December 2005 Holidays in Bali with Andrew!

Zoe prepares for her trip to Bali.

On December 23rd we met Andrew in Bali for Christmas. He had been there a few weeks already and scouted us a great hotel for $40 a night.

We arrived in the pouring rain and the hotel van picked us up no problem. Went to the Tegal Sari hotel and checked into our room, which was a bungalow ground floor room with paddy field view. Fairly basic inside but nice, not particularly Balinese looking though. Andrew came over and we ate a bit of food and then I went to look at his room - top floor bungalow, new, with fabulous rice field view and thatch roof, deck etc! No wonder he was raving about it. Only 3 rooms like that though, and always booked. He did however, change rooms with us on Christmas day so we had that one for 3 nights. He had set up an Ikea Xmas tree of course, which we inherited. We met there every evening at 6pm to have white wine on the deck provided by Andrew, and admire the view, sometimes in the rain sometimes with a nice sunset.

Andrew had a scooter so he took me on the back a couple of times while Pete stayed with Zoe and we buzzed around the hills, gorgeous, stopping in swanky spa resort hotels that were asking $200+ a night (they were empty.) I think they cater to Japanese more than anyone else. They have great views of the gorge, but are somewhat isolated. We preferred to be near town and different restaurants and shops. He also showed me where he bought his furniture, and all kinds of other stuff being produced.

We all went for a hike up along the ridge, with Zoe in the baby bjorn or being carried by all of us. It was a bit hot, but nice to get out and walk. We weren't bothered much by mosquitos though they are there, but not carrying deadly viruses like they do here so it wasn't much of a worry to be outside. Could have done more of this but Zoe getting a bit heavy, maybe next time she can walk the whole way with us.

Xmas evening Andrew took us to his favorite BBQ Ribs joint, and indeed they were great.
Pete and Andrew went to a house party that night with A's friends and had a great time, while I stayed home to babysit.

Andrew took us out to see some friends he had made (from Holland but living in Spain half the year, Bali the other half) they have a cool bungalow type house, and swimming pool which we enjoyed. We saw them a few times, including for New Year's Eve. On On Andrew's last night we got 2 of their maids to come to the hotel at 9pm, we put Zoe to sleep and left the girls on the deck. We promised to be back by 1am. We went out to some bars with Andrew's friends, (we had also rented a scooter for a day or two which was great fun) and were back at the appointed hour to find Zoe up and playing happily with the girls. Apparently she awoke at midnight, and cried for half an hour before settling down.

Andrew left the next afternoon, and we went to a Balinese Fire Dance and Trance Dance performance that evening at 7:30pm with Zoe. She was good with watching it for about 15 minutes but then got a bit wild, wanted to run around (again it was pouring rain) and I'm sure would have marched through the burning coals of coconut shells the dancer was walking on if we had not held tightly to her. It was fun to see, and there are 5 or 6 different Balinese dances performed every night in Ubud in various places. Had meant to see another, but didnt' work out.

We had to check out of our fabulous room and so we decided to go to the East Coast for scuba diving, taking turns - visited Water Palace of Tirtagangga on the way, in the rain of course.

Pete had never dived, but in Bali they will give you a crash course in swimming pool and put you in with the others for about $85 so you can experience it. The weather was quite rainy, and the hotel rooms not quite as swanky as before but only $30 a night. He left me in the morning, and the sun came out for his first dive on the WW2 wreck of a US cargo ship which had been dragged up to the beach in Bali by the Japanese for looting, so you can walk into the ocean in your gear and be on top of it. It was a great place to dive, and though it rained for his second dive and was cloudy for mine, we both were amazed by the variety and abundance of corals, soft and hard, as well as brightly colored fish which seemed to have no fear, swimming right in front of our masks! (run on sentences I know but trying to get this done quick). Spent 3 nights here in order to have 2 full days of diving, then back to Ubud where we changed hotels to get a more "balinese" style room. Went a bit more upscale to get more central for us (easier walking to shops and restaurants, right in the heart of things) and paid $60 at Ubud Village Hotel included all taxes and buffet breakfast.

We got the hotel staff (woman chef from kitchen) to babysit from 10pm to 1am on New Year's Eve night, and went out to join Andrew's friends once again at a little bar where we had a good time. Back at 1am, apparently Z had awoken once just for a few minutes but went back to sleep. Couple more days of shopping around and eating good food, Pete managed 3 or 4 bike rides between the rain, all and all a very good trip.