Monday, December 29, 2014

Bali






Away for a 5 day honeymoon
Hoping that these 5 days do not get over soon
Bali was my choice
Just me and Joice !!







After a week long discussion with Ramshai (Business head, Venture Out), I finally decided that Bali would be the ideal destination for a honeymoon. Apart from my wedding date, I also had Bali on my countdown since I was more than eager to see the holiday package offered by Ram turn into a reality.... and I must say wait was worth it !!
2nd Nov 2014 : Though Malaysian airlines had a few unfortunate incidents in the recent past, we fortunately reached Bali safely by Lunch. We were greeted by our Guide who was awaiting us at the Airport and he accompanied us to hotel. Our accommodation was arranged in Sun Boutique which is a 3* hotel located in Kuta. We spent the day relaxing in the hotel and eagerly awaited for the next day since our Guide had briefed us that he would take us around Bali for sight seeing.

Jalan Waribang : We started the day with a cultural program in Jalan Waribang. The play depicted the fight between good spirit (Barong) and evil spirit (Rangda). The musical play went on for an hour and spectators had their eyes glued on the artists and quite a lot of them were busy with their camera. Interestingly, Jalan Waribang hosts plays depicting Barong, Ramayana and Mahabharath as well !! With this we were done with the cultural program and it was 10:30 AM.






Pura Puseh temple : A temple located in the Batuan village in Bali. Like all other temples in Bali, the temple has gates with 2 symmetrical pillars (each representing the good and evil spirits). It is a mandate to enter the temple in the traditional attire (A cloth wrapped around the waist). Truely a delight for those who admire archaeological sculptures.










Ubud : Ubud is a town in Bali which is not as commercial as Kuta. A place popular for Arts and crafts! A perfect place to shop in Bali. We visited the handicraft gallery, painting gallery and Gallery for silver ornaments.







Kintamani : Kintamani is a place popular due to a volcano eruption which took place in 1968 on Mount Abu. In case you are planning to go sight seeing in Bali, Kintamani would be ideal to have lunch, We sat in one of the hotels in Kintamani and had lunch admiring the beauty of Mount Batur and lake Batur





Coffee farms : Another must visit in Bali are the coffee plantations where you get to see Luwak (the animal which got famous with its poop !! ). The plantation offers nearly 10 varieties of coffee samples for free and I am sure you would definitely buy few of those coffee powders once you taste them !!




This marked the end of our day 2 in Bali. As per our guides update, sunset dinner cruise was planned for the next day !!





Bali hai cruise : By evening we reached Bali Hai Cruise and we could see our Cruise awaiting to board us !! After a welcome drink, we boarded the ship and off it sailed... There were a few photoshoots by the crew members. We started off with the sunset view and then moved inside to watch the Dance show organized by the Crew. This was followed by dinner which I must say was mouth watering !!









Water sports : The next day we were all geared up for some adventure sports. Jet skiing, parasailing, banana boat ride, snorkeling, glassboat ride and visit to Turtle island was planned for the day.



Jet skiing : Water sports started off with Jet skiing. Joice and me were racing against each other on 2 jet skiis !! Unlike my previous experience in Malpe beech, here I got ride the Jet ski on my own. After about 15-20 minutes of Jet skiing, we were back to our bay all set to try the banana boat ride











Banana boat ride :  This was a first time experience for both Joice and me. Its a fun ride wherein we sit on a tube shaped like a banana and a speed boat drags us on the sea. The guide had asked if he should overturn us from the banana boat .. i regret having said No :P










Parasailing : A much awaited activity was here finally !! 1st hand experience for Joice and me. Both of us listened to the instructions carefully and figured out that we wouldn't land on ground unless we pull the string when they shout out our name :D. Felt great when we took off and within no time I was flying like a bird !! After about 5-10 minutes of flying in the air, it was time to pull the string since the instructor kept shouting in the mike "India pull .. india pull".






Snorkeling and glassboat ride : It was now time for snorkeling for which we had to travel in a glassboat to reach the spot. Through the glassboat we got to see a trailer of what was awaiting us - the underwater adventure !! Once we reached the ship, we were given the basic instructions about snorkeling and we then had our life jackets on. Within no time we got into water and dipped our face into the sea. It was a bliss to watch the fishes swimming around us !! We swam around for about 15 minutes feeding the fishes with bread.



Turtle island : Once we were done with Snorkeling, it was time to move on to the next spot - Turtle island !! A small island which sheltered a large number of turtles which are now on the endangered list !! Once we reached Turtle island we realized that it was not just turtles. There were snakes, turtles, pelicans, bats, eagles and what not !! One of the main sources of income there was photography.. no wonder we got looted there :P. But I must admit that those pics are memorable.



With this, our water sports and turtle island visit came to an end. We returned to our hotel and freshened up since our travel agent (Venture Out) had organized a romantic Candle light dinner in Queens tandoor.

Though the idea of a candle light dinner was very fascinating, the venue didnt excite us much since Indian restaurants would be better in India than Indonesia :D. The ambiance was such that we had to sit in a darbar style and have dinner. We were greeted with roses and then served with Indian cuisine. We had Indian food after about 3 days !!




This was the end of our 4th day in Bali.

Our last day in Bali was meant for relaxing since there was nothing planned for the day. After packing and going through our memorable moments in Bali, it was time to bid good bye !! Our guide accompanied us to the airport and waved a good bye. Must say that we were fortunate to get a good guide... thanks to 'Venture Out' .. thanks to Ramshai !!



For those of you who are planning a honeymoon/holiday to Bali, here are few points that need to noted..
# Visa on arrival would cost 30 dollar per head
# While departing from Bali you need to pay 1,00,000 rupayya per head without which you will not be allowed to board the plane !!
# Indian currency cannot be exchanged in Indonesia. So you need to carry currency in dollars and convert them to rupayya as and when required.
# While shopping, convert dollars to rupayya and shop with the rupayya else you would lose some amount for no reason !!
# Need some help in planning your trip, 'Venture Out' is the right option !! Below are the contact details
Contact person : Ramshai (Ph : 9886230120)
http://ventureout.in/