Exhausted after a big day out at White Sandy Beach saw the next week pass by in the blink of an eye. Yoga, reading books, working on the tan and trying to find accommodation on the Gili Islands is the challenge. My friend Leah was coming over on 24 August and we are spending some time in Ubud and on one of the Gilis Islands. As we dont have accommodation at this stage, we are not sure which one. Ubud was sorted earlier so that wasnt a problem. Note that if planning to visit Bali in August, book well in advance to get what you want. Also, if booking through a travel agent make sure you check the hotels site and make sure the travel agent are not adding an exorbitant amount on the actual value of the room!!
After sending many emails and a bit of juggling the accommodation is booked on Gili Trawangan. Confirmation email received, all sorted. Note this for posts from time on Gili Trawangan!! Now I can book the ferry over to the island for us. Sounds simple right? Just because a company has an online booking system dont expect that you can actually book that way...;)! It took an online booking form, two emails, three phone calls and a fax, which incidentallly arrived the night before we were travelling to the Gili Islands! If you find yourself in this situation, try not to stress out. I did for a few days, mostly because it affected someone besides myself. The reality is that most times it all works out. I decided after the third phone call, we would be fine, relaxed for a few days and voila! the fax arrived confirming everything and the car to take us to the ferry was even early!
This week I was to catch up with some friends Dawn and Glenyce from Melbourne, but sadly Dawns mum died last Friday so naturally they were not coming to Bali for the 50th of a friend as originally planned. The next thing I know a week has passed and its Thursday 18 August. I had plans to head to Seminyak for the night to meet with another friend Kirstie and her buddy Shaz who were over for a week of R&R. As instructed I had my dancing shoes on! At breakfast Brad asks me to come for a drive to Klungkung. Just a quick round trip to pick up some advertising material. I decided to go as I needed to get cash. Klungkung town is the administrative capital of the Regency of the same name in which Candidasa is located. After business is done, Brad shows me where the ATM is and then leads us off to the market. Carol came with us as well, a guest from Perth who owns (with partner Bill) a couple of the villas at Bayshore. Time was passing and I needed to be ready to go at 4.30-5pm. But it is interesting to see and we took the scenic route back to Candidasa. There are some really pretty spots in the hills in this area. By the time we got back we were all starving for lunch so we went to the Dutch bakery in Candidasa for gourmet sausages. Finally we arrived back and I still had a little bit of time to get ready before I go to Seminyak. I was aiming to be ready at 4.30pm until just as I got out of the shower, Putu (the driver) knocks on the door to see if Im ready....eek! I quickly finished getting ready and hoped I had everything!
Brad let me jump in one of the hotel cars to head down to Seminyak as its about 2 hours and costs about IDR 350,000 (about AUD$45) which is relatively cheap in Australian terms but not based on cost of living here. Or is that the "no income" talking again?? On the way I got to have a good chat with Putu and teased him about the tricks he used to get ahead of the traffic. Like taking the inside running, whether there is a lane there or not, and making your way to the front. All in all, pretty effective driving. Anyway I arrived at their villa which was just gorgeous. Big bedroom, bathroom, outdoor shower with a decent sized plunge pool surrounded by sunbeds and living area. The place is called Astana Bali. As was mandatory, or it seemed so (and there was no argument from me), there were cocktails on arrival. I havent seen Kirstie for months so there was much catching up on lives and loves to be done. Shaz was fun and made me feel welcome. After several cocktails dinner was in order so we went to reception and ordered a cab, not before Kirstie and Shaz were added to the receptionists facebook list of friends...:)! Clearly made their presence felt!
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| Outside Potato Head |
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| Inside Potato Head |
Dinner is excellent and there are more cocktails! Afterwards we head to the Hu'u Bar. It is enormous and is complete with what looks like a full size swimming pool! Complete with space, cocktails and 80s music we hit the dance floor! As Shaz decided to head home early, Kirstie and I hit the 2 for 1 margharitas and continued dancing for a while. It only seemed like a short time but next thing they are asking us to go as they are closing. Apparently it was 1am! Next stop Potato Head, just for a night cap and so I can see it! We walked as it was just down the road. Again, another enormous nightclub complete with pool, beach access, and a full size stage that could be used for a concert. The stage apparently wasnt there earlier in the week so there must have been an event coming up. On the way out, down Potato Heads long long driveway, Kirstie took care of negotiations for a taxi. Next thing I know we were on a motor bike each, no helmets, spinning through the streets of Seminyak which luckily appear to be deserted, perhaps because it was now 3am! Being very careful to negotiate a good price and stopping at a store to make sure we have the correct money to give them...we mucked everything up by me paying my taxi for me, Kirstie paying her taxi for both of us, oops! So we ended up paying IDR 60000 (AUD $8) instead of a total of IDR 20000. Too funny. A few more drinks were had back at the villa and I slept the night on the couch as arranged. It was good Id had a few drinks as I think the mosquitoes had a bit of a feast and I was completely unaware. We had a nice breakfast together and a dip in the pool and a lay in the sun. I organised a driver that Sylvia and Stewart recommended to take me back to Candidasa and left the girls about 12noon. This was their last day as they had a late flight back that night. They had things to do, massages, beach bartering etc. They had had a good week and it was great to catch up with them.
As I didnt actually take any photos on this night out I have included some random Candidasa and Seminyak photos that I took on my last night before leaving Bali
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