MY JOURNEY: April 2009

29th April 2009

Didnt have enough sleep coz last night we did a last minutes packing. 8am we started from home to Changi Airport. Flight is at 10.55am. Approximately 12.30pm, we'll reach Bali. This trip, we got the last row of seat in the plane + not beside the window + nearest to the toilet. A very tiring journey coz the seat cannot be adjusted. My back really ache. We reached Bali safely in one piece. Unfortunately, someone stole our tripod. Our backpack was ok.
We walk every direction at the airport trying to find a camera shop to get a new tripod. There's none. Then one guy came to us.. offering 500k rupiah to kintamani. Not quite sure whether it's expensive or not. But luckily we saw the blue aiport taxi (Bluebird) and it only cost us 350k.
Way we go to our first destination ~ Penolakan, Kintamani. We'll be climbing Gunung Batur the next wee morning.

First photo in Bali. Just came down from the plane.

Stop by at a small restaurant _ Gunung Sari to have our lunch.

This photo was taken not far from the airport. We were in the blue taxi. :) Manage to make a quick zoom and snap.

The taxi drove for almost 3 hours. And the hot weather gets cold. And finally, our eyes sat upon the beautiful view of Gunung Batur along the roadway up to our hotel. Amazing... !!!

We check into Lakeview hotel. It does have a spectacular view from the room balcony and the dining restaurant. Apart from that... I wouldnt give a plus. The lights are dim, the room is still dusty and lingered with a weird smell,and there's a gap betweens the doors and windows, shampoo dispenser is empty, the pillow have brown stain, the so-called tour services are way expensive and the tour driver is not honest at all. The restaurant food is so-so and it closes as early as 8pm. I give a D-

The view is still great at Lake view Hotel

Our roomkey. So big.

Looks ok but not so ok.

Beautiful view of Gunung Batur from the balcony.

Hotel's dining restaurant.

There's nothing to do in Kintamani after the sun sets. No night life, no place to shop, no place to walk. All you can do is lock yourself in your room, sleep early, or watch the TV.

The streets are empty. No car, not a single human being.

Evening view- Gunung Batur.

If you walk out, beware of the kids offering for tatto, they are very aggressive.

Got a tattoo on both arms. Damn ex.

Mine on hand and foot. Cheap.. RM10

Hotel's dining area. Closes at 8pm.

We slept early about 930pm coz the next day we got to wake up at 245am to hike Gunung Batur. It is very cold at night.

30th April 2009

Time seems to pass faster when you need to wake up early. Got ready for our breakfast ( toast bread with butterjam + fruit + tea). The tour guide drove us there to meet another guide. Both of them will escort us up the mountain.
4am~ With a torchlight, we walk into the dark.. walk and walk for an hour. Stop for awhile to rest... and continue again. We could barely see anything around us. The guide holded my hand through rough spots. Finally we reach the peak, waiting for the sun to rise. This is the first time we will be looking at the sunrise together. :)

Pinky cheek after a tough climbing

We were served with eggs and sandwidthes. I felt a sense of satisfaction.. climbing the mountain..

Sharing my food with the dog.

Sun rising. Wow!! The sky is so red.

Finally the whole globe of sun.

After the sky was really bright.. we walk along the mountain crater. A big hole beneath the mountain with hot steam coming out. That means it is still active. The guide suggest another route to explore. We decline as we felt the experience was sufficient. So, we started climbing down the mountain. Along the way, he show us some hot water spring, steam, and cave. And high above the mountain, we could see the black harden larva all the way down.

Up at the peak!! Walking around the crater

Trekking down.

Our guide, Nyoman plucked a flower and clip it on my hair. Haha

8am~ We reached the bottom.

Super tired..

The guide took us to the Hot Water Spring pool... 15 minutes drive away. There was no one at the pool. Hahaha..... We had the pool all for ourselves. But the water taste salty... not sure its the mineral from the ground or from someones foot :( yuckkk.

The water is hot. :)

Swim for an hour.. took our bath too... and headed back to the hotel.What a tiring day.

It's only 10am. We dropped on the bed and doze off...zzzzzzzzzzzz 1150am.... time for buffet lunch. The food is average...But the view from the dining table is beautiful

Me waiting for lunch.

Lunch buffet.

Look. Amazing scenery while you enjoy your lunch.

1pm, the guide drove us to Lawak Coffee. We tasted Bali coffee, Lawak coffee, ginger tea, lemon grass tea, cocoa coffee and the ginseng coffee. I love the ginseng coffee. All you have to do is purchase for a cup of lawak coffee for 30k rupiah... and others will be free.

Entrance to Lawak Coffee. Lot s of cocoa tree around.

We are frying the coffee beans. The heat is making me sweat. That guy say, he has to fry that for an hour.

Buy 1 free 5.

Next, we stop at the art shop for a while.

This is the most extraordinary art that caught my eyes. hahaha.

Later on, we went to Besakih Temple.. .

It was such as dissappointment. First, the people there cheated us. They ask us for 400k rupiah for a compulsory tour guide to accompany us in. Our tour guide act as though he didnt know anything. He was suppose to take us in. We already paid the hotel for the tour. Secondly, they claim that this was the biggest temple in Bali, but they only let us walk less than an hour.

The so-called Compulsory tour guide.

The stair up to the temple. That mountain behind is Gunung Abang which will take you 5 hours to hike up.

They say it is compulsory for guys to tie that thing on the head to enter the temple.

pagoda looking temple

After the tour, our driver tried to cheat again by persuading us that he would take us to another hot spring. He said the entrace fees is 200k rupiah. Bullshit. We didnt go. He drove us back to hotel, we took a rest and had dinner. Slept early

1st May 2009
We woke up quite late about 9am. Breakfast is pancake and fruits. This is what they call "American breakfast".Then we waited for the driver to fetch us to Ubud. That cost us another 250k rupiah. ( Next time, better stay in Kuta, rent a van for 50usd per day and go anywhere I want).

Byebe Gunung Batur.

Reach Ubud at 1pm. Ubud is a cultural town. Food is good. We didnt had the chance to taste the Babi Guling from Warung Ibu Oka. Partly is coz of the swine flu. :P The stupid driver stop us a distance away from the hotel. He ask us to walk there. We walk back and fro but couldnt find the hotel. Finally, after many question and directions from people around, we found it.Graha hotel and spa.

Walking up and down.

Super hot.

Graha resort and spa name sounds great but it sucks.The room we got is dusty like it has not been swept for months.I would say, the toilet is way better than Lakeview in Kintamani. The staff are kind and they served us a welcome drink when we arrived.
We didnt feel secure here coz the door has no locks... just a wood keeping the door close. Luckily we were just staying for one night.

Don't look like resort.

This is the best picture I could take with the night lamp on. Or else, the room looks like a prison.

The surrouding is ok with plants around. Like in the jungle.

Outside looks ok.

We took our bath and walk around for lunch. The food is nice and cheaper than Kintamani. There are alot of restaurant here and they close pretty late at night.

Balinese special sauce.

Look simple but taste great

Later on, we visited the Monkey Forest..10 minutes walk. Basically, The monkey Forest is just like a zoo with only monkeys and lots of mosquito.

Monkeys here are not so wild and fierce.

Komodo or kodomo lizard.

Monkey sleeping while the other one find bugs on the body,

It's 5pm, weather is so hot. Bought an ice cream before walking to the town

This is Warung Ibu Oka with the famous Babi Guling. It's close when we reach there.

Then we walk to the town to see one of the cultural dance. There are many variety of dance in several places.They provide free shuttle if you need one. The dance starts at 730pm. So we got lots of time to walk around.

Tickets for 80k rupiah each to watch the dance at Ubud Palace.

Exterior of Ubud palace.

Interior of Ubud palace

We watch the Barong and Legong Dance, for 2 hours. It looks interesting at first, but gets boring as it goes further. Feel a bit sleepy. And a lot of mosquito.

Legong Dance

Tiger dance

Barong Dance

9.30pm~ Hungry like hell. We dine at Ibu Rai.

After dinner, we took a slow walk back to our hotel and rest.

2nd May 2009

7am woke up, took our breakfast and morning walk to Ubud Art Market.

Ubud Market is just like pasar pagi but they sell lots of handicraft. Nothing much to see.... so we walk back via Jalan Hanoman. There's nothing to see on this road either. Craft and small temple everywhere.

Flowers for prayers

Pasar Ubud-lots of handicraft

12pm took a quick lunch before the shuttle bus arrive to take us to Kuta.

Cute bread

The shuttle bus is really hot.. no aircond. The heat are making us exhausted. Finally they drop us at Kuta Square. We were finding our way to Jalan Legian, a man stop us and ask us to tear open a lucky draw. We got a free massage and spa at a private beach for the next day and 7 days free night stay at their hotel on our next visit to Bali.
Late evening, we hired a motorbike for our trip tomorrow. We also paid for a short tour to Uluwatu (3~7.30pm the next day) before arriving at our hotel~ Losari

Very nice and clean.

Balcony with a pool outside

3nd May 2009
We got ready and ride on our motorbike to Jimbaran for our massage and spa. First time riding a bike in overseas. Really scared.. not familiar with scooter.

It was really hard to find the hotel ~ Karma

Finally found it. Very far away from the town and really in the ulu.

Really fantastic scenery. The hotel is right beside the beach.

Dining area. Very class

We had to sit a cable car to access to the beach. We going down. The beach is so blue.

This is a private beach at the hotel.

my fo0tprint

Beach sand

Relaxing at the bar. looking at the sea

Mushroom

This would be my best experience on the beach with my hubby.

Up we go. Leaving the beach.

Hubby entering the massage spa centre

Waiting for our session

Beautiful view in the massage room. Facing the ocean.

We were served ginger tea and some sweet cookies after the massage.

Pool facing the beach.

Enjoying our drinks with such beautiful view.

It is time to go back. Bike is ready.

On our way down the hill, the road was steep and sandy. Probably coz there's a lot of construction nearby. All of a sudden, the motorbike just slip away.... booms... hit the ground and both of us flying in the air. Both of us were injured. Luckily there were people around to help.

After resting awhile, we ride the bike back to our hotel.

Poor me... :( hand, leg and toes..

Anyway, that didnt stop me from walking the streets at night.

Walking along Jalan Melasti for food and nightlife.

This is a mexican restaurant.

Food not so nice. Doesn't suit my taste.

After finish our food, we walk to another restaurant.

Me, looking at the menu for more food. So happen, we got to watch football too.

4th May 2009

In the morning, we walk to Legian Beach. It is nearby our hotel.

Legian Beach. Less crowded compare to Kuta Beach.

Couldn't play with the sea.. my legs are still very pain.

At 3pm, we were ready for our short tour to Uluwatu. The driver waited us at the hotel entrance.

This is the GWK. It's an Art Centre and also a place for conference meeting.

This is a miniature statue of Vishnu on the Garuda. They are buidling a giant statue of it.

This is only a small part of the statue. Vishnu's image.

This is the Garuda's head which is build nearby. Later on, they will put it all together to form a big statue similar to the miniature statue.

The driver took us to Uluwatu Temple. But it is still early. And we were hungry. There's nothing to eat there except for maggi mee.

Hahaha. we got no other choice.

On my way up to the temple. Beware of monkeys. They are very very aggressive. They almost snatch my slipers away. One Japanese lady got her ear bleeding..... the monkey pull off her earings. my gosh!!