On the Road to Bali

27th February, 2019

Well, my apologies for the delay in posting, but a combination of not much and then quite a lot happening seems to have had its effect. I think I left you enthralled at my golfing prowess, eager to know more about my round, but that will have to wait for another day. There was not much else to report from our very nice stay in Langkawi. We had dinner again with Shukri, his son Zairul and friend Johnnie at the busiest Chinese restaurant I think we have ever visited outside of Tai Tung at Wing Yip in Croydon, though that may have been on account of a surprising number of restaurants not opening on a Thursday in Langkawi. Not sure why that happens, though it may have something to do with their weekend being Friday and Saturday. It was lovely to see them again. They are the sort of people who you feel very fond of on first acquaintance and we were sad to say goodbye.

Other than that we continued with our arduous round of cards, Yahtzee, Scrabble, swimming, reading etc. I did spot an egret or stork or grebe or whatever, that got me excited enough to get the camera out and snap far too many photos, the vast majority of which I will spare you, but here are a few.

We said goodbye to Ombak Villas and were sad to do so as they had been very good to us even to the extent that they stood us dinner on the last night, though strangely, as we discovered, this did not include starters and dessert……. It is a nice resort in a slightly laid-back sort of a way and the laid-back staff were very pleasant if not always on the ball (waiting staff should not be allowed their mobiles while on duty!) and we just sort of went with the flow, so felt fine about it all. And, indeed, Val also felt so MUCH better, though still in some pain, but definitely on the mend, which helped enormously to the enjoyment of our last days in Langkawi.

We set off for the airport (all of 5 minutes drive), left the car in the car park (very casual!) and checked in for our next Air Asia flight, first to KL and then on to Bali. Thankfully, having purchased an extra 10 kgs of luggage we got through the weighing of bags etc without a hitch and flew without a incident to KL. I can recommend the first row on Air Asia, even if you have to spend a little extra. Lots of leg room!

We arrived at Denpasar, Bali’s main city and airport at about 7.15 pm, were allowed through immigration really quickly (they have a special lane for over 60s!!) and, of course, then sat and waited for the luggage. At least it all came together rather than the usual standard whereby one bag arrives really quickly and any others hang back shyly to the end. It was then a case of finding an ATM (the exchange rate is a scary 18,000Indonesian Rupiah to a £), fending off the dodgy taxi offers and finding the official, authorised desk for a ride to our resort which is in Candidasa (pronounced Chandidasa) in East Bali, just under 2 hours from the airport. I would mention at this point that the traffic in Bali is pretty frenetic and there is plenty of it and there is no way I was going to hire a car. We arrived just before 10 pm in time for a quick pizza and collapse into bed!

We have a very nice apartment with a double bed, sofa bed in the living room and mini kitchen. The resort, Karma Royal, has an arrangement with Club La Costa, our holiday/timeshare company, so it is sort of gratis apart from the money we paid up front when we joined and an annual maintenance fee (!). The resort is not too big with very friendly staff and other guests, a lovely pool and the sound of the sea to lull you to sleep every night. Our room and some of the rest of the resort…..

We are about 4 kms from Candidasa proper, but there is a twice-daily shuttle and plenty of taxis. Val and I did the latter on Sunday (24/2) at about 1100 and promptly melted as we thought we would take a stroll along the main road. It is considerably hotter here than Langkawi, Ko Lanta and India! There is not a lot to see in Candidasa, though, bar some mini-markets and restaurants and spas – and a rather lovely water lily lake. The whole area is generally considered good for the older traveller who does not want to party. No comment!

OK, I will leave this blog at this point as there is lots to entertain you with on the next one, which I will start tomorrow.

Bye!