Escape to Paradise Island

Last week I went to Bali for holiday. Actually I took my annual leave with thanks to Air Asia, which only costed me Rp 180,000 round trip (very cheap huh?). Together with Yulia we spend four days three nights there.

The first impression of Bali is its main road all well built, high quality asphalt that make cars move smoothly. The quality of the road is far better than Jakarta's. Next is you can find polution is very low, with exception in Kuta. And since 93% of population is Hinduism, then you can hardly find a mosque there. Wherever we walked we saw Pura in every corner. Walking was also a pleasure in Bali, especially in Kuta, because pedestrian walk had been built and well designed although not to wide.

Next is we could find pork and beer easily. Balinese people are more open than other parts of Indonesia, they eat pork and can accept foreigners drink beer on every street corner. Other thing to note is cellular phone signal was almost full in most area. I was using Indosat 3G Broadband there without interruption. 3G signal was very good in Kuta, Jimbaran, and other areas.

The main attraction of Bali for me is beaches. First I went to Kuta Beach for surfing - actually swimming and riding the wave without surfing board :) Kuta Beach has approximately 5 km long, pack with hundreds of tourists from Australian and westerners. Annoying thing is many local sellers offer misc stuff in the beach side, from message to ice cream. Kuta sand beach is brown and clean. Since I stayed in Taman Sari II Hotel, I took a walk to Kuta Beach in 5 minutes via Discovery Mall. From the mall's beautiful back terrace we directly faced the beach. Taking a walk on the sand to near Hard Rock Hotel front beach.

I took a day trip with Bounty Cruise. It was a 3 storey cruise, took us to Lembongan Island for Rp 430,000 per person for a full day all-in trip. The ship parked at a ponton, from there we were brought to Lembongan Island for village walk and to other small ponton for snorkeling. It was my first snorkeling so it was a great experience to see fishes near me in the sea water. Then we had banana boat riding, canoeing, and water sliding. Although village walk was not so interesting, I can say for this whole trip you must try this cruice once, it was worth spending.

Next day destination is to Uluwatu. The road to Uluwatu is same path with GWK (Garuda Wishnu Kencana) Park and Dream Land Beach. I drove there using a automatic motorcycle for the whole day. The air was so fresh so don't hesitate to drive a motorcycle in Bali, the main problem was over-heating/sun-burn. Uluwatu is a Pura in the most southern part of Bali Island. It was built in the top of cliff with ocean wave in the bottom. Entrance fee was cheap and we've got to wear 'sarong' in this complex. We got a very beautiful scene there, but needed a healthy body to get there because we had to climb forty degrees of stairs.

Next stop is GWK Park. It is a cultural park with great ambition, built in rock hill. Nyoman Nuarta was handed a job to create huge statue from bronze, Wishnu (Hindu's God) riding Garuda Bird. The work postponed for a long time because of financial crisis, but the Wishnu's Body and Garuda's head have already been built.

Last stop of the day was to go to Dream Land Beach. It is the most beautiful beach in Bali and still not so many tourists know this place. We had to enter Griya Alam Pecatu Resort, follow the long road until the end of road, then local villagers will direct us to the location. Don't be scared when seeing their face (I was scared at the time) because lack of smile and face. We can put our belonging in Warong (small foodstore) and it was safe, than ready for swimming and surfing. The water was clean, the wave was high - a typical wave for surfers.