Jan 04, 2008, 10:30 WITA (UTC+8)
At the good ol' house
OK, I have been thinking about what I would tell people to do if they want to visit Bali. So, I wrote a short narration that I sent to a friend of mine, Lugas. If you are coming to Bali and need a 1 page short guide to get you oriented, here is the page that you have been looking for:
Hello Lugas, happy new year 2008 to you and the big family!
Sorry for the slow response from my side but I have been distracted by, well, home and work, the usual. But please don't think that I am ignoring your email.
Well, there were actions gathering its force before the new year. My villa was having a gala dinner for some guests (inside and outside) plus we had a staff party afterwards in which the guests are welcome to stay. So, we had to prepare it. All in all, Bali was overflowing with people from all over Indonesia and overseas. Traffic was atrocious by my standard.
Anyway, if you want to check out Bali, go right ahead. In my opinion, the best setup has always been the beaches. There are people who love Ubud's seclusion, or the dilapidated hotels in Bedugul highlands, but I like the beaches more than the forests or mountains:
1. Kuta could be a place for you. The only drawback (I think) is the traffic in and out of Kuta can be pretty slow due to its popularity. Kuta (the West side of Denpasar) is the wheel and deal place where the most of the action takes place. So you will see Water World theme park, bars, restaurants, huge malls, white people, black people, brown people, green people, stuff.... etc. Don't know if this is best setup for a family.
2. Sanur (the East side of Denpasar) is a pretty quiet beach and it has a long sidewalk where you and the family can stroll and stop to play on the sand. There are restaurants along the sidewalk. My house is just 10 min driving from Sanur and I jog there almost weekly. Pretty good setup for me, hihi.
3. Nusa Dua, on the other hand, is located a little away from Denpasar (South-East), and is the resort area. The hotels are all international class, there is some sidewalk area but there are no stores or restaurants at all. It's the high class. It could work also for you but I think it is too sterile for me.
Family and stuff to do: You can always do the water world theme park in Kuta, tour the bird park in Ubud. There is also a safari park (I think it's in Ubud also). Kids can play on the beach (best time, either in Kuta, Sanur, or Nusa Dua, is late afternoon when sun isn't too hot), but you can only stroll the sidewalk in Sanur (best) or Nusa Dua (sterile). You can spend your hard-earned Australian Dollar to go on a submarine (a bit pricey), or do a Dolphin watching on a motorboat in Tanjung Benoa (harbor).
I guess it's my 1 page summary of stuff to do in Bali (I think I'm going to publish this on the web separately). As for a place to stay, try getting a suite where you can have a little kitchen (kitchenette?) A villa would be nice and there are plenty of them in Seminyak, but you can always find it in Sanur too. I'm saying this because Reny and I like to be able to wash Putu's milk bottle, zap Putu's cereal using a magnetron (microwave), or just keep stuff in the fridge. When I was single, I'd be happy to take a dungeon room, but not now; I have an entire tribe to keep.
So, there you have it, Lugas. Other than that, say hi to the wife and the kids. Hope to see you again soon here or there in Australia!
Sincerely
- Ketut
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