We had the pleasure of spending the 12 days with Jill's cousin Kathy who lives in Tokyo. When we signed up for our timeshare last April we got 2 free rooms for a week, so we invited Kathy to use the other room.
We were a bit concerned about the weather before going. It was the rainy season, with Dec seeing the largest rainfall. It was nice and sunny for the first few days and then a bit cloudy for a few days. It only really rained all day once and rained in the morning a few days.
Indonesia is very volcanic. This is a view from our first place in Kuta. You can see a few volcanoes in the background.
The beach in Kuta is extremely long. I walked 2 hours up the beach looking for a temple one day and gave up, it just kept going.
There were a lot of people selling their trinkets and souvenirs. You have to be careful if they come to you, if they think they can make a sale they won't leave you alone til you buy something. The key is to be blunt and upfront first then ignore them.
These guys were not so smart and in a few minutes got swarmed by over 10 people all selling the same crap everyone else sells. We got a good laugh when we saw them.
Jill on Kuta beach.
A local fisherman fishing in the waves.
On Christmas Eve day, I went for my long beach walk while Jill and Kathy explored and shopped.
I had to cross a few waist deep rivers......I went at high tide......and at one point had to cut inland to avoid an estuary. It was a long detour but I got to see some of the beautiful country side.
Back on the beach.
At times the water was so nice and the beach was so clean but at other times the water was muddy and there was garbage everywhere. It coincided with where the resorts were.
Our Christmas presents, neatly organized by Kathy.
Christmas Eve dinner at the hotel (photo compliments of Kathy).
Kathy opening some presents.
This strange man was lugging what I could only guess was a portable restaurant. The front box had smoke or steam coming out at there was a kettle in it. The second box had dishes.
Christmas Day dinner on the beach. We selected our fish and they prepared it fresh.
The finished product, Balinese style. It was very tasty.
Some locals on the beach digging for something.
MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
After Christmas we headed to Candidasa where we have our timeshare. On the way we were halted by a funeral procession. The body is placed in the well endowed bull and cremated.
Our first meal at the Rama. Sate and chicken. Again, Yummy!
Here are some pictures from around the resort:At the high tea, a staff member would play this instrument. It was delightful.
This garden area wasn't there last time we were. It was very peaceful. A lovely place to sit and read or nap. Those huts have big day beds in them.
Our first night out we went to the New Queen's Pub in town. We remember it from last time when we met the owner Gusti and enjoyed the live music. This time I recognized him and he remembered us (so he says). We had a nice evening there.
Here is the picture from last April meeting. At that time he had dreds and was a lot skinnier. He should have remembered us, Jill was wearing the same dress.
We scheduled one day trip to a town known for its art culture called Ubud. Some friends of ours from Hong Kong just happened to be staying there too. We met up for lunch at their very tranquil and secluded villa.
The trip included a "Barong" dance. It must be a cultural performance because it's performed everywhere. It was like a musical/story/dance/play.
This is the Barong.
Then it started to rain. It was very heavy but only lasted 30 minutes or so then stopped.
The next stop was a batik center. Batik is the Balinese art of decorating fabric with ink and wax.
Ubud is also famous for its Monkey Forest. I was there a few years ago and noticed that the monkeys were a bit aggressive. If you had anything on you like jewelry or sunglasses, they would grab it and run. We were warned that there have been many cases of rabies so we didn't approach any of them.
This is the market in Ubud. It was very large and cheap. It all smelled like incense.
On our 3rd day in Candidasa we were upgraded to the penthouse suite. Jill and I bought more timeshare points and this was our incentive. Kathy got upgraded to the other penthouse suite.
Here it is:
We didn't really use the downstairs though. The view was pretty good though.
The town of Candidasa is not that big and mostly consists of hotels and restaurants. The competition is quite intense so restaurants will come pick you up and drop you off if you make a reservation. Our resort was about a 20 minute walk out of town so it was really nice to have this service.
There were a few places selling this delicious Balinese micro beer.
Our resort also had a New Years Eve dinner. Originally it was $110 US per person. In Bali, that is ridiculous. You can get a massive meal for $10. We didn't want to join, then were told for the timeshare members it was only $60 pp. Still not interested. Then the manager said we could go for $30 each.....DEAL!
It was a massive buffet with Indonesian and western style food.
Here we are with the new resort manager and timeshare manager Kai. He was busy the whole week giving us free stuff/upgrades.
The entertainment was centered around a mock Balinese wedding. They did all the dances, songs etc... There were also games and prizes all through the night. Fun, but definitely not worth $110.
At midnight, people shot store bought fireworks up and down the shore line.
We had a great trip, the weather cooperated enough and we were well rested by the end of it. The problem was, we returned to HK 6pm Sunday night and had to work Monday morning. We are taking this weekend to recoup from that.......we almost need another vacation!In 4 weeks we head to Tokyo to visit Kathy and explore the city. Should be fun.
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