Sneaking in the Last of our Spa Treatments in Sanur

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We left on a fast boat from Gili T after it arrived almost an hour late due to the bad waters and dark skies that covered the strait between Bali & Lombok. Thankfully we were able to be 2 of the 8 people that sat on the upstairs outside covered part of the boat so we got lots of fresh air, no motion sickness for either of us again which was good as it got pretty choppy during the ride.



Once we made it to Padang Bai harbour we were shuttled in a van with 5 others to Sanur, about 60-75 minutes away for our last night in Bali before departing on a jet plane for Hangzhou. We were the 1st of the 3 groups to get dropped off at our guesthouse, Sindu Guesthouse, in Sanur. We were welcomed by the owner, Dave, an Australian who built 2 little bungalows on his property that had 4 nicely decorated, clean and modern rooms for $35 a night and less than a 4 minute walk to the beach.



We first wanted to eat lunch as it was about 3pm and were hungry. We took Dave's recommendation and walked 5 minutes to Little Bird Warung (restaurant). He said he hadn't eaten there but it was a new hit spot with all the expats and locals in the area. We were happy we went there as the food was AMAZING for a low price, seems to be a theme in Bali & Lombok, great food for a low price.



Then we checked out all the spas on the 5 minute walk back to our guest house to see who had the nicest place with the best price. It was our last night so we figured we might as well treat ourselves again. We had to choose a place that took Visa as we were running out of Rupiahs and didn't have anymore cash to convert and our Unionpay ATM cards weren't accepted at ATM's. We then walked to the beach but it started to rain so we didn't stick around long but we did see a pig roast on the beach, which was pretty cool.



Around 6pm we headed out to Mandurah Spa for a night of relaxation. We chose the WRONG place to get our massages as they were higher in price than Ubud and weren't as good, but they took Visa and it seemed nice from the lobby. Pete got his usual lulur for 220,000/$23.91 and his treatment wasn't as long as it should have been. I had a 1hr massage for 120,000/$13.04 and a 1 hr facial for 120,000/$13.04. All was ok with my treatments but Pete was the lucky one who got ginger tea after his lulur, I luckily didn't.



I say I luckily didn't get ginger tea as Pete woke in the middle of the night with stomach pains and had food poisening or water poisening from the bad water used to make the tea. We ate and drank all the same dishes that day, sharing servings even and I didn't get the lovely ruins and vomitting that comes along with ingesting developing countries water supply. DAMN you Mandurah Spa & Beauty Salon in Sanur.



After the salon, we headed to a bar that we walked by earlier in the day that had huts outside surrounded by lush tropical trees and plants to have a Bali Hai beer 5%!a(MISSING)lcohol. But Pete and I decided that Bintang beer was much better tasting than Bali Hai.



Last morning, in Bali I decided to go get a manicure and creambath for my hair as it was feeling really dry from the salt water and chlorinated pool water. If you are counting this is my 4th visit to a spa in 10 days of vacation. The salon, Beauty & Soul, was a 2 minute walk from our guesthouse and opened at 10am, we were getting picked up by our driver at 11:30 to take us to the airport. The salon was great as they did my 2 treatments together and I walked out completely happy at 11:15. The creambath was WAY more than I was expecting. I got my hair washed and then a deep conditioner was put in my hair along with an hour head, neck and shoulder massage. French manicure w/full arm massage + creambath total cost 160,000/$17.39..I hadn't had a manicure or pedicure since leaving Portland last September due to me being scared of the non-cleanliness of nail salons in China.



Our driver arrrived on time (as everything in Indonesia did, except our return trip on the fast boat due to inclement weather) and there was no traffic headed to the airport, it took us 25 minutes from Sanur to Denpasar airport in Bali. We hung out at the nice Starbucks and spent the remainder of our Rupiahs and Pete sipped on Gatorade to help his system get some electrolytes back. Poor Pete had food poisening all the way back to Hangzhou...2nd time on a long flight (1st time was flying from Shanghai to Portland Dec 2010).



Upon our departure from the airport we had to produce our flight itinerary to enter the International terminal, go through security, proceeded to the check in counter, arrived at the unexpected departure tax counter who took Rupiahs only (remember we didn't have any left). So i had to go find an ATM to get 300,000/$32.61 as the fee was 150,000 per person. I didn't plan for this as I never remember reading this in my trip planning at all. The ATM was convienently located OUTSIDE the terminal; Pete headed to the bathroom as he was sick and I headed back outside to the ATM. Thankfully, this was the ONE and only ATM that accepted our Unionpay card the entire trip. I had to go back through security to enter the terminal and proceed to meet Pete, pay the tax, find our gate and go through another round of security. WOW and you thought TSA sucked in the US.



I have to say that India and Indonesia have the been the only countries that required a printed itinerary to enter the airport and thankfully this time I had it printed just in case after our episode in Kolkata at the end of January.



We had a smooth flight back to Singapore and a good 2 hr layover at Chiangi International Airport rated #2 in the world. If you ever get a chance to have a stopover or layover in Singapore DO IT! I of course hit up the duty free liquor shop and got the maximum of 4 bottles (2 litres each) to take back to China, as fake liquor is a problem here..imagine that China copies ANYTHING, ANYTHING! With my purchase I qualified to be put in a monthly drawing for 6 months to win 1 million Singapore dollars ($788,659 USD)...pray for us that we win that would put a fabulous ending to our 2.5 years of living in Asia.



I wish our flight back to Hangzhou was as smooth as our flight to Singapore but there is just something about mainland Chinese people that just drives me insane in an airport or on an airplane. I can't even describe it in this blog to give it any credit but will be glad not to experience for awhile (once at the end of June on our way home).



Mainland Chinese people don't do lines at all, just bum rush to the front, pushing and shoving anyone in their way. Which I don't understand, as they will give up their seat on the bus or subway the fastest of any culture I have experienced. Chinese also talk at a much higher level of voice than any other culture that I have experienced, when you are on a plane 150-170 loud speaking Chinese isn't cool. About 3 hours into our flight around 9:30pm I finally turned around and told the row behind me to shut up in Chinese and then had to tell the 40 something woman to stop kicking the back of my chair. The good thing was that they listened to me and stopped their rude behavior. Lastly, when a plane lands it never fails that people get up to get their bags out of the overhead bins while the plane is taxing. Once we are stopped they start pushing and shoving to the front of the plane instead of letting each row go one at a time. This doesn't do the experience its full justice but until you experience yourself you just won't get how annoying it is.



We left Indonesia feeling completely rejuvinated, pampered with a smile on our faces from the friendly locals and amazing hospitality we received knowing that we will return someday. That's all of our adventures in Indonesia; my 29th country for my 31st birthday!



Next country to visit is the Good Ol' USA June 26th 😊))

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