My Bali vacation

As Salam...

Hi, I just back from Bali and.... there are so much I want to share & to write it down, so that, sapa-sapa yang terbaca “story of my life” can make their planning well before going there for the first time. Tapi yang tak best nya balik je dari Bali terpaksa pulak menghadapi... a very bad Haze. Emmhhh... malang sungguh kan. Kalau tidak memikirkan kerja mahu saja aku sambung honeymoon di Bali... … hahaha. 

Anyway, Bali was a beautiful place… with hill and sea and beaches, breathtaking view & spectacular volcanoes. Seriously, after 2 days... I really missed Bali... A lot... hehehe.

Spectacular view @ Uluwatu temple

Tanah Lot

Bali ni sinonim dengan orang yang nak gi Honeymoon... maybe sesuai kot dengan beach dia yang sangat cantik expecially when the sunset... tapi tujuan aku ke sini bukan lah ber “honeymoon” tapi macam biasa lah nak jalan-jalan jer. Kalau boleh mana-mana tempat yang aku belum pergi lagi, aku nak pergi tapi hanye masa ade promo ticket lah. Al maklum... saya ni budget traveller saja. Tapi aku rasa Bali ni tak seperti tempat-tempat lain di Indonesia.

My first day in Bali, aku tak amek cuti pun sebab memikirkan aku sempat catch flight yang 8.20PM after work. Aku Cuma perlu tunggu driver, Fad & Kay yang bakal bersama-sama ke LCCT. Hezrin amek hafday. Luckily, ofis kami dekat-dekat jer... so, tak jadi masalah nak pergi together-gether. OTW tu, berdoa jelah hopefully nothing bad happened to us. Our target to reach LCCT before 6.30PM. Alhamdulillah... sampai before 6PM. Our flight delayed for about half an hour.

Initial plan macam nak gi terjah jer sebab ade member dah pernah gi sana... backpacking & dia cakap hotel murah bersepah-sepah tapi memandangkan time aku pergi ni peak season, tengah cuti sekolah kat Indon... so, to be safe, better aku book hotel siap-siap takut nanti walk-in hanye available untuk hotel-hotel yang 3 bintang ke atas jer... huhuhu. End up aku book hotel di Agoda... 2 weeks before, itupun yang murah-murah dah tinggal last-last pon. Boleh tahan juga herge dia... kata budget tapi... apa yang aku tak suka booking kat Agoda ni memang lah konon herge dah masuk diskaun up to 75% bagai tapi nanti bila dah masuk tax dia mahu 20% up balik dari herga yang diletakkan. Macam hampeh kan tapi nak buat macam mana aku malas nak fikir dah... memandangkan kami sampai lewat on the first day, bukan sebab flight delay saja tau tapi we took the last flight... nak dapat herge murah punye pasal kan. So, tak nak amek risiko. Anyway for the first 2 days, aku & geng telah sepakat memilih Hotel yang berdekatan dengan pantai Kuta... Matahari Guest House. Kami amek deluxe double with price RM68 (included tax) per night. OK lah.

Transportation... 

Kami telah sepakat menyewa kereta (Suzuki APV) with driver from The GreenBali Tour owned by Mr Pineh memandangkan kami berempat. Aku dapat IDR 350,000 (RM109.20) for this Day Trip package. Perkhidmatan adalah unlimited time ataupun lebih tepat 12jam sehari. Package ini juga dah termasuk driver fee, petrol, driver meal and parking fee. Kami boleh memilih North Side, West Side or South, they will follow one direction and can stop many-many time at many diffrent Tourist attraction. Cakap jer mana nak pergi, dia akan bawa kami and stop. Tapi confirm takkan dapat cover semua in one day. So, kami telah book 3 days for this service. Khidmat sewa kereta ni boleh dapat kat mana-mana ajer kat Bali ni sebab banyak sangat Travel Agent kat sini. Tapi, aku telah servey lagi awal thru Internet & sahabat handai yang pernah ke sana. Memandangkan aku guna khidmat agent ni on 1st day, so, aku decide nak continue jer.

I really recommended this tour agent sebab driver dia seorang yang penyabar & sedaya upaya cuba memenuhi impian kami... hehehe. I didn’t have to pay deposit for booking. Only after 3 days trip, they collected the money. Kira nye percaya kan kami 100% juga lah.

Email: pinehcoladabali@yahoo.co.id 

Phone/Sms: +62 081 338 459 739 

www.pinehbalitours.com

Untuk budget traveller yang sukakan adventure bolehlah sewa sepeda (motor). Harga pun berpatutan. According to our driver Wayang, boleh dapat price IDR60K per day tak termasuk petrol. Maybe boleh dapat herge lagi murah kalau pandai negotiate. Tapi make sure bawa lesen motor yang sah lah sebab kalau nasib tak baik, kena tahan polisi dong.

Accomodation...

Untuk percutian selama 4 hari ni, kami telah memilih untuk stay 2 hari di Kuta & 2 hari di Ubud. For this two places also, aku dah booked hotel lebih awal. Hotel di Kuta, Matahari Guest House... saja pilih yang dekat dengan pantai, so, that kami tak perlu menapak jauh or naik kenderaan nak ke pantai. Tapi tak jalan kaki ke pantai pun... last-last Suzuki APV juga yang bawa kami ke situ memandangkan first day kami banyak buang masa. 

Towel kecik & selimut pun ngam-ngam jer

Toilet clean & Ok

Yang Ubud ni, aku amek Hotel yang ade swimming pool. Konon-konon nak bersantailah kan dalam pool malam nye tapi end-up hanya duduk tepi pool makan-makan & ber “wifi” jer. Nama lebih kurang sama dengan Kuta Hotel, Matahari juga... tapi yang ni Matahari Cottage. Harga for standard double, RM76 per night with breakfast. So, each of us kena spend RM92 after tax untuk 2 night stay. Aku amek Hotel area Ubud memandangkan kami akan hiking ke Batur on the last day. So, kalau dari Ubud perjalanan cuma 1 hour sahaja ke Batur & kami tak perlu bergerak seawal pagi berbanding dari Kuta yang memakan masa 2 jam. 

Bilik standard yang kami dapat ni memang indah khabar dari rupa. Kat Agoda tengok macam best je kan tapi reality, fuhh... bau kepam satu bilik... sabor jelah. Internet kalau nak lebih kelajuan kena stay kat lobby or swimming pool area.

Foods...

Walaupun majoriti penduduk Bali beragama Hindu, Bali masih part of Indonesia which has the largest Muslim population in the world. And disebabkan itu, masih ada Muslim population in parts of Bali and therefore, you will find halal food available to cater for local Indonesians as well as tourists. Cuma kena yakini jelah.

In Kuta, kami cuma sempat makan at three “Halal” places. Pawon Pasudan, Ayam Betutu Gilimanuk & Restoran Wong Solo. Price OK & semua tempat ni ade tax.

In Bedugul, kami lunch di lokasi betul-betul depan pintu masuk ke Ulu Danu temple, Bratan. Price OK with no tax.

In Kintamani, kami amek buffet dinner which cost us IDR110 per pax. Tempat makan ni recommended by our driver. Tak jangka pun semahal itu. Kami diberitahu cuma IDR70K per pax tapi actual price IDR90K per pax + 20% tax. Giler mahal. Sebab apa mahal sebab lokasi memang strategik terletak mengadap Mount Batur. Tapi amatlah malang sekali sebab masa kami sampai tu, kabus sangatlah tebal & kami sempat snap masa kabus berarak pergi.

Di Ubud, breakfast provided by Hotel. Cuma untuk dinner, kami makan stok yang masih ade. Last day, before hiking to Mount Batur kami Breakfast Banana pancake with Bali Coffee di Pineh Colada Bali farm. 

Tourist Attraction...

There are so many things to see and so many activities you can do in Bali.

Aku ade buat research on Internet on beberapa tempat yang wajib dikunjungi. So, kami akan pastikan kami pergi semua tempat ini... and Alhamdulillah, we’ve made it to all the destinations as per our planned itinerary. And, there were few places recommended by our driver too.

A "Must" List of Attractions in Bali we managed to go

1. Uluwatu – Sunset, Bali Cliff & Kecak Dance 

2. Tanah Lot – Bali most famous and romantic temple with spectacular view of sunset 

3. Bratan Lake @ Bedugul (On the way probably stop at Tmn Ayun complex at Mengwi) 

4. Barong Dance (Batubulan Village) 

5. Kintamani & Hiking @ Mount Batur. 

6. Ubud massage and Spa

7. Shopping at Sukawati. It's damn cheap! Don’t forget to bargain, ok. 

8. Padang-padang beach, Kuta Beach & surrounding beaches. 

9. Tanjung Benoa (for watersport activites)
10. Tegalalang Rice Terrace

Reminder...

Before leaving Bali, please remember to keep IDR150,000 (approx. RM48) per person in IDR in your pocket for airport tax. Airport tax is collected after you check in, but before you cross the immigration checkpoint. Memang lah masa book ticket dah termasuk dengan airport tax tapi this is not true for most of Indonesia's Airport, they will collect this cash at the airport itself. So, be prepared. And, make sure you didn’t lose your Departure slip. 

To be continued...