Bali without the Spa Pampering

Bali… was an A-M-A-Z-I-N-G holiday!! When I came back to work, my two female colleagues asked me

“So did you go to the spa, they have the most amazing spas!”

“Did you get your nails done? Manicures there are cheap! How about the Balinese massage?”

I answered ‘no’ to all the questions above and they tsk tsk their tongues and gave me disapproving looks. Those are suppose to be the holy grail of Bali activities, which I did initially plan to do on the LAST day of my stay, but of course plans usually don’t go as plan :P But I’m not complaining, I did have an awesome time.

Call it manic, but almost every minute and sec was spent doing something. Not that we were kiasu or anything, but I just had that level of excitable energy bouncing from one place to another :P

I was quite afraid it would rain heavily since I went in November, which for South East Asia, a time when monsoon begins. But thank Heavens, the watery blessings are spectacularly timed to only the times when I was in the bathroom showering, sleeping or in the car travelling from one spot to the next. Other than that, splendid weather!

I booked our happy foursome (my friend, my cousin and her friend) into Oasis Kuta after doing lots and lots of research. I was specific about what I wanted –cheap but not shabby as this is to be a budget holiday and right in the heart of Kuta town where all the action is. I have never booked through an online hotel search site, but my experience with agoda.com means I will use them again in future. They had the best price in comparison with other sites, at 47 US$ per night per room AND they were also the only site which still had rooms left when others were sold out! I flew AirAsia at roughly RM 400 plus for return tickets, but you can actually get it much cheaper if you booked many moons ahead.

The hotel blocks surround a long pool. The water in the pool is surprisingly warm everytime I take a dip. Hmmm

Room is mid-size with a comfortable bed, tv and separate shower and toilet cubicles

After checking in, my cousin and her friend took some time to settle in for awhile before we aimed for Kuta beach; apparently they woke up 2 hours before their flight and had not even packed their clothes yet, so I imagine they ran through the morning at tornado speed, because they did catch their flight with unshowered bodies, unwashed faces, and unbrushed teeth :)

The walk to the beach was just so long! It’s not that I hate walking, in fact most of my holidays are spent doing some serious amount of walking but it was just the feeling of excitement that I couldn’t contain. That, and that it looks like the sun was soon setting. ‘5 mins walk away from the hotel’ my a** The street heading towards the beach was very colourful, with all sorts of stalls and alleyways that lead to backyard spas. Finally after still not finding the beach, we stopped to ask and were told we missed the turning and backtracked. So Oasis Kuta Hotel is really 5 mins from the beach. *Embarassment* nyaha.

Where is the beach??? Along the streets are plenty of stalls to amuse you

The sand at Kuta beach was a blackish ash colour which I suspect must have something do with Bali being a volcanic island. When I commented on the colour to local Balinese, they were quick to defend ‘Tidak, PUTIH! PUTIH!!!’ (NOOOO! IT IS WHITE SAND, YOU BLIND TOURIST) But seriously, if you compare a handful of that Bali sand to the beach sand in Redang, Kapas or Perhentian island you’ll have a Michael Jackson.

Kuta beach is a really long stretch of sand, plenty of space for all to have some tanning space

Kuta's sunset is pretty early,around 7 pm

While on our beach hunt, we did pass by several stalls promoting all sorts of tour packages, but I really did want to go white water rafting. So this was our FIRST MATH test in Bali since this our first big purchase and counting the value of stuff with all the zeros in Indonesia’s Rupiahs can be dizzying.

MATH LESSON 1 : 10,000 rupiahs = RM 3.8/ USD 1 plus (to make it easier, I put it at RM 4)

After punching the calculator at the stall for the umpteenth time, boy I’m glad we did not book our rafting package online, despite all the claims of the best and lowest prices, because it is the LOWEST on the streets. Compare paying roughly RM 120 for 4 people to raft to USD 60 (RM 205) per person online! So our rafting adventure at Sungai Telaga Waja with Bagus Bali tour was set for the 2^nd day of our trip!

As part of the deal, a van picked us up early that morning for the one hour journey to the river. It was a comfortable Toyota Avanza which we shared with a couple from Kuwait. The girl was really cute, in fact she looks like she just hit her twenties and the guy, with a pair of huge sunnies did look like a Bollywood type. Upon reaching the river, we were first given a briefing. The local Balinese started in English then deftly switched to Japanese for the benefit of a three generation Jap family seated next to us. Wow! Besides that, they insisted we all wore strapped sandals to prevent any flip flop float-away misfortunes or worst getting cuts on our feet if we walk on the rocks. So they handed me these not-very-trustworthy looking pair of overpriced black sandals, which sure enough tore apart during rafting later :) Our valuables were all then thrown into a waterproof bag and tossed into the raft and our adventure began.

The rapids were Class 3, which is not too slow and boring and not too thrashy as well. After all, our neighbouring raft had the Japanese grandma and grandpop! Some of the obstacles were tricky though, and it came in the form of a bamboo bridge. There were 4 or 5 of these man-made bridges which consisted of just a few narrow bamboo logs tied across the river. I guess the people living along the river must be pretty expert tight rope walkers to be able to cross. Anyway, our problem was whenever we were going to pass under the bridge our guide seated at the back of the raft would shout ‘boom boom’ and we had to bend backwards , flattening ourselves completely as we watch the bamboo bridge passing literally a few cm above our noses! I envision a beer bellied man even after flattening himself on the raft, would still get his belly hooked :P

With an expert guide peddling hard and steering the raft behind us, it was really

easy for us. Just don't fall out of the raft like my friend in the shades did :P

Halfway down the river, there's a pitstop for drinks and some time to chill by a mini waterfall.

We were so thirsty we bought the drinks without realising it was superbly overpriced. Bah, tourist traps..

The final adrenaline rush before we head for their little hut perched by the hill side for

one of the best buffet lunches on my trip

After being blessed in the river waters of Bali, we hit the clubs. We tried Seminyak at first, which is a slight upmarket area where streets are lined with foreign brand boutiques. No luck here as we spotted only one happening bar for the gay community. The male dancers were really hot though so we stayed a couple of minutes to check out the scene much to the discomfort of my very straight male friend. So next we headed south to Legian, located in between Kuta and Seminyak, and here’s where all the short and singlet backpackers party. So of course the street was noisy with pumping bass and neon lights flashed from every corner.

The deejay in Paddy's perched high above the dancers, in this aquarium-like perspex case.

Perhaps he got attacked previously and this is a safety measure. Afterall, I did hear a couple of hits

for the third time playing in my two hours clubbing there...

You know you're on an island when clubbers wear beach sandals to club :)

Day 3. Today we have a local Indonesian Jakarta dude, thanks to my fellow traveller’s contact. Meet Kamal, who came to Bali to study and is now happily in love with Bali to call it home with his wife.

He was one jolly happy-go-lucky dude indeed, peppering our drives from one tourist must see to another with his stories on his ex-gfs, his days as a radio deejay in Bali, his adoring female fans and stories on the power struggles between the local powerhouse families. It never dawned on me how big Bali was until he told us each drive from one place to another was between an hour to and beyond. Bali is indeed a little idyllic island.

First stop was the volcanic Mt Batur. Here, peddlers are a little overzealous since they’re not as moneyed as their counterparts in town. They carry their goods around and follow you like flies, calling out their prices again and again, just in case you would change your mind and hand over your dollar. Prior to disembarking the car, Kamal has warned us not to buy anything her, but a man blocking my path and showing me a beautiful wooden chess set for a mere 1 US$ made me dizzy with wanting. After giving a few longing glances I quickly snatched myself away before he could capture me in that sale. You must be thinking I was crazy not to have bought it, but when I returned to KL, my colleague told me a friend once bought this beautiful collapsible wooden basket for a dirt cheap price in Mt Batur. Happy with her purchase she carried her basket away only to have the many pieces collapse before her eyes. So yeah, phew…..

The volcanic mountain in the background was 'bald' , totally derived of any trees or any other vegetation

At the monkey forest, wildly mischievous monkeys waited to grab handouts from tourists amidst a mystifying mossy jungle setting. Definitely a good place to shoot the Bali edition of Twilight.

At the entrance, we bought a bunch bananas to distribute to the monkeys, but no such luck.

The monkeys don't believe in handouts, they rather grab it straight from your hands. Oh yeah, we lost two mineral water bottles to them too. If you're planning to go, watch out for your pockets too, they love slipping their sneaky fingers in there

A couple arrived for a wedding photoshoot in the monkey forest. The lush greenery, moss and undergrowth does make for a mystifyingly dramatic picture, that is if the monkeys don't run off with the camera lenses first.

Our hunger for the day was well rewarded with Babi Guling (Roast Pork stuffed with herbs and spices) at the famous Ibu Oka café in Ubud.

In Ibu Oka, you sit Japanese style on the floor. Her packed shop is a testament to how popular this place is.

The famous BABI GULING. Some green veg,roast pork, crispy pork skin and down below some unidentified object that tastes just as good

A tourist must visit was Tanah Lot, an ancient temple perched in the sea. There were lots of people already taking positions there to see the sunset, but what caught my eye was a bunch of surfers riding the waves. The waves here are much higher than those at Kuta, but what makes it chillingly exciting to watch is that the bay is totally rocky. One wrong maneuver and crash you go baby, surf board and all.

That rocky outcrop is the temple. When the tide rises, it will be surrounded by sea water. Right under the outcrop is a little cave where fresh spring water spouts and because of that oddity, tourists are welcomed to go there to have blessings. Funnily enough, while watching the sunset here, Kamal mentioned that locals who are dating never visit this place as a couple because there's some strange belief that they will SURELY breakup after that

Throughout the trip I expected bad food, as my mum had a pretty bad experience when she went a couple of years back. ‘Flies everywhere, lousy tasting food and disgusting toilets’ were her haunting reminder. Well I had none of that, in fact every meal was simply lip-smacking delicious! Though I must say I was at cafes for all meals until the last day when I finally found a warung where the locals themselves dine plus a few adventurous tourists.

Some random cafe along the streets of Kuta. Food was okay, more promising things to come....

First night. Nothing says welcome better than great food. Warung Made (Ma-day) in Kuta. We ordered a lipsmacking combo of meat boiled in some melon thing, pork in curry, gado gado which is some vegetable dish.

Even more meaning to the word delicious. We had a little bit of Mexican at Santa Fe Restaurant in Seminyak

On the last day, when our pockets were running dry we went up to some locals and asked them where we can have good local food. They told us Warung Made, and I protested asking for a place where the locals actually ate, which led us to Warung Nikmat.

Down the alley we go in search of Nikmat. Good food is always tucked away you see..

Alas, the search for Warung Nikmat concludes in a splendid lunch. The dishes here are all laid out ala nasi campur, and you simply pick what you want to eat. My rice with fish satay, veg and chicken came up to a mere 15000 rupiah.

And at every meal, we couldn't stop ourselves from ordering Avocado Juice! Creamy and slushy with choc sauce, I can taste it just by typing about it...

I tried surfing too, hoping I could at least decently stand on the board by the last day in Bali. I’m not too sure if successfully squatting on the board for a mere 4 seconds counts :P Prices on the beach for surf and body boards are to be haggled just like everything else in Bali. I think the cheapest I managed to haggle to was 100,000 rupiahs. In addition to renting a board, you can pay more for surfing lessons. I was lucky as I arrived eeeearrrly in the morning when tourists were all still suffering from the previous nights hangover so my friends and I were alone on the beach with the surfer boys cum beach equipment rental boys. So I had some ‘free’ surfing lessons from them, which unfortunately didn’t make me surf any better but they gave me some balls and sense on how to handle the big waves a-crashing. So if anyone wants to continue teaching me, by all means I’m an eager student :)