Kuta Hotels
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Bali
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So we are back on the road well and truly. We flew from Dubai to Singapore where we had a 3-4 hour stop-over, oh yes and it's at this point that I (Caroline) have to confess something......With all the air miles that one has accumulated over the last few years adventures I actually had enough miles to fly for FREE in business class to Bali. Unfortunately Singapore Airlines had managed to lose a few thousand air miles of Martin's which meant he only had enough to go peasant class!!! Oh dear what a shame. Prior to the flight I got to use the business class lounge (with it's hot showers, internet connection, all the drinks you could dream of, hot food snacks, papers, magazines lovely comfy arm chairs blar blar blar....) while Mr peasant roughed with all the rest at Singapore airport. I did bring him out some hot chicken wings and a can of coke.....what more could a mere peasant want???
Such a shame the flight was only 2 and a half hours long. I had had 3 glasses of champers ever before the plane had taken off!!! I was addressed as "Miss Cleary" every time the hostess served me. I choose my meal from a fully bound menu, the wine list was endless and we had real metal knives and everything!! It was fab and all for free too. I did get a quick visit from Martin who had momentarily escaped peasant class and ducked around the dividing curtain to witness how the other half live. I was just too busy to chat, watching my personal choice of film, fully out stretched in my lovely reclining chair with my business class slippers on....goodness me 'time is money' you know Martin!!!
The plane touched down about 10.30pm and as we stepped off our only words to describe the atmosphere was HOT and STICKY! It should have been the name of this entry ! But great none the less. The 2 hooded tops I was wearing on the plane were soon shed.
We got a pre-paid taxi (a set fare without being ripped off, well not too much anyway)! to our hotel which was somewhere in the centre of Kuta.
We soon settled into our new home of the White Rose Hotel about $50 a night including breakfast) situated in down town Kuta and just down a lane from where the 1st Bali bomb went off. There now stands a huge memorial paying tribute to all those who lost their lives. At any hour day or night you would see at least 5 people there taking photographs, paying respects and reading the lists of names on the wall.
The area of Kuta is extremely commercialised. Hundreds of shops, clubs, bars, restaurants line the streets and narrow alleyways, catering to the demands of the package tourists. It's very apparent when you take what you think will be peaceful walk along the beach only to be pounced by a load of touts selling sarongs, necklaces, soft drinks, ice creams, massages, pedicures/manicures even bows and arrows!! You name it the 'mafia' as we called them were selling it. Before you had even sat down on the sand to watch the surfers there would be about 5 mafia women there at your feet who had just invited themselves to sit with you.
 
The 2 bombs that Bali has suffered really has had an impact on tourism. Many sellers told us that after the first one went off it took about 4 months for the tourism to recover. Now after the second one back in 2005 tourism still hasn't really recovered to what it was. Our hotel showed a prime example of that with over 200 rooms and just 10% occupancy which was the same for all the other hotels in Kuta and believe us there are many.
Three days of manic Kuta was enough for us. So we relocated to the east side of Bali. Here we found a much more tranquil Bali and stayed in a lovely hotel called the Palm Garden in Sanur right near the beach and the Bali Hyatt Hotel. For around $25 a night including breakfast it was excellent value. There was a beautiful mature garden with Franzipan and palm trees and a swimming pool to cool off in. The beach was just a minutes walk away.
Over the next 3 days we hired bikes and cycled about. We found this was a great way to avoid all the locals inviting you to "look in my shop" and "looking is free" blar blar "you want massage, pedicure, manicure, hair braided?" Definitely a great tip for anyone wanting to avoid the Bali Mafia!
 
Another good tip is to go and have an evening drink at the Bali Hyatt Hotel. Their piano/cocktail lounge is all open air and overlooking their 5 inter-twinning illuminated swimming pools. Mmm very nice. With the sea gently lapping at the shore in the background it made for a very pleasant atmosphere.
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