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Published: June 27th 2007
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Balcony at Keraton
Mark looking out from our balcony After traveling 39 hours we arrived at the Keraton Jimbaran which is a beautiful hotel on the beach built like a former Bali Kings palace. Many flowering plants and paths leading to the ocean, ponds with fountains, an open area massage hut set up by the pool. They had musicians playing traditional instruments each morning during breakfast which overlooked the beach & ocean. You could sit and watch the fishermen come in with their colorful boats all loaded down with a nights catch. There was a fantastic seafood night market on Jimbaran beach next to hotel that had several restaurants all in a row. Tables with candlelight set up on the beach where we would watch beautiful sunsets and the waves crashing to shore. One evening they had a band playing at each table. Reminded me of a Mexican Mariachi band only Indonesian style. They played current songs, one was John Denver Take me home, or Hotel California, but when they got to our table they played Santana Corazon Espinado & the love song My Hero. They were really quite good! The fresh seafood was wonderful! Just past the restaurants were a row of shops that the young women ran.
Jimbaran Beach
Looking down beach from the Keraton They were all so friendly and asked my name the first night and remembered it every time we went back. The 2nd day we were there we went scuba diving with YOS Marine Adventures who was set up in the hotel. We were shuttled to their place in Nusa Dua & took about a 45 min. boat ride to the next island Nusa Penida and had two - 1/2 hour dives with lunch on the boat inbetween. It was my first time diving and was quite incredible! The coral and fish were amazing. The YOS group we went with had very good equipment and we were safe in their hands. We left from Nusa Dua. Info on them is www.yosdive.com phone: 62-361-773774.
The following day we hired a driver, Warta who was very nice & we used him again. He wasn't one of your typical drivers who has their own agenda & takes you to the stores or places he gets the kickbacks from. So I would recommend him if you are in the Jimbaran-Kuta area. Phone: 081-338-784066. He took us into Denpasar where we visited the museum and walked down the road to the traditional Balinese market. When we
Bali Wedding
Bali Wedding on Jimbaran beach asked directions to the market from some ladies in a store we stopped in, they said "Be careful" Then we soon realized why. As soon as we got to the market where there were truckloads of marigolds & flowers & banana leaves folded up to make the morning offerings, we were lead by a woman to her stall to sell us Balinese spices. We picked out 2 kings of ginger, saffron, a kind of chili that looked like a tiny pine cone that had not opened yet, some peppercorns, curries, vanilla beans, (we saw cinnamon sticks 5' tall)! The price she came up with for our 10 little ziplocks was US$94! They thought they had some stupid rich people. In Thailand we bought the same thing for about $3. She kept saying But it's grown on Bali! So yes, then it should be really cheap & not nearly $10/bag! Then we noticed that bugs were in the ginger bags so we just got cloves & peppercorns for a price that she was not happy with!
Our hotel had a free shuttle into Kuta at 9:30AM & late afternoon. Kuta is about 15-20 min. away. Kuta is where the 2005 Bali bombing was. It has a big shopping mall, Nike, Coach, all the big name brand stores. We skipped all that. Very crowded streets. If 20 cars pass you, 18 of them will be taxi's and they will all beep and ask you if you want a taxi. If you go out on the beach, you have swarms of women asking if you want to buy a sarong, have your nails painted, have your hair braided, etc etc. You walk down the street and men give you a card to scratch that gives you a discount in the store you are walking in front of. There are beautiful little offerings in front of every doorway on the side walk. Each morning the women make these little square bowls made of banana leaf with about a spoonful of cooked rice, curly green grass, flowers, sometimes a little bit of soy sauce in a smaller banana leaf cup and a stick of incense burning. Then they sprinkle holy water on it. They carry these trays with the offerings & holy water on top of their heads & place them in the many temples and stone statuary that is all over and in the middle of the sidewalk in front of each shop door. It is to help keep the balance of the good & evil spirits that dwell on Bali and offerings to the gods. Well, when you have someone asking you every 5 seconds if you want a taxi, maybe not now but tomorrow, or later, or what are you doing later, you call me, then do you want your hair braided, do you want to buy this, scratch this card.... you end up stepping on an offering to the gods. They were flattened everywhere. You hope that the gods had taken the essence of the offerings before you stepped on it, because who knows what would happen. So we had a wonderful dinner at the Kuta Puri Bungalow bar & restaurant on Poppies lane. Then got out of Kuta. Too many people. One afternoon we arrived back at hotel and decided to sit on the beach chairs under the trees and swim in ocean ordering blue margaritas & hor d'ourves. There was a traditional Balinese wedding that was being set up on the beach for a German couple. What a beautiful setting. We all crashed their wedding and took photos to put on CD and send later. They had palm branches that were cut and split and woven back into hoops on either side of this gold & red painted carved love seat. Photo attached
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Karen
non-member comment
wow
The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page. Im so glad you are doing the book!!!