Selong Belanak, Lombok & Legian, Bali – 27 February to 6 March 2020
SELONG BELANAK, LOMBOK
Well, we have finally found our favourite beach in Indonesia. Being spoilt for choice in our beautiful Queensland, the beaches in Indonesia so far have not come close to Australian beaches. Arriving in Selong Belanak, we were whisked back to memories of beaches on the east coast of Australia, with wide, sandy shorelines and perfect waves for surfing.
Selong Belanak beach
TRANSPORT
Options to get us from our Volunteer Homestay to Selong Belanak were limited, so we trusted the locals to arrange a driver. Someone’s brother’s uncle’s first cousin’s husband – or something like that. Anyway, he got us there safely, albeit the long way round, for about AUD $30 and 1.5hrs.
ACCOMMODATION
Our next week was staying at Jo Homestay (through booking.com). Cost was AUD$55 per night for a huge family room with desk and private bathroom, inground pool, washing machine (thank goodness!), and daily breakfast. The best part was being less than 5 minutes walk to the beach.
It was so hot when we arrived, and the pool looked so inviting!
Welcome tea on arrival at Jo Homestay
Outside the rooms
Our first stop was to get some lunch and we settled on Bakso (Indonesian meatball soup - AUD $1.50). It was there that we spotted the local hairdresser... As much as I encourage the 14 yr old teenage son to grow his hair and embrace the 'man-bun', unfortunately he is not keen. So we lashed out and got haircuts for Joe and Damien, for a total of AUD $5 (yep, that is for two haircuts).
SURFING
In keeping with the requirements of the Australian Curriculum, we ticked off the ‘participate in physical activities that develop health-related and skill-related components, and create and monitor personal fitness plans’ with three days of surf lessons for the kids.
Competition amongst the surf schools is fierce on the beach, and there are so many surf schools touting for your business. Unfortunately Selong Belanak beach has some terrible reviews relating to scams with surfboard hire (check Trip Advisor for reviews on Selong Belanak). We were a bit worried, but Eva Surf did an awesome job helping out the kids with their lessons, and renting a board to Damien. Jess has a new love, which I hope continues when we get home – she’s a natural!
'I give you very good price!'
Our days were spent hanging out at the beach for the mornings, chilling and schoolwork in the hot middle of the day, then back to the beach for dinner and watching the sun set. Bliss!
Selong Belanak is very much a small village, and although there are plenty of places to eat, it didn’t feel touristy and still has a very relaxed, chilled feeling. Note that we were there in low season, and apparently it gets very busy in high season.
The local farmer herded his bullocks each morning and night along the beach to a paddock to graze.
FOOD
We ate mostly at Mul’s on the beach. Super cheap meals under AUD$5, and the cheapest Bintang (beer) on the beach!
Photo credit to Jess
We also had a couple of meals at Batu Landar Resto and the lovely Dewi was great on ‘upselling’! Did we want to do a cooking class? How long were we here? Do we need transport when we leave? Actually we did end up using ‘her car’ for transportation when we left (AUD $15 from Selong Belanak to Lombok airport). And we did a cooking class.
We blew the food budget to have a splurge on a rainy day, and had a fabulous meal at Kampung Café. A little more upmarket, but worth it! On this day it was pouring down rain, so we put on our rain jackets and walked 15 mins to the café, arriving absolutely saturated. Lots of fun! Until we had to walk back….
Kampung Cafe, Selong Belanak - yummy!
LOMBOK TO BALI
We did consider doing the two hour drive to the ferry and then a five hour slow ferry to get us back to Bali, or the alternative, which was the expensive fast ferry, but we found another option! Flying! At just AUD $25 per person, the flight from Lombok to Bali was always going to win! Armed with our masks, we made our way to Lombok airport for our last few days in Indonesia. As we approached Denpasar airport from the sky, we had a little chuckle as the pilot said we were arriving 20 mins earlier – it was only supposed to be a 40 min flight, so it only took us 20 minutes to fly from Lombok to Bali.
LEGIAN, BALI
A quick ride from Denpasar airport to Legian in a Bluebird Taxi (AUD$5), and we were amongst the hustle and bustle of Bali again.
ACCOMMODATION
Our ‘digs’ for the next three nights we at Grandma’s Plus Legian (booking.com). Don’t let the name fool you – this was a big fancy hotel, and we had two fab rooms, each with private bathroom, for about AUD$55 in total. This included an incredible breakfast each morning, and airport shuttle, as well as the cool little towel designs each morning from housekeeping.
The very first item on my agenda was a trip to the dentist. About a week back, I chipped my front tooth. The options on Lombok were limited, so after much research, I had arranged an appointment with BIMC Siloan Hospital in Nusa Dua to get a repair done.
Looking dodgy for over a week!
To get the 30 mins (AUD$5 each way) from hotel to the hospital, I jumped on the back of GoJek motorbike and battled the traffic with my driver. We saw a couple of young local boys zigzagging in and out of traffic then come off the bike just in front of us, and a puppy causing chaos as it tried to cross the four-lane highway. A lovely westerner couple on a scooter stopped to pick the puppy up and put it on the footpath. Never a dull moment on the streets of Bali!
GoJek to the hospital and back
Tooth fixed in under 45 mins at a total cost of AUD$120. They did a great job too!
Legian is your typical fast paced tourist spot, so we did the usual wander to Kuta Beach (not great!), and took advantage of the variety of cheap places to eat. We also had a sombre moment at Ground Zero remembering those killed in the Bali Bombings.
Ground Zero memorial
One more indulgent massage was also on the itinerary before we left Bali, and we found that the #1 massage place was right where we were staying! Rehat Massage & Reflexology was incredible - this spa was an utterly indulgent experience which began when we arrived to cinnamon tea and cold face washers. The boys opted for a 90 minute massage (AUD$22 each), and Jess & I booked a three hour package, which included a 90 minute body massage, 30 minute foot massage, 30 minute facial, and 30 minute body scrub for AUD$40. We floated out of there and wished we had found this place earlier!
The best cinnamon tea ever - made with cinnamon sticks and served cold.
Reception at Rahut Massage
Foot wash
We tried to stock up on hand sanitiser, but after an exhausting few hours we discovered that the shops either had none, or the two chemists that did have it were really expensive. We ended up buying 70% alcohol and aloe vera, and using my essential oils to make our own.
Homemade sanitisers
After two months in Indonesia, it felt like home. We knew enough of the language to get by, were familiar with (and loved) the food, and enjoyed the always smiling people. With heavy hearts, we made our way to Denpasar airport to begin a new chapter in India.
*********************************************************************************
Volunteer Homestay, Bangko Palut Village, Sekotong, Lombok - 20 to 26 February 2020
After a
morning kayaking around the island of Gili Sudak we were in the open restaurant
area doing schoolwork (the kids and adults), and wondering where to go next. We
were keen to explore more of Lombok, so looked on Google Maps and saw that
there was a place only about 100m directly across the water from us that showed
on the map as ‘Volunteer Homestay’. We had no idea what it was, so did a bit of
research and found that it was a small village of about ten families. The homestay is for people to stay in the village and teach English to the kids. We found a website and Facebook page and immediately made contact with
them to see how we could volunteer, and if they had availability.
Luckily we could go in the next few days so we booked it in, leaving our palm
fringed beach for the simplicity of a local village in Bangko Palut Village for six nights.
Our host was
Andar, his wife Hikmah and 4 year old son Gibran, Andar recognised the importance of educating the
children in the village, and is working toward improving education primarily
through the children being given the opportunity to learn to speak English.
Lombok is a tourist island and knowing English can make all the difference when
the children are looking for a job in the future. Andar came up with the idea
of having people from all nationalities come and stay in his village, engage in
local life, and help the children gain confidence and social skills for communicating
in English.
Andar, Hikmah and Gibran
ACCOMMODATION
Accommodation
was in two simple bamboo hut rooms with mattresses on the floor, sharing toilet
and shower with others in the village. All meals were included and cost was IDR
18,000 per person, so approximately AUD$72 for the four of us. We were glad to
have our mosquito nets, which were easily hooked to the thatched roof to hang over the
mattresses.
The village - our rooms were at the top left
Stairs leading up to our rooms
The village
The bathroom - the little plug is the shower
The classroom
FOOD
All meals
were included. Pancakes and tea for breakfast, and a feast for lunch and dinner.
Andar’s wife Hikmah is a lovely shy young lady, who cooked up an amazing
variety of local dishes for us, all including rice. Just some of the dishes were fresh fried shrimp, satay
mackerel, tempe, corn fritters, egg sambal, coconut tofu, fresh beans and snow
peas, broccoli coconut salad, all of them with a bit of chilli spice! Teenage boy appetite was well and truly satiated,
and he had generally had four helpings at lunch and dinner!
Yummy food!
Along with family
and friends and, of course, the local children, we were made to feel welcome, and very quickly felt part of the community and local village life. The local children start
school at 7.30am in the mornings after a 2.5km walk, and finish somewhere between
11am and 1pm depending on child’s age. They come home for lunch and to study the Koran,
and then English lessons and some playtime. At 6pm the older kids head
to the temple to pray. It is a long day for them, but the children were always full of
energy and cheeky smiles, wanting to learn more. They love playing football
(soccer) and could happily spend hours playing Uno, with some questionable adaptations
of the rules! We usually did our own thing in the mornings, and after lunch the
younger kids came around 2pm, and the older ones came around 4pm.
We were able
to take part in day to day village life such as picking mushrooms, collecting coconuts,
feeding the animals, and general lazing around in the heat of the day chatting to
locals and learning about their simple and beautiful culture. Andar and his
sister kindly lent us motorbikes and we had an afternoon exploring Mataram and
surrounding areas, including finding a replacement GoPro case and stocking up
on some more doxycycline tablets as our malaria preventative (mosquitoes are
fierce in the night). We climbed mountains, walked along the beach, visited
temples, learnt how to make salt, and searched for crabs in the night.
Andar collecting coconuts
Pura Sri Bandar temple on the beach at Pantai Goa Landak
Top of the hill with views to Gili islands
Path to the top of the mountain
Selong Belanak, Lombok & Legian, Bali – 27 February to 6 March 2020
SELONG BELANAK, LOMBOK
Well, we have finally found our favourite beach in Indonesia. Being spoilt for choice in our beautiful Queensland, the beaches in Indonesia so far have not come close to Australian beaches. Arriving in Selong Belanak, we were whisked back to memories of beaches on the east coast of Australia, with wide, sandy shorelines and perfect waves for surfing.
Selong Belanak beach
TRANSPORT
Options to get us from our Volunteer Homestay to Selong Belanak were limited, so we trusted the locals to arrange a driver. Someone’s brother’s uncle’s first cousin’s husband – or something like that. Anyway, he got us there safely, albeit the long way round, for about AUD $30 and 1.5hrs.
Options to get us from our Volunteer Homestay to Selong Belanak were limited, so we trusted the locals to arrange a driver. Someone’s brother’s uncle’s first cousin’s husband – or something like that. Anyway, he got us there safely, albeit the long way round, for about AUD $30 and 1.5hrs.
ACCOMMODATION
Our next week was staying at Jo Homestay (through booking.com). Cost was AUD$55 per night for a huge family room with desk and private bathroom, inground pool, washing machine (thank goodness!), and daily breakfast. The best part was being less than 5 minutes walk to the beach.
It was so hot when we arrived, and the pool looked so inviting!
Welcome tea on arrival at Jo Homestay
Outside the rooms
Our first stop was to get some lunch and we settled on Bakso (Indonesian meatball soup - AUD $1.50). It was there that we spotted the local hairdresser... As much as I encourage the 14 yr old teenage son to grow his hair and embrace the 'man-bun', unfortunately he is not keen. So we lashed out and got haircuts for Joe and Damien, for a total of AUD $5 (yep, that is for two haircuts).
SURFING
SURFING
In keeping with the requirements of the Australian Curriculum, we ticked off the ‘participate in physical activities that develop health-related and skill-related components, and create and monitor personal fitness plans’ with three days of surf lessons for the kids.
Competition amongst the surf schools is fierce on the beach, and there are so many surf schools touting for your business. Unfortunately Selong Belanak beach has some terrible reviews relating to scams with surfboard hire (check Trip Advisor for reviews on Selong Belanak). We were a bit worried, but Eva Surf did an awesome job helping out the kids with their lessons, and renting a board to Damien. Jess has a new love, which I hope continues when we get home – she’s a natural!
'I give you very good price!'
Our days were spent hanging out at the beach for the mornings, chilling and schoolwork in the hot middle of the day, then back to the beach for dinner and watching the sun set. Bliss!
Selong Belanak is very much a small village, and although there are plenty of places to eat, it didn’t feel touristy and still has a very relaxed, chilled feeling. Note that we were there in low season, and apparently it gets very busy in high season.
The local farmer herded his bullocks each morning and night along the beach to a paddock to graze.
FOOD
We ate mostly at Mul’s on the beach. Super cheap meals under AUD$5, and the cheapest Bintang (beer) on the beach!
Photo credit to Jess
We also had a couple of meals at Batu Landar Resto and the lovely Dewi was great on ‘upselling’! Did we want to do a cooking class? How long were we here? Do we need transport when we leave? Actually we did end up using ‘her car’ for transportation when we left (AUD $15 from Selong Belanak to Lombok airport). And we did a cooking class.
Kampung Cafe, Selong Belanak - yummy!
LOMBOK TO BALI
We did consider doing the two hour drive to the ferry and then a five hour slow ferry to get us back to Bali, or the alternative, which was the expensive fast ferry, but we found another option! Flying! At just AUD $25 per person, the flight from Lombok to Bali was always going to win! Armed with our masks, we made our way to Lombok airport for our last few days in Indonesia. As we approached Denpasar airport from the sky, we had a little chuckle as the pilot said we were arriving 20 mins earlier – it was only supposed to be a 40 min flight, so it only took us 20 minutes to fly from Lombok to Bali.
LEGIAN, BALI
A quick ride from Denpasar airport to Legian in a Bluebird Taxi (AUD$5), and we were amongst the hustle and bustle of Bali again.
ACCOMMODATION
Our ‘digs’ for the next three nights we at Grandma’s Plus Legian (booking.com). Don’t let the name fool you – this was a big fancy hotel, and we had two fab rooms, each with private bathroom, for about AUD$55 in total. This included an incredible breakfast each morning, and airport shuttle, as well as the cool little towel designs each morning from housekeeping.
The very first item on my agenda was a trip to the dentist. About a week back, I chipped my front tooth. The options on Lombok were limited, so after much research, I had arranged an appointment with BIMC Siloan Hospital in Nusa Dua to get a repair done.
Looking dodgy for over a week!
To get the 30 mins (AUD$5 each way) from hotel to the hospital, I jumped on the back of GoJek motorbike and battled the traffic with my driver. We saw a couple of young local boys zigzagging in and out of traffic then come off the bike just in front of us, and a puppy causing chaos as it tried to cross the four-lane highway. A lovely westerner couple on a scooter stopped to pick the puppy up and put it on the footpath. Never a dull moment on the streets of Bali!
GoJek to the hospital and back
Tooth fixed in under 45 mins at a total cost of AUD$120. They did a great job too!
Legian is your typical fast paced tourist spot, so we did the usual wander to Kuta Beach (not great!), and took advantage of the variety of cheap places to eat. We also had a sombre moment at Ground Zero remembering those killed in the Bali Bombings.
One more indulgent massage was also on the itinerary before we left Bali, and we found that the #1 massage place was right where we were staying! Rehat Massage & Reflexology was incredible - this spa was an utterly indulgent experience which began when we arrived to cinnamon tea and cold face washers. The boys opted for a 90 minute massage (AUD$22 each), and Jess & I booked a three hour package, which included a 90 minute body massage, 30 minute foot massage, 30 minute facial, and 30 minute body scrub for AUD$40. We floated out of there and wished we had found this place earlier!
Ground Zero memorial
The best cinnamon tea ever - made with cinnamon sticks and served cold.
Reception at Rahut Massage
Foot wash
We tried to stock up on hand sanitiser, but after an exhausting few hours we discovered that the shops either had none, or the two chemists that did have it were really expensive. We ended up buying 70% alcohol and aloe vera, and using my essential oils to make our own.
Homemade sanitisers
*********************************************************************************
Volunteer Homestay, Bangko Palut Village, Sekotong, Lombok - 20 to 26 February 2020
After a
morning kayaking around the island of Gili Sudak we were in the open restaurant
area doing schoolwork (the kids and adults), and wondering where to go next. We
were keen to explore more of Lombok, so looked on Google Maps and saw that
there was a place only about 100m directly across the water from us that showed
on the map as ‘Volunteer Homestay’. We had no idea what it was, so did a bit of
research and found that it was a small village of about ten families. The homestay is for people to stay in the village and teach English to the kids. We found a website and Facebook page and immediately made contact with
them to see how we could volunteer, and if they had availability.
Luckily we could go in the next few days so we booked it in, leaving our palm
fringed beach for the simplicity of a local village in Bangko Palut Village for six nights.
Our host was
Andar, his wife Hikmah and 4 year old son Gibran, Andar recognised the importance of educating the
children in the village, and is working toward improving education primarily
through the children being given the opportunity to learn to speak English.
Lombok is a tourist island and knowing English can make all the difference when
the children are looking for a job in the future. Andar came up with the idea
of having people from all nationalities come and stay in his village, engage in
local life, and help the children gain confidence and social skills for communicating
in English.
Andar, Hikmah and Gibran
ACCOMMODATION
Accommodation
was in two simple bamboo hut rooms with mattresses on the floor, sharing toilet
and shower with others in the village. All meals were included and cost was IDR
18,000 per person, so approximately AUD$72 for the four of us. We were glad to
have our mosquito nets, which were easily hooked to the thatched roof to hang over the
mattresses.
The village - our rooms were at the top left
Stairs leading up to our rooms
The village
The bathroom - the little plug is the shower
The classroom
FOOD
All meals
were included. Pancakes and tea for breakfast, and a feast for lunch and dinner.
Andar’s wife Hikmah is a lovely shy young lady, who cooked up an amazing
variety of local dishes for us, all including rice. Just some of the dishes were fresh fried shrimp, satay
mackerel, tempe, corn fritters, egg sambal, coconut tofu, fresh beans and snow
peas, broccoli coconut salad, all of them with a bit of chilli spice! Teenage boy appetite was well and truly satiated,
and he had generally had four helpings at lunch and dinner!
Yummy food!
Along with family
and friends and, of course, the local children, we were made to feel welcome, and very quickly felt part of the community and local village life. The local children start
school at 7.30am in the mornings after a 2.5km walk, and finish somewhere between
11am and 1pm depending on child’s age. They come home for lunch and to study the Koran,
and then English lessons and some playtime. At 6pm the older kids head
to the temple to pray. It is a long day for them, but the children were always full of
energy and cheeky smiles, wanting to learn more. They love playing football
(soccer) and could happily spend hours playing Uno, with some questionable adaptations
of the rules! We usually did our own thing in the mornings, and after lunch the
younger kids came around 2pm, and the older ones came around 4pm.
We were able
to take part in day to day village life such as picking mushrooms, collecting coconuts,
feeding the animals, and general lazing around in the heat of the day chatting to
locals and learning about their simple and beautiful culture. Andar and his
sister kindly lent us motorbikes and we had an afternoon exploring Mataram and
surrounding areas, including finding a replacement GoPro case and stocking up
on some more doxycycline tablets as our malaria preventative (mosquitoes are
fierce in the night). We climbed mountains, walked along the beach, visited
temples, learnt how to make salt, and searched for crabs in the night.
Andar collecting coconuts
Pura Sri Bandar temple on the beach at Pantai Goa Landak
Top of the hill with views to Gili islands
Path to the top of the mountain
A highlight of our stay was a wedding procession through the village involving a local village girl who married a boy from a village a few kilometres away. There were no lessons on this day!
The procession - check out the huge speaker in the background, pumping out music
The couple had married the day before and, along with family and friends, walked about one kilometre in a procession to the bride’s parent’s house. It was colourful, loud and energetic, complete with vendors on scooters selling ice creams and fairy floss! Andar’s sister whisked our two children away to dress them in local clothes so they could be part of the procession. At one stage, Jessie was walking out the front with the bride holding her hand, and Joe was holding the umbrella over the bride as she walked! This was an absolutely incredible experience, and only happens once every couple of years so it's very special. Damien is going to do a separate blog on the wedding, so stay tuned…
The bride and friends
Jess and Joe in traditional dress
Spunky little Gibran
Jess and friends
Us and some of the wedding guests
This experience is definitely towards the top
of the list for our trip. You can’t help but question your own life after spending
time in a simple village. Everyone in the village helps each other – if one
family goes fishing they share, another family shares their corn, another
shares coconuts, they pick mushrooms together, they raise their kids together,
they are a community and they look out for one another. They live simply but
they are happy. They don’t have much, but do they really need it? Does anybody
need more ‘stuff’? I guess the economic problem becomes more apparent when
relating to the education of the children. Some of the children will be happy
with their simple village life, but others may want to finish secondary school or
go to college. This is when the simple life becomes a challenge. The parents just
can’t support it. I don’t think this will be our last visit or connection to Andar’s village…
*****************************************************************
BALI TO
LOMBOK – 10 February to 20 February 2020
Our flight
from Kuala Lumpur (KL), Malaysia to Denpasar, Bali was uneventful, albeit
delayed an hour, all the time with our faces covered by masks
throughout flight and at the airports.
We arrived
in Bali around 2am in the morning and, bleary-eyed, we shuffle our way through
Denpasar airport, filling in the health declaration saying we haven’t been to China
and are feeling healthy. After retrieving our bags we head through customs and
out to find a taxi to Sanur.
TRANSPORT
ACCOMMODATION
The next
day we have a sleep in, then rent bicycles from the accommodation for 25,000Rp
per bike, and go exploring.
Sanur is one of Bali’s original resorts and there
are plenty of western tourists. It has a nice quiet feel about it and isn’t
glitzy, but there are plenty of high end hotels for those wanting 4 and 5 star
accommodation. The beach is ok. It’s a great place to curl up on a beach
recliner and read the day away, but the water was
dirty and weedy when we were there so not great for swimming.
The massages were so cheap though! Average cost was between
70-80k (so only AUD 7 or 8) for an hour, and there are plenty of massage places
in the open air near the beach, or in massage shops along the main road.
When we
were in Sanur, the crowd was a bit older (even older than us!) and Sanur does
have a somewhat unfair nickname of ‘snore’. I have to be honest, it felt a bit seedy to me. Lots of older men of different nationalities that
seem to be permanent Indonesian residents, with young Balinese women in tow. And lots of
older women lying on the beach in bikinis. A few days here are probably enough.
LOMBOK
TRANSPORT
FROM BALI TO LOMBOK
Bali to Lombok
Lembar port, Lombok
We arrived at the Lembar port on Lombok, and unfortunately it didn’t look like our online car app would be helpful in this situation, so got a taxi to our accommodation Krisna Bungalows and Restaurant (taxi cost 150,000Rp).
LOMBOK ACCOMMODATION
Krisna from the water
Krisna beach
Pool directly outside of the huts
On our first morning, the day was so beautiful that we took advantage of the snorkelling trip on offer and headed out for the day to five surrounding islands, Gili Rengit, Gili Layar, Gili Nanggu, Gili Sudak and Gili Kedis. The trip cost 200,000Rp per person, and included water and lunch, so total was AUD$80 for all of us. And it was an absolutely awesome day! We also scoped out the accommodation and snorkelling on each of the islands to see where we could go next.
GILI SUDAK
After visiting surrounding islands on our snorkelling day, we decided that Nirvana Gili Sudak would be a great place to base ourselves. This island is privately owned, so only one accommodation but a few different room options.
Beach of Gili Sudak
TRANSPORT
All of
the little islands in this area have their own boat, and Nirvana offered us a complementary pick
up from our Lombok accommodation (Krisna) to our island paradise.
On our way from Krisna to Nirvana
ACCOMMODATION
We stayed in a hut right on the beach, that was divided into two rooms with a bathroom in each. Cost was 300,000Rp per room per night, so about AUD60 per night in total, which included the usual breakfast options. It also included afternoon tea (fried banana and juice) and unlimited use of kayaks.
Our hut
FOOD
There are
two options for food here; the restaurant meals average around 50,000Rp and a small
warung on the beach which is simpler and a little cheaper with meals averaging around
30,000Rp.
Wahrung Gili Sudak
The staff at Nirvana are incredible, especially the manager Gede. Nothing is too much trouble. On
arrival they helped us with our bags, then ushered us over to the restaurant
for a welcome drink (fresh juice). They are so obliging and attentive and want
to help with everything.
Snorkelling
is fantastic around the island. There is so much coral and a multitude of fish. It is easy to
spend hours just floating around. 
The island
is small enough to walk or kayak around in about 30 minutes. We also used the
kayaks to explore surrounding islands and the mainland.
It is a shame that the usual problem with plastic on the beach also exists here.
Catching up on schoolwork
Washing day
BALI TO LOMBOK – 10 February to 20 February 2020
Our flight
from Kuala Lumpur (KL), Malaysia to Denpasar, Bali was uneventful, albeit
delayed an hour, all the time with our faces covered by masks
throughout flight and at the airports.
We arrived
in Bali around 2am in the morning and, bleary-eyed, we shuffle our way through
Denpasar airport, filling in the health declaration saying we haven’t been to China
and are feeling healthy. After retrieving our bags we head through customs and
out to find a taxi to Sanur.
TRANSPORT
We head up
to the departure area to find a taxi. The Grab/GoCar crew are often milling
outside the departure terminal after dropping someone off. It’s not too busy at
2am, but after checking the cost of the online transport option, this gives us
a price to do the usual bartering with the driver (we get it for 150,000Rp). We load our bags into the car and try
not to fall asleep in the car.
ACCOMMODATION
After a few
wrong turns, we locate our home for the next four night, Jepun Bali Homestay.
We stay in two separate rooms, one of them a huge space with one bedroom,
bathroom, kitchen/dining, and lounge area, and another room just across from
this one with a bed and bathroom. A delicious breakfast is included in our
total cost of 675,000Rp (approx. AUD$70 per night and booked on booking.com).
Breakfast is the usual choice of pancakes, toast and eggs, or Indonesian style
fried rice or noodles, with fresh fruit and fruit juice, tea and coffee.
The next
day we have a sleep in, then rent bicycles from the accommodation for 25,000Rp
per bike, and go exploring.
Sanur is one of Bali’s original resorts and there
are plenty of western tourists. It has a nice quiet feel about it and isn’t
glitzy, but there are plenty of high end hotels for those wanting 4 and 5 star
accommodation. The beach is ok. It’s a great place to curl up on a beach
recliner and read the day away, but the water was
dirty and weedy when we were there so not great for swimming.
The massages were so cheap though! Average cost was between
70-80k (so only AUD 7 or 8) for an hour, and there are plenty of massage places
in the open air near the beach, or in massage shops along the main road.
When we
were in Sanur, the crowd was a bit older (even older than us!) and Sanur does
have a somewhat unfair nickname of ‘snore’. I have to be honest, it felt a bit seedy to me. Lots of older men of different nationalities that
seem to be permanent Indonesian residents, with young Balinese women in tow. And lots of
older women lying on the beach in bikinis. A few days here are probably enough.
LOMBOK
After our four nights in Sanur, we head to
Lombok. We get a car (1 hour drive and 250,000Rp) to Bandang Pai and catch the ferry across to Lembar port, Lombok.
TRANSPORT
FROM BALI TO LOMBOK
The ferry from Bandang Pai to Lembar runs 24 hours a day, every hour (or thereabouts), and costs 46,000Rp per person
(AUD5.00 each). The trip takes 4-6 hours depending on weather and is
comfortable and easy. Our midday boat left at 1.15pm, but we made good time,
arriving in Lombok around 5.30pm. We did have an option of taking the fast
boat, but this was around 150,000Rp per person, and we weren’t in a hurry.
Bali to Lombok
Lembar port, Lombok
We arrived at the Lembar port on Lombok, and unfortunately it didn’t look like our online car app would be helpful in this situation, so got a taxi to our accommodation Krisna Bungalows and Restaurant (taxi cost 150,000Rp).
LOMBOK ACCOMMODATION
When we were doing our preliminary searches for accommodation, we liked the look of Krisna Bungalows but there was only one room showing on the booking site, and we were a bit confused by what room was where in the photos. So we found the WhatsApp number for the accommodation, made enquiries and booked directly with them for four nights. Two air conditioned bungalows with private bathroom, pool, and breakfast for 375,000Rp per room, so approx. AUD$75 in total. I think this is the most we have spent on accommodation so far, except when we were in Singapore. Krisna Bungalows were fantastic. The staff were great, mostly young cheeky local fellows (there were a few ladies in the kitchen), that were happy help us with the language, correct our mistakes, and help us out with information. There are a couple of little shops across the road to get supplies, and food at the restaurant is a variation of Western and Indonesian food, all of which was yummy.
Krisna from the water
Krisna beach
Pool directly outside of the huts
On our first morning, the day was so beautiful that we took advantage of the snorkelling trip on offer and headed out for the day to five surrounding islands, Gili Rengit, Gili Layar, Gili Nanggu, Gili Sudak and Gili Kedis. The trip cost 200,000Rp per person, and included water and lunch, so total was AUD$80 for all of us. And it was an absolutely awesome day! We also scoped out the accommodation and snorkelling on each of the islands to see where we could go next.
GILI SUDAK
After visiting surrounding islands on our snorkelling day, we decided that Nirvana Gili Sudak would be a great place to base ourselves. This island is privately owned, so only one accommodation but a few different room options.
Beach of Gili Sudak
TRANSPORT
All of
the little islands in this area have their own boat, and Nirvana offered us a complementary pick
up from our Lombok accommodation (Krisna) to our island paradise.
On our way from Krisna to Nirvana
ACCOMMODATION
We stayed in a hut right on the beach, that was divided into two rooms with a bathroom in each. Cost was 300,000Rp per room per night, so about AUD60 per night in total, which included the usual breakfast options. It also included afternoon tea (fried banana and juice) and unlimited use of kayaks.
Our hut
FOOD
There are
two options for food here; the restaurant meals average around 50,000Rp and a small
warung on the beach which is simpler and a little cheaper with meals averaging around
30,000Rp.
Wahrung Gili Sudak
The staff at Nirvana are incredible, especially the manager Gede. Nothing is too much trouble. On
arrival they helped us with our bags, then ushered us over to the restaurant
for a welcome drink (fresh juice). They are so obliging and attentive and want
to help with everything.
Snorkelling
is fantastic around the island. There is so much coral and a multitude of fish. It is easy to
spend hours just floating around.
The island
is small enough to walk or kayak around in about 30 minutes. We also used the
kayaks to explore surrounding islands and the mainland.
It is a shame that the usual problem with plastic on the beach also exists here.
Catching up on schoolwork
Washing day
Collecting shells on Gili Sudak
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SINGAPORE & MALAYSIA – 2 February to 9 February 2020
Well, it started with our inability to count days. Actually we didn’t really think about it when we booked our ticket into and out of Indonesia. Then we checked visas and found we could stay for 30 days in Indonesia on a free visa, or could pay for a visa on arrival that allowed us to extend to 60 days. However after doing a count of our actual days, we were at 62! Uh oh, this means doing a visa run….
SINGAPORE
TRANSPORT
ACCOMMODATION
On our first day, we headed out for a late breakfast to an absolutely awesome café called Little Farms Café, which reminded us of a local Gympie café Farmer & Son. Breakfast turned into another drink, and then dessert, while we logged into our computers to do schoolwork, and organise the next leg of our journey. We then spent the afternoon and next day walking the streets of Singapore, exploring the marina and marvelling at the beautiful buildings. We really loved Gardens by the Bay and spent a few hours here, staying for the lightshow. They do love their lightshows in Singapore. The next night was the lightshow at the marina.
Gardens by the Bay lightshow
Jess and I had a girl’s morning out, wandering around Orchard Rd area and also checking out Gucci, Chanel etc. Funny, but they didn’t even ask if we needed help, however they didn’t seem to mind us taking photos in the shop.
Orchard Road
Gucci
Chanel
We also had a mission while in Singapore, which was to visit the Singapore National Eye Centre (SNEC). Jess uses eyedrops for her Myopia, and we had a couple of months supply with us, but needed a compounding chemist to get some more. To be honest, these eyedrops have been a pain in the bum for the last month. They need refrigeration, so when we are on the road, we have been carrying around the eyedrops in a little Aldi yoghurt freezy bag with ice cubes, which was then in a Styrofoam box.
SNEC have a special Myopia Centre that opened last year, and the only place to get the eyedrops are from the SNEC pharmacy. Unfortunately the opthamologist letter and Australian script doesn’t work in a different country, which is understandable, so we had pre-arranged an appointment to see one of the SNEC paediatric doctors for a consultation. This is definitely the place to go for a second opinion, and after the doctor confirmed that the eyedrops are ok, we received a script and stocked up again. The best part was that the eyedrops are manufactured in bulk though a Singapore company and the hospital has a large supply so we were able to get 12 months supply, and they didn’t need to be kept cold! Just a cool, dry spot out of direct sunlight.
Tests at SNEC
MALACCA (Melaka), MALAYSIA
Our return flight back to Bali was from Kuala Lumpur (yep, it was cheaper this way!), so we had an opportunity to explore some of Malaysia. We randomly picked a spot in the middle of Singapore and KL, which was a city called Malacca (now officially known by the non-Anglo spelling of ‘Melaka’). We knew nothing about this place, but once there, we absolutely loved loved it!
The little multicultural gem of Melaka (well not so little at half a million people) has everything – churches, temples, mosques, straits, great food, shopping, beautiful buildings, lovely friendly people, night markets, a rich Dutch & Portuguese heritage, and it is a very popular tourist spot for locals to go on holidays.
TRANSPORT
ACCOMMODATION
Pool at Silverscapes Residences
Squash courts at Silverscapes Residences
Our days were filled with relaxing by the pool, shopping, visiting mosques, 3D interactive fun, river cruises, and the famous Jonker Street night markets with amazing food, colour and entertainment. And school work…
3D Interactive
3D Interactive
Jonker Street markets
Melaka Straits Mosque
Melaka River cruise
St Paul's church on the hill
MUSINGS
I am always trying to focus on the positive stuff, but believe me, there are equal amounts of everyday yucky stuff. I had secretly hoped that the kids would be so distracted by our travel and new surroundings, that their bickering would stop, but alas, it is just the same. Possibly worse as there are no breaks from each other. We are all together 24/7, sometimes with no interaction with anyone else, which can be hard. School has started for the kids, and they are not coping very well with the home-schooling set up. We had envisioned them being involved in their learning by setting tasks and assignments together, but they seem to prefer it to be more like school, where they are just told what to do, so a more structured learning style. Hopefully everything will settle down as we get into a better routine. Fingers crossed...
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SINGAPORE & MALAYSIA – 2 February to 9 February 2020
Pangandaran/Batu Karas area & Jakarta – 28 January to 2 February 2020
This is a
popular local spot for surf beaches, forests and fishing villages. Sadly these
beaches are the same as most in Indonesia, and littered with rubbish and
plastics. There are a few western tourists in the area, but not enough to
stop us being an attraction of our own!
TRANSPORT
The day
that we left Yogyakarta, we had a sick child with gastro, so the trip was an
arduous one. Our next destination was to an area called Pagiri, which is
between Pangandaran and Batu Karas. This involved a 5 hour train from Yogya to Sidareja
(about AUD$45 for the family), then a 1.5hr van ride (AUD$30) to our
accommodation.
ACCOMMODATION
We arrived
at our little Bungalow oasis in the middle of a garden with a pool. Our host
was a Welshman who arrived in Java in 1997 and never left. He was a teacher,
and lived in the main house about 100m away.
This was a
great place to just sit and rejuvenate after a busy couple of weeks, and to
allow the children recovery time. No wi-fi, so this was a forced detox too, and we caught up on our card game skills.
Accommodation was booked on Airbnb at AUD$60 per night, and
included breakfast, two separate rooms and a bathroom. The grounds were
immaculate and there were little spots to sit and chill, read or play cards.
The pool was also awesome. We planned to stay three nights, but due to the
illness we ended up being there for four nights.
On our last
day, we hired a couple of scooters and did some exploring.
Batu Karas beach
We are slowly
learning that we need to pace ourselves to cater for the kids. They just can’t
cope with constantly being on the road, so we are going to aim for longer stays
and seeing less. Food is a real issue. Not the taste of the different food,
but rather how their tummies are coping with it. We have a couple of days
gastro each week from one child or the other. Adults are fine so far. We are on the multi-vitamins now and have some local remedies, so fingers crossed...
JAKARTA
We decided that one night was enough in this big smoggy city. Luckily we arrived on a Saturday so the traffic was a bit quieter on a weekend, albeit still bedlam!
TRANSPORT
We hired a driver to transport us from our Pagiri accommodation to Purwokerto station (2 hours and AUD$55), then jumped on a train for five hours to take us to Jakarta (AUD$150). Then BlueBird taxi around the city.ACCOMMODATION
We stayed at the VK Pods Hostel in Jakarta, in a family room. The kids thought the 'pod' bunk beds were very cool, and wanted to stay longer! It was a great hostel - cosy in our pods, really clean and safe feeling, in a good location. Total for all of us for one night was AUD$45.
We were flying to Singapore at 9pm, so had the day to explore Jakarta. We decided to concentrate on the north of the city and wandered around the museums and square and streets of Kota. So bright and colourful and people everywhere! More school kids asking for interviews, and so many family asking if they could get photos with us.
Bulk lollies and snacks in Jakarta
We heard a rumour that there was a 'bunny cafe', so of course, had to check out this little novelty.
We have joined the fashionable 'mask' wearers in populated place like the cities, airports etc. There were so many people with boxes and boxes of masks that they have purchased, on their way back to Singapore to make a profit.
Yogyakarta - 25th January to 28th January 2020
YOGYAJAKARTA
The region of Yogyakarta is home to temples, markets, art
galleries, batik, silver and the famous Borobudur. Yogyakarta is where the
Sultan resides, and the hub of the city surrounds the walled city of Kraton,
the Sultan’s Palace, which encompasses residences, cottages, markets, schools
and mosques, with about 25,000 inhabitants. Population of Yogyakarta itself is
over 3 million. We stayed in the area of Kota Gede, which is famous for its
silver industry and shops. One of the main reasons for being here was to see
the archaeological site of Borobudur Temple.
ACCOMMODATION
Our Yogyakarta accommodation, booked via Airbnb.com, and is owned by an Aussie guy and his Javanese wife. They live in Australia and it
is looked after by the in-laws. We loved our stay in Teak House, which had two
bedrooms, little kitchen, bathroom, living area, wifi, granola and milk for
breakfast and plenty of packets of two-minute noodles, which is handy when you
have an always hungry teenage boy. It is located in Kota Gede, in a residential
area next to a Christian church, and close to supermarkets and food ‘warungs’.
We had the whole top floor which had a cool common area between the rooms with lots
of local musical instruments to tinker on. As with all places in Java, the
accommodation was surrounded by mosques and the ‘call to prayer’ is audible
five times a day. I think we had four
mosques surrounding us in each direction, creating a cacophony that woke us at
4am each morning. We hear the call to prayer everywhere in Java, and I
actually enjoy the sounds.
I didn’t get any pics of the accommodation, so I have
borrowed the following photos from Airbnb.com.
TRANSPORT
From Malang, we had a 7.5hr train ride to Yogyakarta, which
cost about AUD$110 for the family. We used the GoJek/GoCar app for all taxi rides in
Yogya, and each trip only cost a few dollars.
There is a really good website called www.yogyes.com that has heaps of tourist
information including transport, hotels, where to go etc. We checked a few transport options for our
trip to Borobudur. GoCar was about IDR250k each way, a return trip in a car with driver was
about IDR400k. We hadn’t really considered renting a car but we found Yogya Transport on yogyes.com, which offered a 24hr car
rental place that would deliver the car to your door. So at 6pm we were
messaging Yogya Transport via WhatsApp and arranged for a car to be delivered
to us at 5am the next morning (when it arrived, it was a thirsty car with the
petrol light flashing). The only paperwork needed was to send a photo of a
passport and drivers licence (sent as a photo on the WhatsApp), and pay the
delivery man IDR250k (about AUD$25). This gave us 12hrs rental in a manual
Toyota Avanza – bonus was that it was a 7 seater which allowed the bickering
children to have a whole seat to themselves. When questioning Yogya Transport
about insurance they said, and I quote:
“The price is exclude insurance. Insurance Claim billing
system, only if there is damage to the car when you bring it. If there isn’t
you don’t pay anything just the cost of the car rental. Usually in the event of
minor damage the insurance cost is IDR300k. But even if there is no damage, you
only paying bill of renting the car. I hope you will drive becareful”. Love it!
Fortunately we have car insurance with our annual travel insurance policy, but
I’m not sure how official this car rental was…. The car was a few years old,
with many minor dings and scratches, but it ran well and gave us the freedom to
explore for the day.
BOROBUDUR
Stunning and fascinating! An incredible temple steeped in history, and it has had plenty of restorations! Borobudur is a colossal
Buddhist monument surrounded by rice paddies. The monument is made of
intricately carved stone, starting with layers of square terraces at the base, topped with three circle platforms, with stairways that lead through the carvings to
the summit. The stone carvings are decorative panels and stories in the stone,
with large Buddhas towards the top. It is huge, and we took a couple of hours
walking clockwise around and up, around and up, wondering at how this was built
and how long it took! Exact original construction date is unknown, but it was somewhere
between AD 750 and 850. After completion, the temple was abandoned and empty for centuries until being discovered again by the Dutch in 1815.
Restoration began, but the whole hill on which the
temple sat was waterlogged and the temple started to subside. Another massive
restoration was undertaken between 1973-1983, which involved taking most of it
apart, creating a stable concrete foundation, and reconstructing it with a
drainage system, stone by stone. Since then it has survived volcanic eruptions,
terrorist attacks and an earthquake in 2006.
THE CAVE OF VIRGIN MARY (Gua Maria Kerep Ambarawa)
We stumbled upon a little treasure while driving back to
Yogyakarta from Borobudur. This is more of a grotto than a cave, and one of
three ‘caves’ in Java dedicated to Mother Mary, meant to increase faith and
devotion. It is built to resemble the Cave of Maria in Lourdes, France. Pilgrimages
occur in the second week of each month, so thankfully we avoided the 8,000
people. A lovely peaceful spot.
KRATON (Sultan’s Palace)
After being taken via taxi to the other section of the Kraton,
with separate entrance fee (he took us to Pagelaran instead – he must get a
commission!), we eventually made it to the real Kraton. This stunning complex
is filled with dancers, history and culture. We were able to wander around the
surrounding courtyard of the inner palace. Quite cool that the sultan lives
just over the wall.
FOOD IN YOGYAKARTA
Gudeg is the local dish made with young unripe jack fruit stewed for several hours with palm
sugar, and coconut milk. The oldest seller of Gudeg in Yogyakarta is the 100
years old Mbah Lindu, who has been making and selling gudeg for 86 years – the same
recipe that has never changed over these years. We saw a documentary on the
Netflix Street Food series about Mbah Lindu while in Australia, so when we
wanted to try the local dish, we had to try it at Gudeg Mbah Lindu! The locals line up from 5am to buy this
for breakfast. We got there at 6am and had bit of a wait before being served.
Price was IDR25,000 for the ordinary gudeg, or IDR40,000 with chicken. We were
a bit of an attraction for the locals too, but they were lovely, encouraging
and helpful with our ordering. The stall is now run by the daughter (she is the
one in the pics). Unfortunately we did not see Mbah Lindu, but apparently she
still helps to make the gudeg each morning.
Check out Mbah Lindu’s doco on Netflix Street Food series Season 1
Episode 4.
Gudeg Mbah Lindu
We also had a great feed of chicken noodles from another local
spot called Mie Ayam Bu Tumini (Mie is noodles; ayam is chicken). Again, this
one was packed with local people, so we knew we were onto a good one. Noodles
in a flavoursome rich broth with herbs, washed down with hot orange juice. Yum.
Noodles for four people plus drinks of hot orange juice – total AUD$5.
Chicken Noodles (Mie Ayam)
OTHER STUFF AROUND YOGYA
We wandered down Malioboro Jl, the spot to eat and shop, experienced a special ‘today only batik exhibition of art students’ – yeah right,
just another scam – further down the road, we were approached with the same
spiel.
Batik salesman, oh I mean artist!
Malioboro Jl.
The silver shops are a bargain and we got silver rings for
AUD$10-15 each.
Checked out the local chocolate factory Monggo Chocolate in
Kota Gede and purchased some yummy chocolate.
TIP: Get WhatsApp. Everyone in Indonesia uses it, including
businesses. You then just need wifi or a data pack on a local sim. This allows you to message or phone while in Indonesia.
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Cemoro Lawang (Mt Bromo) & Malang/Buta - 21st January to 25th January 2020
TRANSPORT
After leaving our lovely accommodation in Licin, we had a day of travelling. Java is a big country! From our Javanese starting point of Banguwangi (in the east), it is over 1000km to Jakarta. These aren't easy roads, so approximately 16 hrs by car, or a very long roundabout route if travelling by train.
The next item on our agenda was to see the magnificent Mt Bromo, so we had a four hour train ride north, from Karangasem station to Probolinggo station (AUD$13pp). From there, we needed to decide whether to stay the night in Probolinggo and hook up with a tour of Mt Bromo the following day, or keep going to the village at the base of the mountain. And we didn't have much time.
An innovative use of old train tracks
MOUNT BROMO
Mt Bromo sits at 2329m above sea level, and is an active volcano that erupts quite regularly. It is very popular, with peak tourist time being sunrise. However, the Mt Bromo experience is expensive.
At the base of Mount Bromo is the village of Cemoro Lawang. To enter the village, you must pay a fee. Local tourists pay the equivalent of about AUD$1 and foreigners pay about $2.50 each. We didn't mind this, as apparently the money goes to the village itself. The fee allows you into the village where our accommodation was, as well as restaurants, markets etc. We stayed at a local homestay, ate at local warungs, and spent money in the town with the locals. However, the AUD $22 (weekday) and $32 (weekend) fee per foreign tourist to enter the Bromo Tengger Semuru National Park seemed a bit steep for our family of four. Now I know that AUD$100 may not sound much to visit a volcano, but keep in mind that this is the equivalent of two nights accommodation for a whole family, or an 8 hour train ride for all of us, or about 10 nights of dinner for the family.
On arrival in Probolinggo, we arranged for a driver to take us from the train station to Cemoro Lawang (AUD$25 and one hour), arriving in the village at the base of Mt Bromo around 3pm. We only had one night in Cemoro Lawang and the family didn't seem keen for the sunrise climb, so our tentative plan was to head to Mt Bromo after breakfast. However we discovered that there was only one train a day to our next destination, and it left from Probolinggo at 9.15am the next morning. If we were going to climb Mt Bromo, we would need to do it immediately! No time to get a tour now!
With limited daylight and the threat of a storm, we threw on rain jackets, packed some water and torches, and headed off. We had read about a secret path that avoided the national park entry fee, which seemed like a sensible idea for our quick trip, so we went exploring. And we found it. Thanks to a previous blog (globalcastaway.com), we located a path that is used by the locals to take the horses into the national park.
We took this path beside the Hotel Cemara Indah. See the sandy path on the right, beside the wall
Follow the horse tracks on paths leading from the road down to the black sand.
A quick walk down the sandy path next to the hotel, and we were in the fine black volcanic 'sea of sand'....
Walking through the 'sea of sand' with Mt Bromo in the distance
There was no one there, at all. No tourists, no tour buses, no hawkers, no horses, not even the market stalls were open, there was nobody. It was eerie, but kind of cool at the same time to have it all to ourselves. With our map in hand, we made our way through the sea of sand, to the track leading to the mountain. It was like we had landed on the moon, with rock and volcanic ash underfoot as we walked.
Steps that lead to the rim of the volcano
View from the top into the volcano - we could hear a slight hissing sound
Descending Mt Bromo with the storm clouds rolling in and darkness approaching fast
Heading home as the sun set
ACCOMMODATION
In Cemoro Lawang, we stayed at Candani Guesthouse. A very spacious and clean villa with two bedrooms, a small living area and basic bathroom. AUD$35 for one night on airbnb.com.
Candani Guesthouse, Cemoro Lawang (village at the base of Mt Bromo)
The driver that took us to Cemoro Lawang ended up staying the night with his brother (as you do!) and collected us at 7.30am the next morning for the early journey back to the Probolinggo train station. Next stop, Malang!
Another day, another train ride. The Probolinggo to Malang trip was 3 hours and AUD$5.80 pp. We had reserved accommodation on airbnb, but hadn't received confirmation from the owner of the property, so when we arrived in Malang we decided to cancel the reservation and find another for our three night stay. We ended up in an area called Buta, about 30 minutes from Malang. Malang is a really large city in Indonesia with a population of almost 1 million people, so very busy. Buta was a bit quieter, so we took a taxi to our new accommodation. We have been using airbnb for over 7 years, from Canada, to Montreal, and all over Australia. It was D's birthday the next day, so we wanted to find accommodation that was a little special, with a kitchen to cook up a nice breakfast etc. However when we arrived, the accommodation looked NOTHING like the photos, had a stinky ensuite, no lock on a front window, a pump that kept clicking etc etc. We were so disappointed. A call to the owner (he was out of town) resulted in us staying just one night and getting a refund for the other two nights. Then we found another place, which was amazing.
ACCOMMODATION
We stayed at Villa Kajung in Batu for two nights - a house with three bedrooms, full kitchen, lounge, deck and garden, and a washing machine! All this for AUD$60 per night. And a fantastic, obliging, 'can't do enough for you' owner and staff!
FOOD
We cooked our own breakfast at the house, with fresh eggs from the shop across the road. D's birthday lunch was at an excellent place called Warung Bethania. It was like eating in a tree, albeit a very fancy tree. We had an absolute feast, with drinks and a shared dessert, and the bill came to AUD$33. An added bonus was the bakery just a few doors down, and getting a replacement watch battery for 50c.
Warung Bethania
We thought we'd give the green bread a go. We then discovered it was Pandanus bread, which was more like cake than bread. Oh well, it went ok with scrambled eggs!
Delicious bakery treats - only AUD$1 each!
RAINBOW VILLAGE (Kampung Warna Warni Jodipan, Malang)
The story here begins about four years ago. Originally named Kampung Jodipan, the living conditions of this slum area were so bad that the government wanted to relocate all the residents. A group of local Public Relations university students had a task for one of their subjects, and they proposed an initiative to a paint company to work on the project together. The collaborative effort of the students and the paint company led to residents, art students and the air force troops painting the entire village, as well as educating residents about sanitation, ie. not throwing garbage into the river etc. The paint company provided three tonnes of paint and around 107 house were painted. The village was re-born as Kumpung warna-warni, literally meaning 'colourful', and is now a tourist destination. A stunning spot for photos! The village is really close to the train station, so it is really an inner city village. Each house is a different colour and bridges connect one part to the other. Price to enter the village is IDR3000, so thirty cents pp.
Across the road is the blue village, named Kampung Biru Arema, which was painted in 2018. It is all blue and you expect a smurf to come wandering down the street. The blue area seems to be more residential rather than touristy, but the locals seem happy to have a chat with you (via google translate) if you wander through. There is a school located in the blue section, and the students were very happy and chatty. Entry into Kampung Biru Arema is IDR3000.
Next stop Yogyakarta!
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BALI TO JAVA – 16th to 21st January 2020
BALIAN BEACH (Tabanan) - 16th January to 19th January 2020
TRANSPORT
From Ubud,
we headed north west towards the coastline of Bali, for a few days in Balian Beach.
With online transportation not allowed in Ubud, we turned to private drivers to
assist in our 50km trip from Ubud to Tabanan. There is a Facebook ‘Ubud Community’
page which we connected with, posting our intention to travel from Ubud to
Tabanan. Messages came flooding through from Ubud drivers offering to take us
there for IDR500k-600k. We eventually ended up negotiating a more reasonable IDR350k
fare with a lovely fellow called Wayan.
WHAT’S
IN A NAME
Note that Balinese
people generally name their children according to the order of birth. First
born male is Wayan; second born is Made; third born is Nyoman; fourth born is
Ketut. Then is starts over again, so if you have a fifth son, he will also be
called Wayan. We met a lot of Wayans in Bali.
BALIAN
BEACH
The guidebooks call Balian Beach the Bali of 30
years ago. Balian Beach is a sleepy little beachside village with black sand
beaches, awesome surf (so D was happy) and plenty of accommodation choices.
Our
accommodation was a little south of the main village, about 15 minutes walk along
the beach to the village. When the tide is high beach access is not possible,
so you need to travel approximately 2km along the super busy highway that
connects Denpasar in the south to Gilimanuk in the north. Gilimanuk harbour is where the ferry goes from Bali to Java (Banyuwangi), and the traffic along this main highway
is constant. There are no taxis in this area, and the one time Joe and I
ventured out (on foot) for supplies was enough to put us off doing it again –
it was just too dangerous with the volume of cars, buses and trucks whizzing
by. We had a bit of regret regarding staying in such an isolated spot, however
the bargain accommodation was too good to pass up.
Meal times
were a bit tricky as we couldn’t prepare anything at our bungalow, and options were limited due to the isolation. The walk along the beach at low tide was hot, and the black sand radiated heat. On the second day we rented a couple of
scooters and joined the mad highway traffic to travel into Balian Beach for mealtimes.
BALIAN
BEACH FOOD
In Balian
Beach, we ate breakfast at Pondok Pisces Bungalows which included an option of
a set menu for about AUD$6 including a juice, cereal, toast and jam, and your
choice of eggs. We also liked Balian Beach Surf camp, which was right on the
beach, with good cheap Indonesian food and juices.
View of
Balian Beach from Balian Beach Surf Camp
Great breakfast at Pondok Pisces
ACCOMMODATION
We stayed
for three nights in a very basic two-bedroom bamboo bungalow at Rajapala
Accommodation, in an area called Tabanan. The kids said it was like sleeping in
a cubby house, and it definitely had an element of camping about it. Very basic,
but for AUD$15 per night we had wi-fi, a bed, two mattresses on the floor, and hot
shower. The bungalow was set in a garden area, with access to a pool. Not too
bad at all. The mosquitoes were fierce on our first night, so we were glad that
we had our own mosquito nets, which were innovatively hung above each bed.
Entrance door to gardens at Rajapala Accommodation
Rajapala Bamboo Bungalow
A lovely
lady called Kadek enlisted some help from a couple of her friends, and the whole family had an
afternoon of massage while we were there – heaven!
BUS and FERRY TO JAVA
One bonus about staying where we were was the close proximity to the highway. So on the day that we were leaving, we just toddled with our packs out to the highway, and in less than five minutes had flagged down a bus that was heading to Gilimanuk harbour. The usual negotiation ensued while piling the backpacks into the bus. The price started at IDR200k for the four of us, and eventually went down to IDR120k, so AUD$3 each for the 2 hour 80km journey.
Once in Gilimanuk, we bought ferry tickets to take us over to Banyuwangi, Java. This is an easy process if you check ferry times in advance. Cost of ferry ticket was AUD$6.50 per person.
LICIN, JAVA – 19th January to 21st January 2020
ACCOMMODATION
Our Java accommodation for the next two nights was in a little area called Licin (pronounced Lichin), so we found a taxi when we arrived in Java to take us on the one hour journey to our hotel, for AUD$15. It is officially the ‘wet season’ so we scored a great off season rate at a resort called Kampoeng Jogla Ijen, in a huge family suite with two bathrooms, and an amazing inground pool. Breakfast was included at the resort, and lunch/dinner at the resort was simple and cheap. No need to go anywhere else!
Family Room
Day bed in the restaurant
KAWAH IJEN
We quickly realised that we were very close to the amazing Kawah Ijen, and a check of the weather forecast showed tonight was the best night! It looked like only one family member wanted to do the early start though (me!). Being low season, demand is low but the staff at the resort were fantastic and hooked me up with another tour group that would come and collect me at 1am. Time to go to bed and set the alarm!
A loud knock on the door at 12.30am woke the family with a start! The guy at the door said ‘Time to go!’. Bleary eyed, I explained that I had been told to be at reception at 1am, and he said ‘It is 1am!’. ‘No, it’s 12.30, but don’t worry, I will be there soon’. Five minutes later I joined my new friends from Italy, and soon we were bumping in the 4WD up to the crater. When there, we joined our group - a couple from France, two German backpackers, and a girl from USA. We started hiking at 2am and all eight of us were very similar in pace, which was great. Our guide Sharfie was excellent, and he guided us through the dark with our headlamps, up, up, up. Our gas mask and goggles were safely tucked away in our packs, with none of us really knowing what was ahead of us.
1.5hrs later and we had reached the crater rim and descended into hell - that's kind of what it felt like down in the crater. Hot and dark, with gas clouds floating by and miners extracting slabs of sulphur with metal poles. The blue flames weren't very big that night, but the blue light waterfall was still spectacular (and eerie at the same time). We were down in the crater for about an hour, with our gas masks and goggles on so we could breath. Then we started the walk up the rocks to the rim. That gas mask felt very claustrophobic while huffing and puffing out of the crater. Once at the rim, we walked along to a stunning vantage point and waited for dawn to break.
Our guide Sharfie
Back to the hotel we went, arriving at around 8am for breakfast for a relaxing day by the pool.
We could have easily stayed longer at Kampoeng Joglo Ijen, but we need to keep moving.
Note: The sulphur from Kawah Ijen is still being mined to this day, and on the day that I went miners were working in horrible conditions with only a wet scarf covering their face for protection from the sulphur gas fumes. Life expectancy for the miner is only 50 years old.
LOSING
STUFF
The inevitable
leaving behind of things has already started. Fortunately all have been
returned, but this has just been good luck! A toy left behind in Ubud meant enlisting
the help of our mate Wayan, who borrowed a motorbike and drove from Ubud to
Balian Beach to return it for IDR200k. Eyedrops were left in a van, but fortunately we were using the same driver the next day and I had his number. A dental retainer was left on a lunch table at a café
near a train station, and luckily we were departing from the same train station
the following day. I don’t know how, but the lovely lady at the café miraculously
kept it and we got it back!
LAUNDRY
There are no
laundromats in Indonesia and if you are on the road every couple of days, keeping
up with the washing can be tricky. So far, the places we stay longer have been in
resorts, where the cost of getting your laundry done is expensive (relatively
speaking). As such, washing has become a family affair! We carry laundry
detergent with us, and every few days we fill up the bathroom sink and do it
all by hand, with someone rinsing clothes in the shower, and someone finding a spot to
hang it so it dries as quickly as possible. The inside and outside of our room often looks
like a Chinese laundry! We are now onto the fact that accommodation sites like Airbnb
include info about whether there is a washing machine. This is now a new priority!
*********************************************************************************
UBUD - 11th to 16th January 2020
We were looking forward to escaping the busy streets of
Seminyak and heading to Ubud. We'd heard great things and were keen for a more relaxed pace. Ubud is a bit more chilled, but still very touristy. Local
taxis everywhere you go offering you a ride, tour companies on every corner
touting for your business, mothers with their babies begging in the streets. We
spent the first day wandering around getting our bearings and keeping an eye
out for enlightenment. There are areas of Ubud that are definitely more
upmarket with western style shops and cafes (and prices to match), but plenty
of local ‘warungs’ to get a great feed.
Transport
While we used the GoJek app (GoCar) to take us from Seminyak
to Ubud, we quickly learnt that there would be no interaction with GoJek
for the next 5 days as Ubud does not allow online transport in the town. There
are signs everywhere saying that online drivers are not allowed in the area and
to support the local drivers. Consequently, this means that the local drivers
have the monopoly and can charge whatever they want. A 3km trip to dinner on
the first night (which would have been about AUD$1.50 in Seminyak in a BlueBird
taxi) was AUD$10. This seems like a blatant rip off aimed at the tourists.
Assumedly, this is why there is a roaring scooter rental trade. The next day we also hired
scooters. Scooters are dirt cheap and cost us AUD$5.00 per bike per day. The
bikes were great, helmets were safe. We loved the scooters as they allowed us to
escape into the mountains and explore! When first arriving in Bali, I thought
the drivers were erratic. But after being here, watching the traffic, and also
being part of the traffic, I think the Balinese are fantastic drivers! Everyone,
whether on foot, scooter, motorbike, car, van or truck, seems to work together. There is no road rage, and the local drivers are constantly watching
the traffic in front and behind, and to the side, calmly let other vehicles in
and nudging forward when there is a gap. The traffic did sometimes get
confusing, especially at a highly congested intersection, but we found that
following closely to a local worked best.
Accommodation
We had a recommendation from my cousin (thanks Sean!) to stay
at Praety Homestay. I did visualise the homestay as a little cabin in the
middle of a rice field, but that is only because this is what I expected Ubud
to be. Homestays are a common way of describing accommodation and seem no
different to a ‘room’ or ‘guesthouse’ or ‘hotel’. Praety Homestay was
excellent. Well located close to the centre without being smack-bang in the
middle of town. We stayed in two rooms that were side by side, and had a
bathroom each. Beds were comfy, fans and air-con in rooms, hot showers and
mosquito nets. The only issue for me was the insufficient lock on the front door.
There was a large padlock that linked into two door handle rings on the outside of the
door, and if you pushed the doors they opened with space for a child to fit in. It
didn’t seem very secure to me and I was hesitant to leave passports and
valuables in the room. A chat with the owner quickly got it sorted. He popped
out on his scooter to get a smaller lock which worked a lot better. The breakfast at Praety, served to your room, was just amazing. Every
morning there was a choice of either fruit juice or a large elaborate fruit
stack, plus either vegetable omelette, scrambled eggs, French toast, jaffles,
pancakes or black rice pudding. The cost of the accommodation was IDR240,000
per night, which worked out to approx. AUD$25 per room or $50 for the two
rooms. This price included the awesome
breakfast, which I think would easily have been $30 in total at a café. The huge
breakfast meant that we only needed two meals a day, so great for the budget!
Our rooms at Praety Homestay
Yummy breakfast for four people at Praety Homestay
Food
Having breakfast included meant that we only needed to find
one place per day to eat. We tended to pop into any local place for our evening
meal, but worthy of mention is the Yellow Flower Café (another recommendation –
thanks Linda!). Dinner and drink for the four of us (with one dessert) was
about AUD$50, so a treat for us! Yellow Flower Café has awesome vegetarian food
and is tucked away from the street overlooking Ubud. Really clean and fantastic
food. I just wish we were there on a Sunday night to have the buffet!
Yellow Flower Cafe, Ubud
Health
Note: before we left, we had the following travel vaccinations -
- Tetanus, Whooping Cough, Diphtheria
- Hepatitis A, Typhoid
- JEV (Japenese Encephalitis)
- Rabies
Waterfalls
All the beautiful nature spots are overrun with Instagrammers! I
must be getting old, as the idea of posing on a rock trying to look like a
supermodel is just comical to me. I did feel like doing a 'Celeste Barber', but didn't think I could pull it off (and I was outnumbered by Insta folk!). The best/worst example was at Kanto Lampo
Waterfall where two Balinese photographers had people lining up to take turns posing on a flat rock at the front of the falls, directing each to sit here, look this
way, tilt their head that way, all for the perfect shot. And that line was
long! The tourists just lined up, did the poses, got the photo and then left. No one seemed to be
climbing the rocks, or exploring the rock pools. All so fake. But very
entertaining to watch for a while….
See background...
This is the just a little further downstream from the Insta waterfall - gorgeous and totally empty!
*********************************************************************************
AIRPORT & SEMINYAK - 5th to 11th January 2020
Our flight arrived into Denpasar airport late in the night, and after a luggage carousel change, we headed out to the streets.
Money
We had a wallet full of Aussie dollars and thought the airport might be a good place to change our money. We were wrong. Exchange rate at the airport was AUD1 = IDR8,900. Once we arrived in Seminyak, the rate was from IDR9,250 to IDR9,999 for one Australian dollar, so much much better. No commission is paid on any of the exchanges, but always take your calculator to check the calculations. Advisable not to go into a dark alley for an exchange. There are some exchange places in the supermarkets at a window towards the back, so it feels a little safer. Go slowly and count the IDR while you are still at the counter or sitting at the table, as they sometimes forget a note or two.
SIM
We purchased a SIM card at the airport (but they are available anywhere). This was an easy process and we paid IDR15,0000 for 30 day/8GB of data with unlimited phone calls. Wi-Fi is available in most hotels, guesthouses, cafes, bars and restaurants in Seminyak, but we wanted to have a backup.
Transport
Transport offers are in abundance from the second you leave the airport customs counter. The first offer was IDR350,000 which was the 'best price we would find'. And it just got lower from there. We had heard that the going rate from airport to Seminyak was around IDR150,000 and that the best price is generally in a BlueBird taxi. We hailed one from the road outside the airport building, but it is best to head to Departures and get a taxi from there, after they have dropped someone off. ALWAYS check that the taxi has a meter. There are many lookalike BlueBird taxis, but the legit ones have a sticker along the top of the windscreens identifying them. So on a rainy night, we meandered our way from the airport through the streets of Denpasar to Seminyak. Even at 10.30pm the traffic was crazy. We arrived at our guesthouse and the meter read IDR80,500. Winning!
This is the sticker to look for on the real Bluebird Taxis.
Accommodation
We booked our M & D Guesthouse accommodation through Booking.com. Location was great. Reviews were great. Price was great. AUD$20 per room was excellent. We got two rooms to accommodate the four of us. Each room has a king size bed, own bathroom with toilet and hot shower and little fridge. Very clean, comfy bed, great pool, the staff are lovely. Really happy with our 'digs'.
M & D Guesthouse, Seminyak
We are on a pretty tight budget of $100 per day, which is hard to achieve for four people in Seminyak. We had pre-booked our accommodation in Australia so we cheated a little and didn't include accommodation into the budget. Doing this made it easy to stay under budget, and also allowed us to splurge a little for a few nice meals and a couple of massages. Some great cafes that we ate at were Revolver, Shelter Cafe, and Honey Bees. These were all pretty typical prices for the area, and fairly reasonable when comparing with Australian prices (AUD7 to AUD 13 for a meal and around AUD5 for a drink). We did maximum of one cafe meal a day, and other times we ate in the local 'warung' or bought local fruit from markets. A warung serves really cheap and delicious local food made by a family, no fancy tablecloths, music etc, just good local food. A nasi goreng or mie goreng was IDR12,000 so around AUD1.50. We found a nice clean place that agreed with our tummies, so went back quite a few times for meals.
Nasi goreng and iced tea - total AUD$2.20!
Honey Bees Cafe breakfast
Shelter Cafe breakfast, Seminyak
Next stop, Ubud!!
TOP TIP - Get the Gojek app to save heaps on transportation. Download an 'uber-type' booking for motorbikes, taxis and cars, and you can pay in cash - no credit card number needed! A great example was the Seminyak to Ubud trip. Local drivers wouldn't budge under IDR300,000, and GoCar price on the Gojek app was IDR194,000.
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