Kuta and back again

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17th to 20th October

Bali was not high on our “places to visit” list for one reason or another. Denpassar just happens to be the transit point for flights to the island of Flores, where we intended to visit a child we sponsor.

Our initial plan was to spend one night at Kuta, not too far form the airport and grab a flight to Ende the following day at 1.30pm. We had the morning to have a quick walk along the main drag of Kuta, which consists of bars, restaurants, shops, and lots of hawkers trying to rope you into all sorts of things, such as looking at time share bungalows, etc. All the shops sell the same T-Shirts, caps, glasses and flip flops. Where do all the billions of unsold T-Shirts in the world go to?

We walked along the beach front and I am sorry to say I found myself commenting that “our beaches back home are so much nicer”. At least the weather was good and there was not much of a crowd as it is the low season.

We sat at a beachside spot and ordered a cold drink, which we tried to pay for with some rupiah that was given to us by a friend. The currency turned out to be out of date, but it did help us start a good conversation with the drink vendor and her neighbour.

Trying to get to Ende

We got a car to the airport and arrived one and a half hours before our scheduled flight to Ende. We could not find any details of the flight at the check in counters or on the departure monitors. We lined up back at the check in counter and after a long wait we were informed that our flight had been rescheduled and it had left 2 hours ago. It was a shame that the airline forget to tell any of it’s passengers about this.

After a lot of discussion and my blood pressure beginning to boil we were ushered into the airline office at the back of the domestic terminal. One of the staff members there checked and they could get us on a flight in two days time.

You can read the rest of the airline debacle in our blog “Visiting Yensi”.

Back to Kuta

After our entertaining visit to the domestic airport we went back to Kuta to cool off in the hotel pool. We decided to make the most of the situation and relax. There was not much else we could do.

Unfortunately, we were reminded at this stage just how ugly some Australians can be. In the hotel pool there was a group of young guys who were very drunk at 3.30pm and not getting any better. Every second word of their very, very loud conversation began with an “F” or a “C”. This got a bit much for me considering that there were many women and children trying to enjoy themselves in the pool. I could not help but say something to them. It shut them up for a short time, I felt like apologising to the rest of the world for their behaviour.

Crispy Duck

On our way back from the airport Lorenza had spotted a restaurant not far from our hotel advertising “crispy duck”. We decided that sounded like a good idea for dinner. It turned out to be a great choice. After a great meal we got talking to the women who served us, her husband is a driver so after checking the price we decided to engage him for the following day to show us some sights.

Temples & Fish & Then More Fish

Our day tour with the driver took us to Taman Ayun and Tanah Lot temples. Along the way we had lunch at a small fish restaurant. I really enjoyed the “fish in lemonade sauce” I ordered. It was sweet and sour, and at $5 it was a very good lunch.

The restaurant had it’s own little fish farm, so you could not get your fish much fresher than caught a few moments before it was cooked.

On our way back to the hotel our driver took us to the memorial site of the Bali bombings so we could pay our respects.

We had dinner on the beach at Jimbaran. Where we were serenaded by a group of musicians. The food was a lot more expensive than our lunch time fare, but it was still reasonable considering the location.

Back to Domestic Airport Chaos

Thursday morning, it was back to the chaos of the domestic airport and trying to get a flight to Ende. I don’t think Lion Air will win any prizes for customer service or their organisational skills.

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Photos

small fish eatery
$5 for fish in lemonaide sauce - yum

Taman Ayun Temple
good balancing act

Seafood at Jimbaran
check the price before you buy, remember the lobster is per kg ... food was good, so was the location