2 old codgers in Bali : Day 1 /2This is Paradise

day 1

01 August 2014

We scrimped and saved madly for 2 years, which on a pension means no haircuts,makeup new clothes, no takeaway,no movies, no mobile phone,no trips to family even 4 hrs away, hardly any meat and no alcohol LOL but we did it!!

Staying at 2 and 3 star places so we can have a whole month away .we decided not to pay more than $50 au a night including breakfast but each place is lovely with that old Bali charm not modern and streamlined. We also decided to split our time and see a bit more of the island.

We left southwest NSW at 2 am with a chilly 3 degrees and rugged up against the cold, caught the train to Sydney and after a bit of a misunderstanding in direction, caught a cab to Isbis airport hotel from Mascot station, this turned out to be a much cheaper option than the train to airport and shuttle bus. Stayed overnight and up early for the shuttle bus to the airport.

We were first in line at 6am and so got our window seat we were after, no problems checking in, payed our OA and made our way up to wait...

Plane left on time, lovely Garuda flight, seems we ate and drank our way to Bali and with the movie selection it went quite quickly. A little bit of turbulance but nothing dramatic and a good landing. always a plus :) immigration done on board,

Bussed off the tarmac, straight to wait for bags, which seemed to take ages. Looked and looked for our name in the sea of faces, couldn't find it, couldn't figure out the free wifi to contact the hotel, and decided to go out the front as we could see a few drivers waiting there and first name i saw was mine :)

I think it was about a 2 hour drive to Candidasa where we are staying in a beach bungalow room at Puri Oka. its away from the main drag, but what a gorgeous little place this is. Our bungalow is an ocean view and overlooks the pool and a little veranda overlooks the ocean. It was bliss to hear the waves rolling all night. the staff here are lovely and nothing is too much trouble, not that we have asked for much, but you know, you can tell lol

Puri Oka

les

Les waiting for brekky

view from brekky

entry from pool area to rooms

view from patio

We just settled into the room , had dinner here at Puri Oka and had an early night as the last two had been interrupted for travel.

Brekky here is nice, the usual omelette or pancake, tea/coffee, juice and fruit platter. thoroughly enjoyed it.

Day 2

We had a driver this morning take us out to Jasri to the soap and chocolate factories.

monkeys by the roadside

the children were practicing for september 17 Independance day celebrations

Nice people out there, friendly. An old lady who looked to have been chewing beetlenut her whole life, was really friendly, but sadly we couldn't understand her, our indonesion is limited and she had no english. she also had a pretty friendly goose,who was very vocal in telling us what he did and didn't like in the way of petting lol

the aforesaid goose ,the elderly lady wouldn't stand still

the chocolate is nice and we got ourselves some bali crunch and the equivalent of nutella only it is cashew not hazelnut.i don't like nutella, but the nuterisa is really nice.

Hobbit house!!!

choccy factory

such an intersting buildings

the Bali crunch factory work!!

soap

we watch the small demonstration

high tech gadgetry

the view at Jasri is just beautiful

some Bali schoolgirls who were having photos taken on the swing

the swing

not me, ropes too wide for arhritikkety me!

We did some shopping in a little village on the way back and it is so much cheaper than the 'tourist' area supermarkets. Got my simpati card so i could text the kids we're alive, got 3 giant packets of the incense used in the offerings, 50c each.

Hubby decided he wanted two of the cock fighting bamboo cages to send home, our driver bought them for us and we payed him back, way cheaper that way. They are huge, we ended up giving one to our waitress,who said her husband was going to be very excited. We'll post the other one home. Just vegging now, hubby went for a swim, too windy for me, i'll freeze haha its actually much cooler than i imagined, which is good for me, not such a shock from the minus temps and big frosts we've been having at home :)