Saying farewell to Ubud is not easy! The charm of the town really takes you in. It changes your life style, your mentality…Ubud is all about lush and art!
Look at my daily schedule:
- Meditate
- Smoothie muesli breakfast+ organic Bali coffee
- Work on laptop
- Coconut water or cold pressed juice
- Read book by the pool
- Message or Spa
- Yoga
- Dinner and walk in town or maybe visit some art galleries
- Sleep
Teri makasi Ubud! Or as you say in Balinese: Matur suksma!
In this longer blog post I try to cover the rest of my Bali trip: Padang Bai, Jimbaran and Nusa Dua.
1. Padang Bai:
Located in the south east corner of then island, Padang Bai is one of the main ferry hubs to Gili Islands. It is also one the diving destinations of the island. We spent two days there and I don’t suggest it to anyone! Unless if you dive or want to go to Gili.
Accommodation:
It is a very small village with limited number of lodges. I stayed at “Beji Bay Resort”, a supposedly 3-start lodge! Well this is what I can tell about the place:
- I got bedbugs bites!
- No hot water
- Low water pressure
- No internet
- No Shampoo or soap
- Disgusting towels!
So please don’t stay there!
Transportation:
Walk! You can get a bike as well but I don’t really think it is needed
We got a taxi from Ubud for 300,000RP.
We also got a taxi for 350,000RP to Jimbaran.
To eat:
Whatever you find, there are few restaurants and non has really quality food. Try the restaurants in the dive resorts for better quality.
Beaches:
Before getting there we heard of a “White Sand Beach” there. White sand beaches are not that common in Bali (volcanic island) so we head there excited. The first day we headed to one of the two beaches called the blue lagoon. It is a small lagoon on the east of the town and it is relatively easy to access. It is very rocky and wavy which makes swimming really hard. Day after we headed to white sand beach. It is a good 40 min of walk of gravel road to get there. No doubt it looks amazing. It is only when you swim that you realizing how disgusting the water it. It is full of garbage. Swim for five minutes and you come out with a plastic bag on you head.
2. Bukit peninsula
The southern most point of Bali is Bukit peninsula. It is famous for the beaches, for whatever reason that I might never understand. We stayed about a week on the east side of the peninsula called “ Jimbaran” and the western side called “ Nusa Dua”.
a. Jimbaran
Jimbaran Bay is one of the few calm water beaches of the island. Along side this long beach there are dozens of fish restaurants. Tours take tourists here for outstanding sunset view.
These all sound beautiful. However, the reality is much more disappointing.
The beach: We were there at the start of the rain season, which could affect the quality of the water and the beach. Tremendous amount of garbage was piled on the beach after each rainy day and would stay untouched. The water was also full of garage and disgusting. For the first coupe of days there we enjoyed dry sunny weather, which meant less garbage on the water. However, the beach in general is not the crystal clear turquoise water that you might imagine. It is non-clear, brownish water with tons of flying fish giving you a shock every 5 minutes!
We tried 4-5 of the seafood restaurants and in General: Disappointing quality and service+ expensive:
This is the review I posted in “Jimbaran Beach Seafood Club”:
Unfortunately, like other similar places on the beach in Jimbaran you will pay a lot for disappointing food. They claim 1.8$ for 100 grams of any fish. However, you are not allowed to get pieces and you have to choose hole fish of 2 KG. Anyways consider 50$ per person minimum. Quality is really poor for the price you pay!
The only advantage you get is the view! It is a public beach so just go there to enjoy the sunset and eat somewhere else!
Accommodation:
We stayed seven nights at “Bali Breezz Hotel” , well priced and well run! Of course it is not a 4 or 5 start hotel. However, for the price it has all one needs. Staff is great. 3 little swimming pools are well enough for the capacity. It is pretty quite at least in November.
I would suggest improving the restaurant and adding some English TV channels.
We paid 45CAD/night
To eat:
Balique Restaurant:
First of all, the restaurant is a designer work and a piece of art. It is a beauty and you can just sit there, have a drink and enjoy the interior design!
Try the Indonesian food sampler. It was one of the best foods I have ever had!
Warung Warung:
Good place for cheap yet high quality Indonesian food!
a. Nusa Dua
Luxury hotels and a long beach full of motorboats and jet skies bound the eastern enclave of the peninsula!
The beach is nicer than the ones of Jimbaran but still far from the nice beaches of Thailand or the Philippines. There are tiny swimming zones in front of each resort constantly bombarded by the water sport marketers!
Accommodation:
Core Hotel Benoa:
It is not on the beach but cross the street and 2 min walk! One of the few affordable hotels and the rooms were really nice!
To eat:
Coco Bistro Restaurant was acceptable but there is nothing I can really suggest. Let me know if you find a good one!
What I think of Bali:
I have to say that I am very disappointed! With the exception of Ubud ( to a certain point) the island is over rated, expensive and dirty! I would choose the much poorer Cambodia anytime!
This is the juxtapose we see in differing blog posts. Some swear by their experience being good and yet others the other opinion. We are wondering what were the experiences that make you conclude that it was dirty – was it the lodgings or transport costs?
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