Week 11 (I think)

Week Eleven (I think).
Welcome to Bali. Friday afternoon we landed in Bali and were welcomed by our driver, and about 50,000 other drivers! They were all a friendly bunch and even though it was a real scrum getting out of the airport – traffic was mental – calmness won through and we were whisked to our hotel in around an hour.
The Ayodya is perhaps the most spectacular hotel we have ever stayed at, the interior is luxurious, if a little tired, but the outside is simply fantastic, my advice is just take a look on line (Ayodya Bali) as my pictures do not do this place credit.
This week we have split our time between enjoying the resort and a little shopping. Bali is clearly – at this point in time much cheaper than Thailand. So good value was to be had, however we have limitations due to weight in our cases and we are already maxed out so shopping has been a challenge, but one that Wendy has risen to the challenge as we may have expected!

Whilst at the resort we have seen more Chinese weddings than a vicar. Literally at breakfast any time during the day and evening, even some in the pool at night.
The amount of posing in front of the camera is legendary. One was wearing a red dress in the pool at 10:30 at night and having pictures underwater. Another was wearing simply her underwear with a veil, you get all sorts here, ceremony’s on the beach, on the lawns and even in the pool.
Then there has been a pretty boy filming here – not sure what – but he is with an entourage following him. He loves himself more than his mother I imagine.
The staff here are very friendly prompting us to consider coming back in August for a week with Laura if we can get a deal.
The beach has sand and lawn so sitting by the sea couldn’t be more comfortable. There is evening cinema under the stars shows sitting on large cushions on the beach; they have discos on the beach and dancing girls as well as traditional Balinese shows.
Some evenings we have eaten in the hotel and on other occasions we have walked to the local town where there are 20 or so restaurants offering the usual fare from European food to traditional, all pretty tasty and all very cheap. Dinner with drinks around £13 for two.

On the days we went out the first day we visited Kuta Town and its markets. Think Bangkok but up a level. There were stalls everywhere with a complete assortment of printed T-Shirts. Every sort of abusive slogan you could imaging and a few you couldn’t. This is a 20 something Aussie playground, quite an eye-opener. The beach itself is not very deep at Kuta around 20m, and at least half of it is covered in stalls selling all sorts of things, as well as eskies full of ice and Bintang beer – Bali’s staple. To entice customers you are given a plastic chair to sit on in the shade and given cheap beer. Then the masseurs swarm onto you, before we knew it we all had a beer and Wendy had her feet, hands trimmed and painted as well as a head massage, and 2 bracelets and an anklet! Capitalism at its best. All this by the way is taking place at around 33 degrees and in bright sunlight.
We walked along the famous Poppies Lane 1 (famed for its market scene shops, stalls and tattoo parlors) and towards the site of the 2002 bombings memorial. We didn’t actually make the memorial – to our shame – as it was just too hot.
The next time we ventured out it was a beach trips day. Here we had four stops;
1. Padawa Beach – This is a long sweeping bay with decent surf and a lovely breeze, its particular claim to fame is up until around 5 years

ago you had to abseil down rocks to get there, but they have now carved a road through the mountain that sweeps down to the sea and makes a spectacular approach.
Along the shore line is a bright twin swing called the “Love Swing” so we all obliged and had the mandatory photo taken.
2. Now on to Dreamland, a massively long drive in to what was obviously someone’s vision for a perfect world. Something has gone amiss and the dream is like a ghost town of some completed buildings but mostly deserted projects. You are made to take a shuttle to the beach area which is a pretty bay and yet again many Chinese tourists having photos taken jumping up and down by the sea avoiding being swept out in the tidal rush.
3. Next up was Padang Padang, so good they named it twice. Made famous by the film Eat, Prey Love starring Julia Roberts, it now attracts hundreds of tourists. It is small in size, perhaps 200m curved bay beneath around 100 steps down a cliff squeezed between rocks . It would, of course, be much more romantic if it wasn’t swarmed with Chinese and their dreaded selfie sticks and peace man poses. Still it was very beautiful and had serious surf, making it a surfing or viewing beach, gentle swims were not possible as you just get ‘dumped’ into the sand by the breaking waves, as I found out to my cost!

4. The next stop was Uluwatu temple and sometime monkey sanctuary. This is a Hindu temple atop a cliff overlooking a long surf beach and surrounded by rain forest – which is populated by some very cheeky monkeys. The form seems to be any mug that goes to the site wearing a hat or sunglasses or other loose clothing, gets an item stolen, then the monkeys sit together and hold onto the item awaiting an exchange of food before parting with it. Pretty good scam – but then they were in Bali where scamming is an art form.
5. Final stop of the day Omnia Beach Club. Clearly somewhere we didn’t belong, but nonetheless a very cool location. Set atop another cliff there is a bar and infinity pool actually overhanging the cliff and seemingly floating. We arrived to some curious looks but they gladly accepted our 3,000,000 entry fee (for a table of 4 around £150) and in we went. It didn’t take long to think we were like the parents turning up at their kids birthday party. At least the scenery was fab. We lasted around 2 hours for our fee, but finally realized we were

just not suited, but at least for a while we thought we were part of the hipster group.
Before we knew it our first week in Bali was over, where does our retirement time go – I can hear you all feeling for us!