Bali: The Isle of Gods (Day 1)

18^th March 2010

Both my wife and I have long planned for this trip to bring both our parents for a vacation in Bali. The plan was conceived 9 months or so in advance to benefit from the cheap promotion flight offered by Air Asia. Care to make a guess of how much we paid for a return ticket? It costs us around S$55 excluding the airport tax in Denpasar Ngurah Rai Airport. We bought a total of 7 tickets for my in laws, my sister in law, my mother, my sister, my wife and myself.

[Tips: Remember to keep IDR150,000 for the airport tax while taking the flights to return from Denpasar to wherever you hailed from]

[Tips: For those that require a VISA to enter Bali, you may get it at the airport itself. As for those that do not require one, you may proceed to the right of the VISA checkpoint and keep walking till you reach the custom checkpoint]

The vacation however will be in two parts i.e. my wife and I will be traveling to Bali earlier to enjoy some of the exploration on our own from 18-20^th March whereby we will be joined by my brother in law (Last minute addition) on the 20^th itself. The rest of the group will be joining us on the 21^st March itself. I have rented a car (Toyota Avanza) for the entire trip as it will allow me to explore more and this time round, I am really looking forward to seeing more of Bali and its surrounding. Driving in Bali is very enjoyable as the people here are “gentle” drivers which I am very much inclined to believe is due to their religion that beckons its followers to respect all living things. Speed limit in general all over the island is 50kph.

[Tips: The Toyota Avanza that we rented costs us only US$20 per day and the fuel economy is decent. Petrol in Bali is cheap at ±IDR4,800 per liter i.e. approx S$0.70] 

The Lotus Café on Ubud's main street. You will not miss this.

I have carried out extensive check for car rental in Bali and most car operators charged an exorbitant fee for the car rental especially so for those found in the brochures that you could obtained from the Ngurah Rai Airport itself and to top it off, you are required to place a deposit with them as well. The car rental fee of US$22/day that I have found may significantly be the lower one if not the lowest and judging from my experience with them for these 7 days, I gave them the 2 thumbs up! The car is reasonably new and the interior is quite clean. The handling is great and it gave us an average of 11-12km/liter.

[Tips: You may visit their website at http://www.sesehbali.com or send me an email for exclusive deals ;)]

[Tips: If you do not want to drive but yet still wanted to explore the island, you may rent the car and rent a driver as well. It will be much cheaper than going with one of the many tour operators. My driver costs me IDR150,000 + tips (Optional) and the service is top notch!]

Don't want to miss this do you?
Scroll down to read more to the location of this beauty.

A simple summary of our itinerary and accommodation is as follow:

18^th March – Ubud (Tjampuhan Spa Hotel)

19^th March – Seminyak (Astana Kunti)

20^th March – Seminyak (Astana Kunti)

21^st March – Jimbaran (Ayana Beach Resort & Spa)

22^nd March – Jimbaran (Ayana Beach Resort & Spa)

23^rd March – Jimbaran (Ayana Beach Resort & Spa)

The Agung room. Spacious and reasonably clean.
Note that it does not have air-con!

We touched down around 1215hr, slightly earlier than the scheduled ETA. Once out of the airport, we looked for Pak Made, our car rental operator to pick up the Toyota Avanza. Pak Made is very chatty and friendly, making our meeting relaxed and pleasant. Oh by the way, you will soon realize that many Balinese’ name are either Wayan, Made, Nyoman or Ketut as this a naming standard for the Balinese whereby the first born shall be called Wayan + given name, the second Made + given name and so on. When the family reached the 5^th child, it will start from Wayan again. Our first destination is Ubud, the cultural and art centre of Bali. The drive took us approximately 45mins.

Be warned that there are plenty of steps
in this hotel. So... travel light!

Hotel Tjampuhan Spa is located at the river bend of the Tjampuhan River. There are basically 2 types of rooms i.e. Agung room at a rate of US$103 net and the Raja room at US$139 net. The rate includes breakfast and free shuttle to the town centre, which is really a breath away. Do note that the Agung room does not comes with air-condition! If you wanted to be closer to nature, you may opt for the Raja Room beside the river. I wanted to upgrade to this room, as the sound of the running water is truly relaxing and would most definitely make the stay in that hotel memorable but fate has it the other way as there are no longer any available Raja room beside the river. What heck, we just have to make do with what we had and by the way, the room rate is US$78 net per night. 

The Tjampuhan river view from one of the Raja room

The first place that we headed to is the Lotus Café, which is 5mins walk away. I have read many comments both positive and negative about this place but decided that I would still want to visit it personally. We ordered a Banana Lassi (A type of thick yogurt beverage) and an Avocado Lassi to go with a side of spring roll snack. The main course that we had is the beautiful lotus pond. Regardless of what we ordered earlier, the main course made everything tasted great! To make it even more enjoyable, it started to drizzle a little bit and having seated on the outdoor Balinese shelter overlooking the pond, the experience is truly amazing.

Banana/Avocado Lassi (3/5)
The Banana Lassi is quite good. The avocado is a little on the bland side

.
Shrimp spring roll (2.5/5) 
Not fantastic but good enough to go with the view!

Dining in Balinese style

The beautiful lotus pond. It will be even more beautiful when
the lotus is blooming!

Calm after the rain

We then proceeded to have a stroll along the Ubud main road for awhile and then took the shuttle to head back to our hotel to take a shower to prepare for our evening itinerary. I have made a reservation at the famous Murni’s Warung (A well-known shop owned by a local widow) prior to leaving Singapore as I would want it to be a surprise cum great evening with my wife and Murni’s did not let me down. Murni’s Warung is one of the business leg of Murni’s as they do sell crafts, offer rooms for rent and many more. If you are interested to know more about this place, you may go to their official site. We had the best meal for our entire trip over at the Murni’s and it is highly recommended! Great food at great value!

Menu of Murni's Warung

Thoughtful candle deco made with Banane tree bark

Nasi Goreng Bali (3.5/5)
Balinese Fried Rice which literally translated as Fried Rice alá Bali. Goodstuff!

Gado Gado (3/5)
Gado Gado is an Indonesian salad tossed in Peanut dressing.
Although this can be widely found in any corners of Indonesia,
the way Murni prepared it makes it as though its one of its own.
Saté Lilit (3.5/5) 
Fish paste kebab.

After the dinner, we next headed to see the Kechak dance at the Pura Batukaru temple behind the Ubud Palace. The Kechak dance is a traditional dance depicting the Hindu epic of Ramayana. The dance is accompanied by a group of men making some synchronized noise called Gamelan Suara. As the story progress, the speed and intensity of the choir would change accordingly coupled with occasional swaying of their body and staggering formations. Both my wife and I have come to the conclusion that those Kechak dance that you can see at places like Tanah Lot and Uluwatu may not be as good as this one based on the pictures found in their brochures as the costumes worn by the players in this temple is much more intricate than the rest. This show costs us IDR80,000 per person i.e. approx S$12. The usual price however, is at IDR50,000 but due to the need to build a newer temple, the price has been raised.

The Gamelan choir group making their way down to the stage

Prince Rama on the far left in green and his lover, princess Sita in the centre

The symbolic Gamelan choirs formation of the Kechak dance

Hanoman, the white monkey

Following the Kechak dance is the fire dance, which is a type of dance that the Balinese performs with the notion of driving the evil spirits away. A man would carry a grass horse (Looked like a long drape) over his shoulders and repeatedly trample and kick the burning coals. The dance ends when most of the coals are dispersed or die out. Performance ended with a free photo session with all the cast from the Kechak dance.

Man starting the fire and coal in preparation for the fire dance

Fire dance: The "Horse" is seen kicking the burning coals here

Photo sesssion with all the cast of the Kechak Dance

After the performance, we headed back to Murni’s as we had skipped their dessert due to the need to rush to the temple to watch the Kechak dance. We ordered a Banana cheese cake and a cup of Chendol (pandan flavoured jelly with caramelized coconut syrup drink). Again, we enjoyed the dessert here and did I mention that the restaurant is right beside the river? Trust me on this one… you will have one of your best Balinese meal here!

Banana Cheese Cake from the Murni's

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