Blogs from Bali, Indonesia, Asia - page 9

Welcome to another Ken and Jenine Adventure in Bali Indonesia. We are excited that for a portion of the trip, Ken’s daughter Paige is joining us! I am going to put several days into one, as the flight to Denpasar, Bali is long and with time changes does span 3 days. One thing that was very odd, was that we left at midnight on Tuesday, December 17, a time where we are normally snoozing in our comfy bed. The first leg was to Hong Kong, and clocked in at a hefty 14.5 hours. We arrived at 6am on Thursday, December 19 and had 4.5 hours to find our way around the massive Hong Kong Airport. The next leg to Bali was 5 hours, so after approx. 24 hours of travel we landed in Bali. Paige had ... read more

Left Melbourne on the 5pm flight to Bali with Jetstar, had a cheap upgrade to business and it was a perfect flight getting in at around 9.15pm. Took a Grab to Jimbaran and were there in no time to Del Cielo Villas sitting high up on the hills of Jimbaran...perfect spot for a cold beer after our flight. In all the years we have been coming to Bali this is our first time in Jimbaran.....to stay that is....have been to restaurants here. I think it has been perfect for a week just to do nothing but relax and do a few walks. Though there are a lot of high end hotels here and their restaurants are rather xxxxy we found plenty of lovely places to eat at reasonable prices.....but not where near the quality or choice ... read more

Why is it that so many people regularly cruise around Asia and the Pacific on P&O? Our experience is that there is consistently friendly service from the crew. This was certainly our experience on this cruise again. There are so many activities for anyone and everyone to find something quite stimulating. A great variety of music, comedians, magicians, lectures, trivia, deck & outdoor activities, dress up activities, and food! It was interesting to see how much redecoration had taken place since our cruise to Vanuatu. There was much new carpet in the public areas, but you had to have a sharp eye to pick the changes. generally the same colour mix, but with subtlety different patterns. I had images on my mobile phone of the last cruise, and we could see those changes. Most would not ... read more

I first visited Ubud 26 years ago. Back then, there weren’t any Starbucks stores, there were rice fields in the middle of town, and the market sold produce, not penis shaped souvenirs. Despite it becoming overcrowded and overbuilt, Ubud has never lost its grip on me. One of the hazards of visiting Ubud is that you get sucked in and you never explore other parts of Bali. In my four prior visits, I’d only made a handful of day trips out of Ubud. This time round, I decided to venture further afield. I’d heard positive reports about the mountain town of Munduk, northwest of Ubud, so we decided to head there for a couple of days. Our driver Ketut picked us up and headed north. Our first stop was the Bedugul Botanic Gardens for Trixie to ... read more

Apart from Tana Toraja, one other place in Indonesia known for its unusual death rituals is the village of Trunyan, which is located along the shores of Lake Batur, about an hour north of Ubud. This village is unique because, unlike other Balinese who typically cremate their dead, they leave their dead out to decompose next to a sacred tree. The tree is said to mask the smell of the decomposing corpses. I’d been to Bali four times before and I’ve always wanted to visit this site, but each time I put off going there because it was difficult and expensive to get to. This time round, with Trixie in tow, I bit the bullet and booked a trip with a local tour company. Our driver and guide met us near our accommodation at Penestanan, and ... read more