The excitement of going on a holiday is unmatched irrespective of the destination. The same excitement I was having while planning for our second international trip. We had a lot of options to choose from and after some good amount of research, we zeroed on Bali. By the end of July 2016, our tickets were done, the hotel bookings were confirmed and I had shopped for the clothes which I wanted to flaunt on the white sand beaches of Bali (a single thought of a holiday can boost me up for a shopping spree!).
The Day Arrived!
Or I should say, the night arrived! It was a long 5 hours’ flight from Kolkata to Kuala Lumpur and then we had our next flight of an hour to Bali after a halt of around 3 hours in KL. The immigration at the Kolkata airport didn’t take much time and every step towards the boarding gate was making the smile on my face brighter! My better half loves to travel but he doesn’t much relate to the kind of excitement I generally have from months before going for a holiday (it’s a girl thing I guess)! Anyway, the flight was on time and we boarded. Those 5 hours in the flight was quite boring. My man fell asleep nicely tucked into the travel pillow and all I could hear was different kinds of snoring and at times, a few other awful sounds! (oh yes! Indian curries I tell you!) I was awake all throughout and finally, I heard the announcement of landing in Kuala Lumpur in a few minutes!
The Running Around at KL Airport!
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| Source: Google |
Kuala Lumpur airport, I tell you, is one of the most confusing airports I have ever seen in my life! To add to my sleep deprived irritated soul, we found out that we had to travel to the second Kuala Lumpur airport (KLI1) in a train to fetch our next flight! What followed was an hour of running around, booking train tickets, a hurried immigration process and then finally reaching the boarding gate! At one point we even thought that we would miss our flight (which we didn’t, thankfully!)
The Balinese Experience!
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| Source: Google |
As we were greeted with two cute looking ladies at the Bali Denpasar Airport with beautiful and awesome to smell Frangipanis, we took a sigh of relief of finally reaching our destination! The ride to our hotel in the SUV was pretty relaxing and the smooth roads with the beautifully maintained city simply delighted us! (I only wish someday Indian roads can look equally manicured and clean!) It was a 30 minutes’ drive from the airport to our hotel which was situated beside the famous Kuta Beach in Bali. We reached around noon and decided to take a splash in the hotel pool and gorge onto some scrumptious Balinese meal!
Day 1: After sleeping for 7 hours straight, we found out that it was already late to explore the place and hence, opted for a dinner somewhere nearby. While exploring the area outside, we found out a cosy Balinese restaurant with an outdoor seating arrangement and we didn’t give it a second thought! The dinner was yummy, to say the least, and equally filling. Their traditional Nasi Goreng (fried rice) with two bottles of Bintang (local made beer) was enough to energise us in that not-so-comfortable weather (it was around 38 degrees)!
Day 2: We woke up quite early and got ready for a whole day city tour after a delectable breakfast at the hotel! I had never preferred rice for breakfast but a platter of their local fried rice with chicken yellow curry filled up my soul that morning! My husband opted for his all-time favourite American breakfast and we were good to go for the day! The guide arrived exactly at 9 AM to pick up us and we headed for the Coffee Plantation excursion. As we entered the plantation, we were greeted by a local guide who showed us the origin of the world famous Luwak Kopi, the coffee made out of the droppings of the Asian Civet (natively known as Luwak). What we saw there was a few funny yet creepy looking animals eating cherries and climbing from one tree to the other. We tasted around 8 types of coffees there and no, we couldn’t gather the strength of tasting the Luwak coffee (it was made from excreted coffee berries after all!). Our next stop was the Ubud Rice Plantation, the Royal Mengwi Temple, Monkey Forest (where you can't wear your specs or dangling earrings as the monkeys are too naughty to even snatch them all!) and the famous and beautiful Tanah Lot temple. Situated majestically on the sea and surrounded by tourists from all over the world, the temple looked graceful, to say the least! The sound of the waves and the breathtaking sunset was enough to fill our hearts! We clicked pictures, looked around the temple and left for our hotel.
Travel Tip: If you are planning a trip to Bali, it’s okay to miss the Ubud Rice Plantation but never miss out on visiting the Tanah Lot Temple and the Uluwatu Temple (which we missed!).
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| Sunset at the Tanah Lot Temple. Captured by Self. |
Day 3: I didn’t want to visit the places which our local tour operator had planned for us and hence, I requested them to take us to the famous Mount Batur and to my surprise, they were ready to make the changes at the last moment! The drive to Mount Batur was pretty good. The roads were beautifully decorated as it was some auspicious day for the natives who were all decked up in similar looking clothes and visiting the temples. Bali is a temple city and in every nook, you will see a beautiful local temple. We reached Mount Batur on time and were welcomed by the cool breeze and a spectacular view of the Mount Batur. It’s an active volcano which last erupted in 2000. The place is beautiful with a few local shops to shop from and one or two restaurants serving delicious coffees and snacks. We had our dinner that night at the famous Rock Bar at Ayana Beach Resort and Spa. The beauty of the Rock Bar is known to the ones who have visited the place. Awesome food and equally awesome sight. A lot of my friends had advised me to go there and hence, I couldn’t miss paying a visit to this place! All thanks to them, both of us loved the time we spent at the Rock Bar.
Travel Tip: Do try out the Kintamani Sunrise trekking which starts at around 2 AM in the morning. I have heard that it’s beautiful and an experience of a lifetime for the trekking lovers! I am not a trekking person and hence, we dropped it!
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| Mount Batur. Captured by Self |
Day 4: It was our last day in Bali and we had planned to spend the day by visiting all the awesome beaches. We started with the famous Nusa Dua beach at the BTDC area. The stunning beach, with the Nusa Dua Water Blow, was an experience for us. Standing in front of the sea and getting fully wet by the sudden splash of water waves was amazing! We moved next to the Jimbaran beach, which is one of the most happening beaches of Bali. After spending quite a few hours there, clicking pictures and listening to stories from our guide, we moved to the Potato Head Beach Club for lunch! And this is another place which we couldn't miss as a few of my friends had specifically asked me to go! The club was full and we, luckily, got a place! The choice of music and the courteous waiters were pretty welcoming. We had our lunch, chilled for some time and left! Next was the Pantai Pandawa Beach, the newest of the lot. The beach is still under construction and hence, you will not get any mobile networks there. And as it’s still a new one, the beach is very clean and beautiful. It was the perfect one to click some nice pictures and we even gulped down a few bottles of Radler (the weather was hot you see!) and finally went back to our hotel. To sum it up, the beach exploring day was quite fulfilling! We spent the late evening by indulging ourselves in a rejuvenating Balinese massage! And trust me, it is something which can enliven your mind and soul. The 1.5 hours massage is something which no one should ever miss being in Bali! For dinner, we tried out a local Chinese restaurant. It was a road-side Warung (restaurant in local language), which filled our tummies and souls with the most exquisite food! While walking down the street to our hotel, we were happy as the place gave us a lot of memories to cherish for the lifetime!
Travel Tip: Do visit the Dreamland beach. We couldn’t accommodate it in our itinerary as we didn't have much time. It’s quite beautiful with a few nice cafes and is a great place for the surfers.
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| The Water Blow. Captured by Husband. |
Day 5: Finally, our stay at Bali was over and it was time for us to leave for Langkawi. We were taking away many memories along with us and Bali had absolutely recharged us. We were sad but were equally looking forward to the next few days in Langkawi. We thanked Bali when our flight took off for it showered us with a few days of absolute bliss!
