Dear People,
Just got back from the Island of the Gods, To start, I left florida during the day and arrived in N.Y mid day, of course with my luck there was a raging snowstorm going on in N.Y so I was praying to get out ASAP, Needless to say Cathay Pacific did everything they could to get out, Quantas who was spot were Cathy was supposed to refuel, refused to leave in those conditions, british Airways and many other flights were departing, but quantas refused, needless to say we were delayed 6 hours on what turned out to be a grueling flight of over 22 hours. Oh well, arrive in Bali, customs was a piece of cake, got a chuckle from the customs dude who made me open my suitcase to check prescriptions, asked me who was sick, told him, well I am not sick just some preventative medicine, plus vitamins, he said sorry and let me go, I then walked out paul who is my buddy both looked for our driver whom we were referenced to by this forum, Agung Suta, was his name, he is a school teacher whom spoke excellent english, he was waiting for us with a sign, just like those limo drivers, and was prompt, aswe walked out and seen hundreds of smiling faces and strong heat and humidity, I could begin to smell the inscence of the Island, Agung loaded our luggage into his Kijang and offf we were to our first Hotel in Sanur, the Grand Bali Beach, The Beach wasnt Bad, fairly clean,not to many hawkers mostly massage woman, the Hotel, very large indeed, as we drove up to the front door down a long entrance way, we saw musicians dressed in the customary wardrobe playing music and gave us the feel of Bali right off, the bell man took our luggage and a member of the staff wisked us away to reception where we were greeted but a fruity coctail, which we welcomed with open arms due the the heat we were not yet used too. the appearance of the hotel as many have said in this forum seemed a bit tired, needs paint in a few places desparatly and some maintanance in a few also, still though the lobby was nice and inviting, the pool was very nice and the grounds were also very nice, the place just needs a face lift, service at the restaurant was fair, but room service was good, activities were going on and the night shows were nice, food was a 7 out of 10 here, we went to our room were we had a tower room and had a beautiful view of the ocean and the pool, and whatever was going on below us, the room was nice, not modern by any means, but comfortable, air condition was great which is a definite plus, and the beds even though they werethe standard beds were small and I had to get used to it since I like to roll, they were a little on the hard side also,so I am glad I brought my pillow from home to add to my comfort, of course we spent as little time as possible in the room, because as soon as we arrived I put my clothes away I was ready to run and explore, the first thing I wanted to see was the gym, as a fitness nut it was important for me to have a good fitness facility, and this was my big disappointment as there gym was a joke, no air condition, 2 machines and kids playing on them , lord no gym here, so I would have to find one to work out, the golf course was nice, a nine hole course which was pretty well manicured, and extremely fast, the beachfront cafe was real nice, but I thought there sandwiches where sub-par, there seafood was good though, and reasonable, still expensive when you consider the prices of Bali, after we explored the property and saw the villas by the beach,which seemed real nice, but far from the action, and a good jaunt in the heat we set out for Kuta, before I go on Agung our driver whom we used 4 times for a full day picked us up and refused to accept any money, he does this as a courtesy and drops you off when you leave as a courtesy, anyways, we went to Kuta by taxi, 30,000 rupiah or 3 dollars american roughly, our first stop was poppies restaurant, hidden down a small alley way were little shops abound, upon entering which can only be described as a backyard surrounded by stone walls and a stone entrance way you are greeted again with aromas of inscense, beautiful gardens, fountains, and avery intimate plce to eat, drink relax and socialize, what a perfect place to unwind from a grueling flight, we sat at the bar and ordered our first of many bintangs, along with the best garlic bread I have had in a while, and it quickly became a favorite spot and place to get warmed up at happy hour, prices were very reasonable and the staff wonderful, met some real interesting people there and the workers were just as friendly as could be, the woman behind the bar were beautiful and always smiling, we stayed there for several hours and chatted with everyone getting information, and sampling certain dishes while indulging in a bintang fest. (next our first night), thanks for reading, and sorry for the rambling............Vince