I just finished reading my high-schoolmate's first travel journal to the Scandinavian countries. It's being sold at the bookstores starting March 1. Nice to know that someone actually can do budget backpacking to those expensive countries. Wish I could do the same someday.
I don't take vacation a lot. However, thought I could share some experience as well. I haven't written about my last trip to Bali in September 2010. I know, it's a late post, but better late than never!
Background
So, my mother and her office colleagues had this agenda to go on a group tour to Bali. Family members were allowed to join, but of course, had to pay on our own. Since I was still on my annual leave after Lebaran (the Eid), so I went along. Coincidentally, one of my cousin was having her birthday, so I thought it would be a great birthday present for her if I asked her to company me.
Departure
I went to the airport by Damri, the airport AC bus, from Blok M shuttle stop. First time for me. Thought the ride would take a long time, but nope, the traffic wasn't bad. I arrived at Terminal 1A within 1 hour only! Maybe because it's Saturday afternoon. Not much traffic yet in Jakarta's busy road. The Damri bus ticket was IDR 20,000. Compare that to IDR 150,000 if you take taxi from the same place!
Terminal 1A is dedicated for Lion Air. It's also my first time flying with this budget airline. The terminal has many check-in counters and you can go to any counter regardless the flight route you'd want to take. The airport tax counter is separated, unlike in Terminal 2. After paying the airport tax (for domestic flight is IDR 40,000), then I went to the second security check point. The queue was quite long.
Waiting for the boarding time (I got there too early, indeed), I prayed in one of the musholla. Very nice and clean. The terminal has a musholla in each boarding gate/waiting room. Whereas in Terminal 2, the only musholla could be found before entering the boarding gate.
One thing to be prepared when you use a budget airline is: what to do when your flight is in delay. There's a couple sitting next to me wanted to go to Balikpapan and their flight was postponed for 2 hours! :( The airline ground crew gave them meal to compensate the delay. Rice + fried shrimp + glass of mineral water.
Thankfully my flight was on time... but, aaaargh, not really. We got to board into the plane on time, yes. But it didn't depart until 1 hour later! Hffff. For future trips, I should bring more stuffs to read. It's really annoying if you don't know what to do to kill the time.
Few things that caught my attention when I was on the plane: half of the cabin seats were empty. The stewardesses' hairdos were neat, but casual (no French twist and the like). No meal was given, bottled water sold on board. Aqua of 600 ml was priced IDR 10,000. No way I was going to buy that!
I arrived in Ngurah Rai airport, Bali, 2 hours later. It's quite a "small" airport for a favourite destination place. The baggage belt is only one. Hmm, perhaps because I took domestic flight.
The hotel (or the tour agent's?) people picked me up. We drove about 30 minutes. I stayed at Hotel Miki, a 3-star hotel in Kuta. Mother managed to get us the biggest room I guess, it has 2 queen-size beds. Fit for my mum, my aunt, my cousin, and me. The bathroom is also big, with shower and bathtub. No free toiletries though. But it's fine, we brought our own. There is also 1 TV without cable channels and of course, the room has AC.
First Day
In the morning, we shopped at sort-of big factory outlets. It was raining when the tour bus departed there. Nice goods, but I was not too interested. Sorry, but I'm not much of a shopper. If I could find similar stuff in Jakarta, why should I buy it there? I only want to buy something that uniquely originated from the place I visit.
For lunch, we went to Batur Volcano complex. Breezing cold... and amazingly beautiful view! We ate at one of the restaurants alongside the road. Then, we went to Pura Tirta Empul (Pura = Hindu temple) where we could took a snap shot of the 'backyard' of Tampaksiring (Presidential) Palace. We could not enter the Palace. I supposed it's restricted for public.
At the same time with our arrival, the Balinese Hindu community was about to have a religious ceremony. So it was crowded. Visitors were still allowed to tour into the Pura, but of course, we must not disturb the ritual.
We continued the journey with a short visit to Padanggalah Beach. Not a beach where you could lay off and do sunbathing, though. We only sat on the rocks and watched the sea waves. The wind was unbearable, very disturbing. The tour guide said lately it was very very windy.
I have to mention that along the road, our tour guide was very informative. Other than explaining the history of many places, he also patiently answered our questions about the Balinese customs. One time, he explained about the shrines that you can find everywhere, and the meaning of the coloured clothes attached to the shrine. The main ones are white and black (checked pattern), white, yellow, and red piece of clothes. Our tour guide was still studying at the Universitas Udayana (government-owned). I must say, it's nice that you could make some good money when you're still studying.
After dining at one of the local restaurants, we're off back to the hotel. Tired, but it's not even 8 PM yet. My cousin and I walked to a nearby grocery store. Well, not really near, it took about 20 minutes of walk. But since I wasn't alone, so it's fine, you have someone to chat with along the way. The hotel is not on the main busy road, I guess. But then again, I saw that there was no wide avenue in Bali. Even the roads to the historical places only have 2 lines.
Second Day
We started the day with visiting Tanjung Benoa Beach. Aaah, a real beach complex with complete water activities! We chose to ride a boat for 15 mins to see the underwater coral reefs (Gosh, the wave!!! I was so afraid the boat would be capsized. None of the passengers were wearing safety equipment). Then with the same boat, we went to a conservation island. There, you could take pictures with sea turtles, luwak (civet), eagle, snake... This activity costs IDR 50,000 per person.
We had lunch at a hall attached to a famous factory outlet, Khrisna Shop. A good way in integrating the two businesses. Sell the meals to the visitors and "lure" them to shop afterwards :) Some goods in this shop were the same with the ones sold at the previous outlets we visited, but some had cheaper price.
Then we're off to Tanah Lot. On the way there, we passed into a flooded road. The tour guide was very surprised, saying this was a phenomenon. Hahahaha, it made all tour participants laughed. Come on, in Jakarta, we have "puddle" on many roads after the rain poured!
Tanah Lot complex is a must-see place. It has several Puras, built nearby the beach. It's soooo gorgeous!!! Breathtaking... I felt really peaceful to just stand there and see the beautiful Puras. One of the Puras that was built in on top of the 5++ metres rock (?) had a "holy water cave" underneath. The cave got this continuous fresh water flowing, and not salty as sea water should be, even though the location is next to the sea. There was also another cave where you can see the holy white snake. Emh, well, unfortunately none of these interested me. I just love to stare at the bee-yooo-tiful Puras with the surrounding soundtrack of the sea wave playing.
Return to Jakarta
My cousin and I have told the tour guide that we will return that evening to Jakarta because we needed to work on the next day. Sooo sad. My mom and my aunt had one more day to stay. I told them that they must visit the Bali bombing ground zero and took some pictures for me.
So the plan was to take Air Asia at 22:30. We got to the airport early, so we stopped by at the airport's Starbucks outlet. One hour before departure, we checked-in. Ufff, I had to pay IDR 90,000 because I couldn't have my luggage in the cabin. Oh, and again, as previously told: the agony of a flight delay. During check-in, the counter lady said the flight was going to be delayed. And it was delayed for 1.5 hours!
Finally, we're on board, I saw significant differences in the Air Asia plane. I never flew with Air Asia before. We got the third row seats from the front. There was no separator in the middle of the craft because there's no seating class. You can choose seat number prior to checking-in but there's an additional charge. Meals also could be ordered before with additional charge, if you purchase the ticket online. They also sold drinks and cute Air Asia souvenirs on board, again, with extra charge.
The stewardesses hair was not done. It's just naturally let down or I guess they're allowed to have whatever hairstyle. Attitude was very loose. We could see part of the stewardess stations that were separated with see-through glass. They're chatting loudly and I saw one of them yawning (!), lively in front of the passengers.
Arrived in Jakarta over midnight at Terminal 3. Ok, this was also a new terminal for me. Never been here before. Terminal 3 was designated only for Indonesian Migrant Workers and Hajj pilgrim travelers, but lately it has been re-purposed to be the same as other terminals. They had a major renovation as well: modern design, clean toilets. Terminal 3 is now the 'home base' of Air Asia flights and some other airlines. Unfortunately, the treatment for the parking lot was different. Taxi cab must pay to enter the parking lot. Of course, the driver will then ask the passenger to bear this parking fee. Also, because it was over midnight, I guess not many taxis were available, let alone Damri bus. We have no choice but waiting for taxi about 20 minutes or so.
End of the Journey
I must visit Bali again someday, with a more complete tour. DEFINITELY.Labels: Travels
