Bali – So Culture, Very Nature
Travel — By 88DB Knowledge on September 15, 2011 10:53 amDates of Exploration : 29 Sep – 5 Oct 2010
For many years, Bali eluded me. It was for me, what a transparent glass jar full of candy high on a shelf would be for a child. Or a very short person. Who likes sweets. I was that financially short person who never quite had the means to reach it. Bali isn’t an expensive place to go to from Singapore but when one starts realising just how hard-earned money is, spending it became a personal taboo.
I joined the workforce in 2000 and Bali has always been a place I wanted to visit. Friends who’ve been there all raved about it. When I saved up enough, that’s where I’m gonna go. Then in 2002, the Bali bombing happened and its appeal as a tropical paradise went up in smoke.
Handsome as it stands, the epitaph is an ugly keloid on the history of Indonesia that marked the worst act of terrorism to date. Extremism is a killer.
Who could forget that terrible turn of events on 12 Oct 2002 when religious extremists bombed Paddy’s Bar and Sari Club, two popular nightspots at the tourist district of Jl Legian in Kuta, leaving more than 200 dead and scores injured? Then 3 years later, on 1 Oct 2005, another series of terrorist suicide bombings exploded in Kuta and the neighbouring Jambaran beach resort. Holidaying in Bali became sort of a roulette suicide mission in itself.
But the terrorist situation seems to have diffused in the last couple of years with increased security collaboration between the Indonesian government and the various embassies, especially Australia. So I decided it’s time to visit this island of the gods.
AIRFARE & ACCOMODATION
My airfare was booked about 4 months in advance during a Jetstar promotion. For accommodation, we decided to spend 3 nights in Kuta and 3 nights in Seminyak. Kuta and Seminyak are along the same stretch of beach. While the Kuta area is more vibrant and messy, the Seminyak district has a laid-back feel with many nice-looking hotels and resorts. In-between the 2 is the Legian area where its beach is known as Double Six. It is possible to walk along the beach from Kuta to Legian to Seminyak in about an hour.
Jetstar Ticket : S$28.00 return – not inclusive of Rp 150,000 (S$22.50) airport tax paid when departing from Bali
Exchange Rate : S$1.00 = Rp 6,670 / Rp 1,000 = S$0.15
Tune Hotel, Kuta : Approx. S$25.00 per Single Room per night
The Tune budget hotel chain is great value for just having a place to sleep at night. I’ve stayed in Tune Penang and Tune Kuching and my experiences were always pleasant. This hotel choice is great when you’ve travelling with friends because the cheap rates mean you can get a room each rather than having to share.
Basic room amenities with no frills, Tune hotels are ideal for budget travellers who won’t be spending much time in the room.
In Bali, there’re 2 Tune Hotels – Kuta and Legian. I don’t know about the Legian one, but the Single Room option in Kuta feels like a jail cell. A small window in the room opens out to a common corridor. In Penang and Kuching, the rooms have large windows that provided street or city views. Tune Kuta is about a 5-minute walk to Kuta Beach so it’s pretty convenient.
Harmony Hotel, Seminyak : Approx. S$85 per Deluxe Room per night
The Harmony Hotel resembles a collection of semi-detached houses facing a common pool. The rooms are spacious so it was very comfortable even for triple-sharing. There’s nothing really wow about the hotel but I love it that there’s free wi-fi and free use of the hotel’s computers that comes with Photoshop CS2 for image editing! The internet connection was pretty fast too.
Harmony Hotel Seminyak is a cozy & small hotel where you’re very likely to know all the guests staying there within a very short time.
The staff was friendly, the pool relaxing and the hotel environment is clean and tidy. The only thing that sucked at this hotel was its boring breakfast which hardly had any variety in its menu. There were only 4 items and I had to pay when I asked for 2 sunny side up eggs.
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