amongst the crowd. You see the whites or westerners, some in the flimsiest of dresses, bikini even, and in their brash, brazen and arrogant behaviour and the locals covered up, graceful and polite, that which is typical of the easterners, although some were overly polite to the point of appearing subservient. The streets, the shops, cafes, restaurants, and the beaches were crowded with people. At the beach, people were doing their own things, swimming, surfing the waves (I did not notice many good surfers, perhaps most were beginners), sunbathing with some topless, or having body massages, which seems to be very common in the various beaches in Bali. Most of the time, in Kuta, Ram stayed in the car, afraid to expose herself lest she hurt her eye again after the bad experience in Bangkok recently.

The next day we drove north to Ubud, the arts and culture town of Bali. This day happened to be a religious festival day where prayers were offered at many of the temples and puris along the way to Ubud. I had to take many detours due to the roads in front of the temples being closed and one occasion realized that I had taken a wrong turn and was heading back south!! The country scenery along the way was beautiful, rice fields left and right, some farmlands and small or cottage industries, majority of which are the artworks of carvings, paintings and sculptures. At one stop I observed a young man, with a chisel and mallet working on a piece of wood. There were neither templates nor designs to depend on while he was busy chiseling away, and after a little while, voila, a carving of flowers was produced. In Ubud there are art galleries all over and also shopping arcades selling all sorts of indigenous products of good quality workmanship and mostly cheap. Accommodation facilities of various sizes and types, from the classy 5 stars to the ‘no’ star hotels, spas and chalets, are available, spread in and around Ubud town. You may find these spas and chalet facilities next to a rice field and asking further, I learnt that many owners of the spas or facilities own the rice field as well. I guess, they find it lucrative to convert part of their rice fields into tourist attractions. I also learnt that there are ‘homestay’ accommodations and holiday bungalows available. When you walk into one of these facilities it may be off the main road or a side road, and to the back of the facilities will be the rice fields, something which is least expected when inside the building. Whatever the accommodations, their designs, settings and décor will be typical Bali, playing a lot with the arrangement of carvings, paintings, sculptures of various kinds in their landscape and interiors. The town of Ubud, is a contrast to Kuta. Although tourists were many, they seem to be different than those you see in Kuta. Ram was more confident venturing out of the car here!! We feel a lot more comfortable, and the atmosphere seems more subdued, not busy, non hectic with an aura of peace. I could not help staring into the distant nothingness, the greenery, tranquility and peaceful ambience, definitely a place worth considering a stay, an extended one too, in my next visit to Bali. But alas, this trip we had to return to Nusa Dua, and return we did, only in the late evening.

We also went to other parts of Bali in the next two days. We visited, Jimbaran, Sanur, Uluwata and other tourist attractions. We also patronized one of the spas, The Royal Spa and had a wonderful experience. We utilized one of the promotional coupons available in a tourist magazine and obtained 40% discount at the spa. Jimbaran, with its many seafood restaurants and Uluwata are popular places to visit in the evenings and watch the sunset. At Uluwata there is a temple where cultural performances are open to the public every evening at 6.00pm. The place is on top of a high cliff with a vertical drop to the sea. All over the places we went to we notice many temples each with a myriad of sculptures and stone carvings. At one location not too far away from our hotel, as we drove along the road uphill, we noticed a signboard showing pictures of temples, puri, church and mosque. True enough, not too far away we came across a puri, a protestant church, a buddhist temple, a catholic church and a mosque next to each other, all sharing one common parking lot.

The afternoon before returning home we spent some time at the beach, had a meal at McD before proceeding to the Ngurah Rai airport at about 6.00pm for our flight home. No hassle at the airport with the check in, immigration and customs. As we had about an hour and a half before our flight, we browsed around at the many shops and outlets in the international departure area. We noticed that here too there were many massage services provided and quite many people having their feet and legs massaged. The flight home was pleasant, arriving at KLIA just before midnight and Tessa fetched us home. Thus I have discovered what visitors to Bali had been raving about all the while and agree that its one place that should not be given a miss!! The four days we were there was indeed short but sufficient and we certainly had a good time.

MKI Ramblings Unlimited
Petaling Jaya.