Arrived back on Friday after 2 weeks in beautiful Bali .This was our 11th trip so we did not do lots of tours etc but just relaxed.
We went with Garuda BC for the first time for ages and they beat Qantas hands down in their service and friendly attitudes. The food was also good and the drinks flowed.It was well worth the extra $400 on the fare.
We stayed 4 nights at the Honeymoon Guesthouse in Ubud . This was a clean well positioned hotel owned by the owners of Casa Luna and Indus.
We were only able to get standard rooms as the hotel was booked out but they were ok . I found the mosquito nets very annoying as they blew around in the breeze from the fan and I felt like I was being strangled . We resorted to mosquito coils and were fine .We would try for the deluxe rooms next time . There is a good pool and they serve delicious breakfasts. The honeymoon bakery is right mext door and you can buy breads and cakes direct from them . You can also order meals from Casa luna and they will deliver them to your room on motorbike. We did this one night and the food was hot and good
We also did a cooking class at the guesthouse which was very interesting and we learned heaps about Bali spices.
Apart from Casa Luna we ate at Murni's (not as good as in the past)
and Miro's (good)
We also went to Zen Body Spa for the works and found it just great.
Ubud was pretty quiet not too many tourists. There were some different things to buy such as some great handbags and jewellery which I thought I would be able to get in Sanur but found that I could not.
We spent the next 10 nights at Bumas Hotel in Sanur. This is a great little hotel , and caters mostly to the European market.It has 2 pools and the rooms are large and very comfortable . Sanur was very very quiet compared to the past. We found a reflexologist and went a few times . It was only Rp 40000 for 1/2 an hour and he was really good and a member of the International Associaton and so knew what he was doing.
We shopped at Tootsies and some of the other stall holders in the market and had some clothes made up at Rizsky tailors . I must say that I found the name a bit of a worry but the gear turned out ok.
Best restaurants for us were
Warung Agung ,south past the Hyatt. The food here is always good quality and they do both western and Balinese food.
Tamukami for the atmosphere, and the Italian next door to Tamukami was good for a change.We also ate a few times at Warung Aladin ,wellpriced and honest food, and the Laser cafe. The latter is a very Western style cafe and it is a bit sad to see the number of people who use it in preference to the Balinese restaurants.
The beach along the Sanur walkway is under repair but you can stll walk along . They are working on it at night mostly.
That is about it for now . Thanks to all on the forum for helping the excitement build before we left,it added to the holiday!