Bali
29.11-15.12.2008
We were happy to return to Bali after 10 years, the place which can be in short described as
the Paradise
Island. We spent the first day in Kuta to relax after the overnight flight
from Mumbai and to organise the rental car which took us 1000km around the
island. The next day we drove to Munduk in the mountains, where we stood two
nights in a nice resort overlooking rice fields and the clouded peaks of
Gunung Batukau. Was nice to walk in the jungle and visit again the waterfall
which we saw ten years ago on a morobike trip. We drove to a huge holy
banyan tree, so big that you can walk and climb through íts roots, amazing.
After enjoying the coolness of the mountains we head to the North for
Permuteran, a small and quiet beach with some nice resorts and good
snorkelling and diving.
Then again we went for the mountains, this time in the East, through green landscape, rice fields and unfortunately much fog and clouds. So we did not get much of a view. After one night in a traditional villa with great vista of the highest mountain Gunung Agung, especially right after sunrise, we went to the East coast for sea and sun. Our choice of accomodaton was a small boutique resort with beautifull villas overlooking the ocean. Michael went diving to the famous wreck of the US warship Liberty in Tulamben, Diana snorkelled above it. Diana had a wonderfull day there snorkelling with a huge school of jackfish, hundreds of big fish, which circled around her at arm lenght for a whole hour, just unforgetable! In between we visited the famous town of Ubud with its palaces, temples and art shops. The weather wasn't too friendly, rain and fog, so we missed again the view of lake Bratan. The last three days we relaxed and sampled different cuisine in Kuta, which is really a paradise for food lovers, with very fine restaurants at fair prices.
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Delicious
Bali fruits: lichee, durian, rambutan, mango, passion fruit, bananas, pomelo
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Our
accomodation in Munduk at Puri Lumbung in traditional cottages with
beautiful views of rice fields and the mountains around
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The love of
Balinese for details can be seen on the intricate carved door of our cottage
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A walk in
the jungle, rich green colours and noisy cycades
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Munduk
Waterfall, was nice to be there again after ten years
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A scramble
through the roots of the biggest banyan tree in Bali
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Rice fields
like from a postcard
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Permuteran
beach in North Bali is a quiet place for relaxing, good for snorkelling and
diving
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Breakfast
with view of Gunung Agung Mountain
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Accomodation on Sidemen in a villa with view to Mt. Agung
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Gunung Agung, the highest mountain in Bali is a dormant volcano which last erupted in the sixties |
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The east
coast of Bali
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Poinciana,
a small and nice resort with good snorkelling a few steps from its beach
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Waterfall
between rambutan plantations
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The best
rambutan fruit which we ate till now
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Ubud Palace
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Intricate
details in the buildings of Ubud Palace
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Temple of
Dead in Ubud
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Water
Palace near Amlapura
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Rice fields landscape | |||
Balinese ceremony | Monsoon clouds over Kuta |
On the way back to Mumbai, we stopped for a day in Singapore for the good old times which we spent there some years ago. There was a lot of construction work going on, new skyscrapers and malls are coming up. The town is still as we know it, clean, orderly and green. There were new additions on the landscape, like the giant wheel and the Formula One track near the Business District. We visited our preffered place the Botanical Garden with its Orchid garden, then we strolled on Orchard Road, did some shopping in Suntec City, ate nasi lemak in food courts, relaxed with an iceceam in a mall, did the usual things. Then was time to go to the airport :-( |
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Singapore
wheel, till date the highest in the world
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View from
the Wheel: left is a scale model of the future buildings which will complete
the Business District, right the existing Skyscrapers
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Christmas
tree in Singapore
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