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Published: January 12th 2010
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Maumere, Flores
The old Merpati plane 13 December 2009 - 07 January 2010
TRANSPORT:
Maumere to Bali by plane (Merpati)--Rp1,190,000
HOTEL:
LA Inn (Kuta)
Double, fan, western toilet (that didn't flush), cold water--Rp116,000 (New Year's Price)
Great value for money considering the price rocketing that happens during New Years. Right in the heart of it all!
Our flight from Flores to Bali was pretty good considering Merpati's reputation and aging 1980's plane. A couple of friends had flown this route a week earlier and was faced with a 10 hour delay and only a few days earlier another plane on this route had overshot the runway. We left on time, the pilot spoke great English...even the passengers were well behaved!!
We arrived into Bali after a routine stop at a tiny airport in Sumba and headed back to the Roberts's villa back in Candidasa where we cleaned up, ate like kings and generally relaxed around making the most of Indonesia before we head to Australia. The weather when we got back had changed. It was windy and rained most evenings. It make a nice change from the heat we endured not only in Flores but in Bali the first time around.
We
Kuta
One BIG menu! rented another motorbike and headed up to the Central Mountains to catch a glimpse of the impressive Gunung and Lake Batur. It's a bit of a tourist trap but the views are impressive and the volcano is sometimes active.
Christmas was a quiet affair but nonetheless different. It's a strange feeling putting up a Christmas tree and sweating whilst doing it!!
New Years was another story altogether! We had decided to spend it in style by going to Bali's central party district of Kuta.
You either love Kuta or hate it. Kuta is to the Australian's what Ibiza is to the Brits. Hedonistic, rowdy, boozy...and fun!
We decided to head down to Kuta in the south of Bali on the motorbike to give us that extra bit of freedom. It rained (as luck would have it) and as we headed into Kuta we go caught in traffic. Luckily with the bikes we could do what all the Indonesians do and zip through the traffic.
Our main concern about coming to Kuta for New Year's was finding accommodation. We first tried the same guesthouse we visited the first time we stayed in Kuta and luck would
Kuta
The very emotional 2002 Bali Bomb memorial have it we got the last room going! We then set about for some shopping (one of the many activities here in Kuta...and pretty cheap too!). We decided to head up to Legian, just north of Kuta for dinner at a fantastic pizzeria.
The following day we decided to head to the southern peninsular of Bali and to the famous temple of Ulu Watu. The weather that day was fantastic (even though we forgot to bring our sun cream and ended up getting burnt to a crisp!). Ulu Watu is a fantastically scenic temple, perched high over the cliffs over looking the vast Indian Ocean. An hour or so walking around, admiring the views, we headed back to Kuta. We had to back before 3pm as the streets were due to be closed off to all vehicles for New Year's Eve. We stopped off at one of the many world-famous surfing beaches for a quick lunch before running the gauntlet of traffic back towards Kuta. The traffic was crazy and the police had already stopped all cars from entering Kuta. We managed to pick our way through and back to our hotel. Dan decided to take a dip in
the sea whilst Amy did a bit of shopping. The beach at Kuta is huge but the sea, sadly, is quite dirty. After an hour or so Dan decided to head to the internet cafe round the corner. As he was feeling lazy he decided to take the bike which ended up being a big mistake as it took him an hour to get back! The police had decided to close the streets to everyone and it was a case of waiting until the coppers backs were turned before trying to get past the barricades onto the pavement or attempting to drive the wrong way down a one way street!!
Heading out for our night out we first headed to the beach to catch the last sunset of 2009. We were a bit late but managed to catch it nonetheless. A bite to eat later we headed to Jalan Legian, home to the majority of Kuta's bars and clubs. We found one, Crusoe's, that did some fantastically large cocktails for as little as Rp35,000! We then headed to a second place, Eikon, where they had Mojito's and Heineken for as low as Rp5,000! We met a few drunken Aussies
Candidasa
At "home" as expected and at 11pm we decided to head to the beach for countdown. We headed down Poppies Lane and realised soon that that was a big mistake. As the alleyway narrowed, with thousands of people heading to the beach, we got caught in a huge crush. The main issue were the motorbikes that were trying to come through the other way. The crush was pretty dangerous, but luckily the only injuries we sustained was a cut foot and a dodgy back! It could have been alot worse.
The beach was manic to say the least and we were surprised to find that the majority of people here were local Indonesians. The fire works started at about 11:30 which wasn't surprising as Indonesia does run on rubber time. In typical Indonesian style the fireworks were dangerous, with some going off into the crowd and others exploding not high enough from the ground for you not to get burned! We did, however, celebrate it with a couple of Bintang's before heading to Kuta's most famous club called The Bounty. The walk there was again manic. Everyone was heading in the same direction and it didn't help that there were some
Candidasa
The Roberts's home! people who had decided to bribe the police and bring their cars through!! We got to the Bounty but didn't end up staying too long, mainly due to too much alcohol consumption, but also it wasn't the best place in the world!!
The next day, hungover, we headed back on the motorbikes, north to Ubud, Bali's art and culture centre. We were meeting up with Dan's dad and Kristina, along with his step-aunt. We were offered a place to stay at her hotel up in the hills and we didn't say no. In fact we weren't allowed to say no!! A night in a $70 room was great. We headed for some dinner at a fantastic little arty restaurant which served a mean curry and a juicy steak sandwich.
The following day we explored Ubud, with it's countless art shops and headed for some lunch at Ibu Oka, one of Bali's premier eateries for the traditional spit roasted pork, or Babi Guling. It was absolutely packed but we waiting around and savoured the fantastic meal!!
Afterwards we headed back to Candidasa and back to the Roberts's home. Here we stayed, nursing a long hangover until the 7th
Candidasa
One gorgeous sunset! of January. Our flight to Australia was at 11pm so we headed to Jimbaran Beach near the airport for some great seafood on the beach. The weather wasn't great, but the atmosphere was, and the food was fantastic! Fresh crab, squid, snapper and king prawns washed down with plenty off Bintang's was a great end to Bali and Indonesia. We were in fact eating at the very place that was bombed back in 2005!!
So that was that, and that was Indonesia. It's time to say goodbye, and say G'day mate in Australia.
Stick around for the next blog summarising our epic 4 month jaunt across Indonesia!
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