Blogs from Ubud, Bali, Indonesia, Asia - page 57

Welcome to the first real entry on the blog! Sorry for the delay, sickness kept me confined to the room for a few days. Any ways lets begin... We arrived in Denpasar on the 11th of Jan at around 11:15 tired and jetlagged. Total time awake alomst 30 hours. When we arrived we were under the influence that we would be issued a 60 day visa without charge. To our suprise we had to pay 25 US and it was stamped and underlined NO Extention. WEll now we know! From there we played "rip off the new tourist" many times. Once for the cab, once for the porter and again for the internet. I guess that is the price you pay for looking so white. On our first day in Kuta, Corey and I were pretty ... read more

Voi tata ihanuutta! Tervehdys Balilta. Hong Kongin koleus on vaihtunut Balin kuumaan kosteuteen. Denpasarin lentokentalle saavuttuamme otettiin heti taksi Ubudin kylaan. Taksimatka kesti sellaisen reilun tunnin ja maksoi noin 15 euroa. Ubudissa paadyttiin Mandia Bungalows nimiseen majapaikkaan. Meilla on nyt ehdottomasti matkan tahan mennessa hienoin koti. Huone on tilava ja siina on aivan ihastuttava kylpyhuone, joka on ikaankuin puoliksi ulkona ja puoliksi sisalla. Pontto ja suihku ovat kaakeloidulla alueella ja vieressa on sitten viherkasveja, jonkin sortin saniaisia ja tiiliseinaa. Aivan ihastuttava toiletti. Huonetta esitellyt nuorimies kuvaili vessaa romanttiseksi, mika on oikein osuva kuvaus. Huoneen valtavasta ikkunasta on nakyma suoraan puutarhaan. Huoneen hintaan (n. 7 euroa/yo) sisaltyy omalla terassilla tarjoiltu aamiainen ja niin paljon kahvia ja teeta kuin paivan mitt... read more

The wife and arrived in Bali for the second time this year, more due to logistics (with her benefits as a flight attendant) than for an unquenchable love for the place -though we spent some time in a part of the island that I really hadn't seen before -Ubud. Ubud, an artists' town up in the foothills of the volcanoes, charmed us with its narrow winding sidestreets lined with temple-like homes. Nearly all of the homes and guesthouses in Ubud are in the traditional Balinese style of red tiled roofs, red brick construction, walled in from the roads with brick, and rising just over these attractive barriers, black-topped shrines made out of what looks like thick thick horse hair (but it couldn't be, as they'd had to slaughter about 600 ponies to make one of those, ... read more

We did take one of our taxi drivers up on his offer to take us for a day long island tour. We liked that his cab company was based in Bali, rather than the others that are based in Jakarta and send money off the island of Bali. He took us to the Ubud area which is known for its many artists. In one day we went to a batik factory, a silver factory, a huge art gallery of paintings, and a wood carving shop. The variety of art produced in Bali and the incredible talent of the artisans is astounding! We had fun bargaining for our souvenirs at each site as well as learning about how the masterpieces are created. The number of talented artists in Bali made us dream of owning a house in ... read more

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