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Beautiful sunrise over the beach.
A red snapper fresh off the barbeque.
Lush rice paddies ready for harvest.
Incense, fragrant and burning at the temples.
After a hectic month in Borneo, a very weary Chris and I decided that we needed to some time out to relax and enjoy our break. Bali was everything we hoped it would be, and more. Arriving in Kuta after being in Malaysia was a shock to the system, in a very good way. Kuta is the Costa del Sol of Bali for Australian holiday-makers and is renowned for its relentless hustle and bustle, narrow lanes jammed with cheap cafes and beer, surf shops, all-night clubbing, fabulous restaurants and myriad souvenir shops. People always say to bring an extra suitcase when holidaying in Bali and I now know why. Unfortunately travelling with our backpacks for 6 months doesn't allow much extra space for buying new clothes so I could only window shop!
On the whole the food in Malaysia had been very substandard, so we were hoping for great things from Bali - and it did not disappoint. We still rate our meals in Bali to be some of the best of our trip. One night in particular stands out in Ubud. Ubud has grand museums and studios filled with works by local artists (including bamboo furniture, stone and wooden carvings and sculptures, paintings, silks and batiks) as well as unbelievably green rice fields that spill down hillsides. The meal at 'The Three Monkeys' has firmly planted itself as our number one meal since we have been travelling and as yet has not been beaten. The restaurant is set by a rice paddy and is lit with soft lantern around each table. We shared a starter of spring rolls with sweet chilli sauce which were divine (Dad, you would have loved them). For main course I had tuna fillet on a bed of warm spinach salad with parsley potatoes, vegetables and a lime coulis. Chris had the most incredible red snapper with sesame crust on baby pak choi, with sautéed potatoes and a mango sauce. Mouthwatering is the only way to describe it and after weeks of just plain old fried rice, you cannot imagine how good this meal tasted to us.
After Ubud we travelled for a dip in turquoise-tinted, bathtub-warm waters of the tiny, irresistible Gili Islands. The Gili's are a group of 3 islands off the coast of Lombok with beachfront bungalows and no motorised traffic. The boat over there was pretty horrendous. The waters between Bali and Lombok are known to be rough and we were rocked viscously from side to side for nearly 5 hours (Unsurprisingly, we couldn't afford to take the fast boat). Sick bags were being well-used and only a few people with iron-stomachs were tucking nonchalantly into the complimentary buffet whilst the rest of us groaned and prayed for a quick end to the misery. Ask anyone who has been to the Gili's about their travel over by boat and whatever method they chose, fast or slow, there will always be a story of misery attached!!
For a week there we just chilled in our bungalow, swam and ate fresh fish off the barbeque every night. We also managed to get in some diving from Gili Air which was good but not in the same league as Sipadan. The journey back to the mainland was equally as distressing. We had to travel over to Lombok by boat, bus down the coast and then catch the ferry over to Bali. We set off at 7am from Gili Air and were told we would arrive at back in Kuta by 6pm. When we were still on the ferry at 7.30pm is looked like we would never get back to land and having travelled for over 12 hours with just a pot noodle inside us my love of travelling was beginning to wane. At this point I would like to say a special thanks to Paddy for supplying us with endless new music before we departed. We would not have stayed sane on these long journeys without the ipod so many thanks from us both.
We spend the last few days in Kuta catching up on all the essentials that the Gili Islands did not provide, i.e. the internet and laundry. We were hoping to try our hand at surfing but the dreaded travelling sickness was back and I was too poorly unfortunately.
Our trip to Bali was everything we wanted; it is such a beautiful place with stunning countryside and architecture, incredibly cheap and delicious food and friendly people (except the few scam artists like the laundry lady who charged us double and stole my t-shirt!). If you have never been and always said you would love to, then my advice is to just book it.
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