Good morning one last time shakey Indonesia!
Today we are leaving at around 8pm for Dubai, so we won’t move around so much. Our plans for the day are to relax on the beach, have some lunch, a last balinese massage and finally go to the airport.
Tonight there were no more big earthquake so we slept well.
So, let’s start with a good breakfast! Sara went with her Indonesian breakfast while Antonio sticked to the American one.
Bacon, sausages, fruits, and waffles.
Nasi Goreng as become a must for Sara
Some kind of folded fried banana pancake
After breakfast we packed our luggage and left it at the reception, so we could use the motorbike freely.
The hotel provided also a private beach club, easing us from renting an umbrella. We stayed on the beach for a couple of hours. Antonio fell asleep, while Sara went exploring the water.
The first thing that hits you in Sanur beach are the dead corals in the sand, literally! It’s impossible to walk without flip-flops as the corals are sharp and it’s easy to get cut.
The beach has more corals than sand, and there are small coral “islands” very close to the shore to which you can easily walk to getting wet just to the waist.
It’s very likely you can find huge amazing shells, and it’s a challenge to walk in the water without stepping on a starfish. Those were black, hairy and big, but very pretty!
After getting sun burned once again we went for a walk on the promenade along the beach.
It was full of restaurants and locals offering massages and other services. We bought a small statue of a flying pig. I seriously have no clue why. We also affined our bargaining skills, now we were able to buy stuff at less than half the starting price.
We wrote a few tips and suggestions for that at the end if this post.
Yesterday we didn’t manage to eat at a popular local warung because of the tsunami warning issued, so we decided to try again for today’s lunch. The warung is Little Bird Sanur, and it’s very easy to find, just follow the nasi goreng smell!
All the reviews were good on the quality of both food and service, but the portions were huge!
We ordered four differents dishes. As the first arrived we realized we f@#ked-up. The sizes were really monstrous.
Chicken noodles
Chicken, rice and tomatoes.
Healthy sandwich
Cap Cay – Veggies soup
Everything was delicious!
Stuffed and happy we went back to the hotel and while Sara was having her balinese massage Antonio went for a food hunt to bring something local home.
The balinese massage was nice but not at all relaxing, as it alternated good moments and painful ones.
We gathered our luggages and took a taxi to the airport. This time we went along the only highway of Bali, it’s built on water and it’s quite impressive.
Denpasar airport is bigger than we remembered, so we shopped a little and went through the very slow baggage drop.
Off we go! 9 hours of flight, 8 hours of stopover in Dubai airport and finally 6 hours of flight to finally get to Bologna!
Since this last post is quite short we decided to collect some tips/facts we apprehended during our two weeks there.
Some curiosity…
- Bali is literally invaded by roosters. You may see them or not, but you’ll hear them. Every day. At all times. And some of them don’t even know how to sing. It’s like despacito, but worst!
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- Bamboo is used for everything. You’ll find straws made with young bamboo, baskets, boxes, etc… Bamboo is also used as construction material, to build scaffolding, ladders, and to support new floors as house construction goes.
- When you rent a motorcycle, you will need to refuel, as all of them are sucked dry before being given to you… The only official retailer is Pertamine. You’ll find these big stations basically everywhere in the cities and in the main roads. Otherwise you can just refuel on “private contractors”. If you look closely at the corner of the streets, roads or muletracks you’ll see shelves full of vodka bottles both yellowish or blue. That’s gasoline. A bottle of the blue one costs around 10k idr. It’s more expensive than in the official stations, but you wont get stranded.
- Balinese people are curious. It may happen to be approached by someone while walking, staring at shops, or even riding the motorcycle. They will ask you where you are going, where you are from, or more. They need to know everything about everyone. If they are not trying to sell you something the will actually help you if you need help. So don’t panic, smile, and answer politely.
- You are going to eat a lot of fruit. Most likely you will eat dragon fruit. If you do be aware that this tasty son of a bitch will paint your urine of a lovely red colour. When in the morning you’ll pee don’t be scared. That’s not blood. It’s just crimson deliciousness.
Some tips for best experience…
- Taxi. Once you land in Bali’s airport you’ll need to get to your hotel. Do not catch the first person who screams “taxy?” at you. The only official taxy company on the island is BlueBird. It’s cheap, safe, and will save you money. For best experience download the Android or iPhone app. With that you’ll be able to book a taxi, check the fare, see the taxi cars around you, and check the path on a map. The only downside is that you will only find BlueBird in Denpasar area. They are hard to find in Ubud and inexistent in Lovina.
- Motorcycle. If you feel brave enough and have experience with a motorcycle, the best way to move around is renting one. You’ll find scooter rentals everywhere in every city you go. You can bargain with them on the road or ask your hotel to get one for you. Before you pay for it check blinkers, front and stop lights, tires and breaks. Driving in Balinese traffic may be a stressful experience and you don’t want you tire to go flat, or your stop light to not work properly. Once you have it, go with the flow! Bali’s traffic is like a river with a strong current. You can not stop in the middle of it or go against it. Just follow what everyone is doing. Rules do not apply here. You can ride on the sidewalk, pass cars both on the left or right. Even pass red lights if you have to turn left to follow the road. Just, do not get in the way of others.
- Driving in Nusa Penida. The best, and only, way to move around Nusa Penida is with a scooter. Only problem is the road. It looks nice near the coast and the port, but as you ride across the island to get to the beaches and bays, the roads will degenerate. The best way to describe it is to imagine a plowed field where someone has dropped first hundreds of bombs and then rocks, stones, and pebbles. We have seen many people going around scratched and badly hurt from falling from their bikes. Don’t thrust the roads.
- Buying goods. You’ll buy souvenirs. Or fruit, or t-shirts. And there will be no price tag. So you’ll have to bargain. They will tell you a price. This will be highly above the real price of the object you’re trying to buy. You can play it nice, bargaining slowly trying to lower the price, or you can use math. Half the first price, remove 10%, get out that amount in cash and offer it. They will look at you like you’re mad, say no and other things. It’s fine. With still money in your hands, walk away and say bye. They will call you back. And will still rake in.
- Money. You will need cash. Despite most shops and restaurants accept credit and debit cards, if you get out of the big cities you’ll need paper money for most transactions. Also for Taxi, as not all of them accept credit cards. Do not worry. ATM are almost everywhere. Look for a CircleK, AlfaMart, or IndoMart and you’ll find one. We, like many others, had some problems with the ATM at the airport. Seems like not all the ATM work on the same circuit. You will have to find the one that works for you.
