Uncle Nonny

From what I can tell, from the back of a tuk tuk, is that a lot of the resorts are being built/have been built on the fringe of the downtown area as stand alone properties. I'm sure they offer free shuttles to the markets but we were right in the heart of where the activity was. Keep in mind that there is a Golden Temple Boutique Hotel and a Golden Temple Residence. They are right across the street from each other(literally 20' apart). And the street seems like a back alley until you realize all the side streets are this way. I was originally booked at the Boutique Hotel until an email informed me I had been moved to the Residence. I was assured the rooms were the same with the difference being the Residence had a bigger pool and more amenities. We enjoyed everything about our stay there. Good luck to you and your family!

fotographer

Well, I look at it this way....like me I am 57, and my wife has been trying to set me straight our entire married life... it just does not work..
Have fun on your trip...... once again beautiful pics.. (and this is coming from a photographer )

bwiadca

I've been enjoying your report for the past two days. Waiting for more.
As for the food, I'm with photographer. My first time in Japan back 10+ years ago, I would eat at Subway, Starbucks, Burger King and McD. I did it first and last time.
Since then on every single of my trips, if it's not local I'm not eating. I had some nasty food, and was positively surprised few times, but the essence of the travel lays in the local food

Uncle Nonny

flyingeph12

Enjoying your TR very much.

Personally, I find the A330 J seat more comfortable for sleeping than the A350 J seat, but the A350 undoubtedly is newer and more attractive (and the IFE is better).

I like sampling local foods when traveling abroad, but sometimes a (good) pizza and beer just hits the spot.

Uncle Nonny

Getting up for our getaway day was not a problem as our bodies still had no idea what time zone they were in. We zipped up our suitcases and headed to the lobby for our 6:00am departure. Check out went smoothly and we able to grab a croissant from the buffet for our trip to the airport. Traffic was light and our hotel driver made the trip in about 20 minutes. Our luggage was liberated and we we set off to find our check in counter.


REP Statue Fight

REP isn't that large so it was an easy journey to the.........

Air Asia counters! Hear me out: I am an avowed LCC "hater" , or "avoider" for those of you who are less confrontational. Siem Reap isn't the easiest destination to reach. A flight from Siem Reap to Bali on a major, allianced airline is less a tall order. Price points and durations/layovers had me constantly coming back to Air Asia. Extremely concerned about getting nickel and dimed every step of the way I did what any reasonable person would do at a car lot: I bought the cheapest model and fully loaded it up with options. I went with a "Premium Flex Fare". I had a hard time remembering what exactly what I was buying so I screenshotted it and kept it on my desktop to remind myself it wasn't going to be so bad.



First perk to be taken advantage of was seat selection. I chose a bulkhead window, 1F, and 2F for my wife. Bam! Already felt like I beat the system. When we arrived to check in we able to take advantage of the Premium Flex check in counter. Our bags were tagged with the normal luggage tracker tag, a Premium Flex tag, and a Transfer tag. Our bags felt special, I'm sure. I had been worried about my roller but the agent put a tag on it that said "cabin approved" and I was set. We were through security and immigration quickly and into the fairly subdued international concourse.


Even the dreaded Duty Free march of shame wasn't so bad because Cambodia is just too cool to be mad at. We actually bought a few things.
We then moved onto the gate area to get a look at the apron, grab some coffee, and shop a little more. What I liked about REP was that the shops all seemed to be local/national. No Swarovski, no Mont Blanc, no Sephora. These stores made more actually me want to go into them.

Anyways, we boarded when Xpress boarding was called and off to our plane we walked.

AirAsia 543 REP-KUL (A-320)

Our Plane


Other Planes

I still enjoy walking up the stairs to board a big plane. We don't seem to get to do it often anymore but it's still a thrill.

I settled into my 1F and was relieved that my gamble to take a bulkhead paid off. I usually avoid them as I can never get my legs extended past 90°. Plenty of room on this gal, though.



Plenty Of Room For The Legs


More Cartoons


Goodbye Cambodia

Our flight took off on time and went quite smoothly. Too smoothly for some.....


Service was fine and we both passed on the food (surprise). Approach into Kuala Lumpur was highlighted by endless groves of palm oil trees. I've never seen so many fronds in one place in my life. Very impressive to see trees not being chopped down but actually planted and used sustainably.

We landed into the Main Terminal 2 of KUL, specifically branded as "klia2". This is the LCC terminal dominated by Air Asia. Although other airlines are listed as being based there I didn't see anything other than red and white birds.



(Sorry For The) klia2 Wide Shot


klia2 is massive. Huge. As mentioned, we landed in the Main Terminal but the lounge was located in the Satellite Terminal. Probably a quarter+ mile walk over a very impressive bridge. The bridge had moving walkways as well as some shops and kiosks. My goal was to drop my wife off at the lounge and try to train into town to get a shot of the Petronas Towers. With a four hour layover that was pushing it but doable under the right circumstances. We passed the transfer desk, headed through a security screening and up a level or two to where the bridge is.



The Bridge

At the end of the bridge we came upon a large eating hall and spotted the Red Lounge (perk alert) in the corner. Some airlines would defer heavy maintenance projects for their lounges to the late night hours. LCCs do things a little differently.



Red Carpet Treatment

We were greeted by a kind and overworked hostess and our passes were scanned in. She told us that the lounge has a three hour limit and it is up to us to police ourselves. Okay. The same hostess was running back and forth from the kitchen to grab food trays to restock the buffet. Air Asia was getting their money's worth out of this rock star. The lounge was smallish but not occupied by a lot of people. It had two levels with the upstairs being a beanbag-type lounge with sweeping views of the apron.

I kissed my wife and made a dash back across the bridge. I was then stopped in my tracks by not knowing how to get landside. The floor below, where you exit the planes, is where you make a dash for the border. The floor I was on was a sterile zone for transiting only. I could see the immigration counters for LEAVING Malaysia (they were packed) but I was nowhere near the area to ENTER Malaysia. I asked around, got the same questions about why I want to exit and was blown off until I reached a security captain who asked me why and then showed me the way. Finally reaching immigration I could see the dream to shoot the Towers was going to have to wait. The arrivals hall was packed to the gills. Coupled with what I saw in the departures hall I made the decision to turn around. I went through security (again) and was asked by my Captain friend what happened. Told him it was a zoo down there. He chuckled and sent me on my way.

Back across the bridge I went to met up with my wife. We stayed in the lounge for another 45 minutes and then began the hunt for her Cafe Americano (easy nab one floor below). I had high hopes for klia2 as the Satellite Terminal had the promising food hall. Further review lead to rows of boarded up walls giving off the impression that a lot was in the works. Wasn't much going on. The Main Terminal was the epitome of spartan airport design. We headed there to align ourselves with our departure gate. Passed through security again (I was glow in the dark by now) and realized you can't buy a bottle of water anywhere. No bottles in any of the stores and the food stands all had cups of water. I wasn't thrilled. My wife WAS thrilled by the segregated prayer stations. Not sure why that tickled her so much.



His/Hers Prayers

We waited at what we thought was our gate, under third world conditions (no water, no CNN, no Sephora). We somehow struggled through and they announced, what we thought, was our boarding. Being newly minted Premium Flex elites, we got up as soon as the first blowing sounds were amplified by the microphone. We headed down the ramp to.....a locked jetway to the right and a holding room to the left. We stumbled into the holding room not knowing what was going on. The were no gate agents to be found. We then watched everyone of our plane mates do the same thing, some testing the door to the jetway. It became funny. Funnier still when an FA came up the jet way and tried to get where we were. She gave up and headed back towards the plane. I assumed we were on Malaysian Candid Camera at this point. Fifteen minutes went by and a few GAs came down to restore order. They then made the priority boarding announcement and we busted our move.

Seated in 1A and 2A this time offered a different perspective. As with the previous flight, I was seated alone and my wife had an aisle partner. Red seats are dedicated to Premium Flex passengers.

Air Asia 378 KUL-DPS (A-320)




View From 1A

Interesting happenings during boarding. There were quite a few pax entering and exiting the plane repeatedly. This is something we're not accustomed to in the USA (there was a thread about this a few weeks back). FAs and pax just getting off and running up the jet way and then returning. Turns out the were waiting on various groups of connecting passengers and people clearing immigration. All in all, we were delayed for about half an hour which we did not make up in the air.



Our Neighbors To The Left

We were treated to a nice view of the Palm Tree Resort shortly after takeoff.


Palm Tree Resort, Malaysia

After arriving in Denpasar, Indonesia, we were greeted with a jam-packed arrivals hall. The struggle was, indeed, real.


DPS

We cleared immigration after an hour, or so and we were off to our next hotel. More on that next time.

I suppose I should sum up my Air Asia experience. I entered the whole process from booking to boarding with trepidation. I have to say that it was the right tool for the right job here. The baggage allowance (20kg), picking seats, express check in, meals, lounge, all worked out and made the experience, well, uneventful. The crews were efficient and the hard product were in great shape. klia2 could use a few more amenities, especially for it's size and volume of traffic. I would not hesitate to use their services again if the right situation arose.

Next Episode: The Road To Ubud

asovse1

Might seem like an odd question, but were those spiders and scorpions live? When I was a kid we did a trip to REP and PNH and we stopped at some rural market. There were FIRE BUCKETS of those glossy black spiders squirming around (probably waiting to be eaten or something). Went back to school, told my friends, nobody believed me. From now on, as a point of pride, I'm going to show everyone your photo. Thanks, I guess! lol

On a more serious note, this is a great trip report so far. Very eye-opening what happened with Optiontown, a service I considered using when I stumbled upon it from this thread Vietnam Airlines “standby” upgrades If I end up tempted to use it in the future, I'll be sure to be way more careful!

Uncle Nonny

Thanks for reading. I'll have a little more on my up-class bidding shenanigans later in my report.

Those critters were not live, they had already met their end in the frying pan. I did see a lot of live ones last year in Beijing on Snack Street in Wangfujing. Just hanging out, on the end of sticks squirming away.

Uncle Nonny

The road for us to Bali was obvious. It's been a mythical land in my wife's imagination since she became a yogi. In my imagination, it's been a place where I could someday take my wife to pay her back for all she does for our family while I'm flying from city to city trying to earn a decent living.

The path to Ubud, in particular, was a little more convoluted. With the destinations of our trip set I just had to iron out a few details and everything would fall into place, right. Welp, the hardest part of this whole trip was the logistics for our six night stay on Bali. Setting up shop in Kuta was out of the question as we haven't been "clubbers" since the late 80's and we DO like our sleep.

I zeroed in on the Nusa Dua area, specifically the Conrad. I spent a few weeks reading reviews and asking questions on various sites (FlyerTalk has a very active thread about this Conrad). I didn't care whether I used points or $$. What stood out to me was the widespread reported fact that being a Hilton Diamond member is a hit or miss proposition as to how you are treated here as far as upgrades. We all know that the various programs we belong to have perks that are advertised and well earned on our part. I spend roughly a third of my year staying in Hilton properties. I do expect to be upgraded when the upgrades are available. It's part of the promise Hilton and I make to each other. I also had a hard time finding one picture of people enjoying themselves on the beach at the Conrad. I found that odd.

I turned my attention to the Hilton Nusa Dua. Better beach, beautiful vistas. The weight of reading how there just isn't much to do in Nusa Dua hit me heavily. All the day trips I was interested in making were in the central part of the island. With Nusa Dua being at the very southern tip, it was time to re-calibrate.

Ubud. Kept coming up over and over again. Everything I wanted to see on my first visit to Bali was an easy trip from Ubud. No Hilton in that neck of the woods so I expanded my scope. My search criteria on the American Airlines portal narrowed my choices. I knew little about Ubud and it's environs but one place kept popping out: Puri Sebali Resort.



Puri Sebali Resort

While not in town, it offered free shuttle service into town. I had planned to spend only a little time in Ubud proper, as most of the site I wanted to see were spread out. I was enticed by the reviews as well as the 6,000 bonus miles (whore) I'd get just for booking.

Backtracking to my previous post, we cleared immigration and customs and headed out to meet our driver. The hotel had quoted me $39 for airport pickup. I ended up booking with taxi2airport.com for $24. Our driver was kind enough to WhatsAPP me the sign he would be holding as well as a pic of his vantage point. We were collected and made the short walk to our van. We exited the airport into the hustle and bustle of the evening Denpasar traffic.



Traffic Circle

The map says it's about 40 kilometers but there are no highways and the roads seem meant more for scooters, specifically ones loaded up with four member families, than for cars. The trip ended up taking roughly two hours. An hour or so into it we were at a dead standstill in a small, remote village. Turns out it was one of many Hindu ceremonies we would come across during our visit. Though we were exhausted from a full day of travel it was very cool experiencing such an authentic cultural shindig.



One Of Hundreds

We arrived around 9:00pm to an open air lobby were check in took place at a seated desk. We were given welcome gifts (chocolates) our key (a real, live key), and a folder explaining the resort's offerings (tours, spa stuff, restaurant, etc). We were escorted to our room and our luggage was delivered. The door was a heavy, bi-parting door that used an actual padlock to secure it. The interior lock was an old school,castle-like bar of wood that slid between the doors to secure them. Crazy but cool.


Sink


Bed


Shower


Tub

And the piece de' resistance...our very own pool and private security, whom we dubbed "Nips", to guard our door:


Our En Suite Pool

Nips

As my upcoming posts will include mostly off campus activities, I'll dedicate the rest of the post to the Puri Sebali resort and it's grounds. The place was nothing short of stunning. Enjoy.



Front Desk Offering


Spa Tables


Fish


Marigolds On Steps


Spa Tub


Atypical Hotel Hallway


Fish At The Bar


View From The Restaurant


Incensed


Veranda Where Classes Are Held


Lifeguard


Golden Hour


Pool


To Infinty...



..And Beyond


Next up: We Venture Into Ubud.

Uncle Nonny

My apologies in advance but this will be a post packed with photos (as will my other Bali posts). Day 1 followed a restful sleep broken at dawn. My wife primped and started her day by making offerings to the Hindu goods. Seriously, she went to the spa and was shown how to make the local offering of Canang sari. You find these everywhere in Bali: cars, sidewalks, cafes, stores. A wonderful thing to see everywhere you go.


Making Canang sari


Canang sari

I met up with here afterwards for some breakfast at our resort restaurant overlooking a rice patty. As you can tell, the staff take great pride in the food they make. Service was just as spectacular as the food. Each meal featured multiple courses.

Muesli (Her)


Yogurt (Me)


Strawberry Pancakes (Me)


Omelet (Her)


Bread and Spread (Us)

Our next goal was to catch the 12:00pm resort shuttle into downtown Ubud . Seeing that we had a little time to kill, we took the Spa up on their offer of a free 15 minute massage. My wife chose head and neck while I went with feet and legs. We then headed to the lobby to turn our key into the front desk and await our (pre-reserved) ride into town.

My original plan was to rent a motorbike. Typical charge is $4-$7 a day plus petro. The resort had one on offer but after experiencing the ride into town I decide against it. We were about 7k out of town but the roads were tight, narrow, and confusing. Four wheels would be under us at all times for the duration of our stay.

Arriving into the center of Ubud, the drop off point was the Ubud Palace, official residence of the royal family when in town. It served as the hub for the whole town and is where most resort/hotel shuttles drop off and pick up (All shuttles I saw were small vans, Toyota Lenova for our resort).



Ubud Palace

Thankfully for my wife, there was a Starbucks within 50' of the drop zone. What was really cool was that said establishment's courtyard lead out to a really cool Hindu Temple.


'Bucks


Saraswati Temple


The Temple Gardens


Saraswati Long Shot

We made our way back outside and headed directly towards ground zero for shopping mayhem: Monkey Forest Road. Ubud reminded me of a larger Mykonos Town, with it's labyrinth of alleys. It would be easy to get lost in it's side streets and shopping stalls if you didn't have the general flow down. There were all sorts of commercial entities, ranging from stalls hocking tchotchkes, or overflowing with sarongs and tee shirts, to statue stores and high end jewelry joints. There were a ton of tour and excursions stands and money changers, often a hybrid of both. Mixed in were restaurants and legit spas for leg or full body work. For 100,000 rupiah you could get a 1 hour full body massage (I'll save you the Google. It's $7).

So down and in and out of Monkey Forest Road we went, my wife touching every sarong as we went. We stopped at a wonderful place to eat about halfway down (pretty sure we were less than $12, all in, for lunch). This is for you, foodies:


Cafe Wayan


People Who Can Read Menu


Picture Menu


Hers


His

Post-lunch, we continued down the road. Shopping, browsing, people gazing (mostly me while she shopped and browsed). PSA for those planning a trip to Ubud: Strollers, wheelchairs, crutches, etc are a bad idea. The sidewalks are dubious and narrow.

Surrounded by the maze of shops, restaurants, spas, and excursioneers was the beautiful oasis of an occupied football pitch.



Footy

Reaching the bottom of the Monkey Forest Road, you are optioned with continuing to the left or, well, the Monkey Forest. A small admission of around $3 per is required.


Us


Guidelines


Entrance Sign


Warning


Monkey Forest Map


Sitting


Hand Jive


Speak No Evil


Drinking Monkey


Monkey In Profile


Young Monkey


Monkey King


Old Man

Monkey Forest Bridge


We were pretty wiped at this point and headed to the parking lot where we were able to take a free shuttle back up Monkey Forest Road to our shuttle pick up point (we had reserved a 6:30pm pick up). It was a nice relaxing trip in an open air bus that saved us from having to walk up hill. It was a full day and was surprised with the hustle and bustle of Ubud. I had pictured a sleepy village a few wind chime shops. I was quite wrong.

Next Chapter: A little Yoga, A Little Water, and A Little Swinging

asdn

I have also stayed in Puri Sebali a few months back, my experience was so-so. The villa they gave me has a broken main door and my request for a floral arrangement on our private pool, they wrote a different name for my wife while I specifically asked them that it is our honeymoon and the room was under her name, they even confirmed it upon check in, in front of my wife that I should expect the arrangement the next day even though I requested for it to be a surprise. I think I paid around 100-150 usd for that floral arrangement.

Ubud is a really nice place though minus the so called "taxi mafia".

Uncle Nonny

I'm sure reading this part of the TR made you cringe. If I went to the trouble to mark a special occasion like that and have it ruined I'd be a little sore. My experience, however, gets nothing but high marks.


I asked my non-local driver about that on my way out of town. It is strange that no ride share or organized (legit) taxis are allowed in town. The signage everywhere evens warns you against using such services. Having to negotiate rates is a drag when your tired and fried from walking around all day.

Uncle Nonny

Day two in the hills outside of Ubud began with my wife taking a free yoga class on the poolside deck overlooking the rice fields. I slept in. There were people there, she swears.



Puri Sebali Yoga Setup

Post yoga and breakfast we headed to the lobby to meet up with our guide for the day. We booked an excursion to the Pura Tirtha Empul , the "Holy Spring". My wife was going to have a doubly excellent adventure: a water blessing in one of the holiest spots in Bali and getting to see me in a sarong. The drive was about 45 minutes, again through small villages and winding roads. It was scheduled to take us four hours at a total cost $42 for the both of us. Cheap trip out.

Our guide, Dodi, was absolutely brilliant. We were provided sarongs by our resort. He dealt with admission tickets and arranged for the offerings to the Gods.

Gearing Up


Sarong


Welcome to Pura (I Think That's What It Says)


Warnings

The ritual entails laying down an offering and going from spout to spout and repeating a short series of gestures at all but the last two water spouts (those two being reserved for evil spirits). After some coaching by Dodi, my wife headed into the pool (in a different sarong provided by the Temple). As you can see below, it started to get a little crowded with people just entering the pool randomly and starting wherever and doing whatever. I'm pretty sure those people are burning in hell right now.



Offering It Up


Ritual Purification Fountains


The Ritual


Dunk


Artistic Attempt

Following the Ritual we roamed the grounds, which were stacked with all sorts of cool statues and shrines.


My Favorite Statue, Never Got Her Name


Crazy Roots


Shrine


Temple Grounds

We were supposed to then return back to the Puri Sebali Resort. I was able to convince Dodi to stop at my next surprise for my wife. We stopped at Alas Harum Agro Tourism, which bills itself as a coffee connoisseur's must-do. It's really just a tourist attraction with a coffee bar attached to it. We were there to swing. And swing we did. Zipping too. The place was a gorgeous rice terrace with really cool, photograph-y things to do. We enjoyed it thoroughly.



Hearts


The Bridge


Readying For Launch


Scha-wing!



Zip


The Grounds

After being kids for awhile, it was back to the resort to chill out. We ate lightly at the restaurant before turning in for in advance of our last day in the Ubud area.


Her


Him (duh)

Next Up: Last Day In Paradise, More Yoga And More Rice!

nequine

Just catching up with your TR and enjoying what you've posted so far

Uncle Nonny

Our last full day began with a (free) resort sponsored excursion to the surrounding rice fields and terraces. We were pleased to see that our guide from the previous day, Dodi, would be leading the walk. It was a great experience, both educational and picturesque. Out the front lobby and down the path to the road we went.......


Puri Sebali Driveway


Jalan Raya Sebali (Our Road)


School Children Making Morning Offerings


The Fields


Moody Rice Closeup


Birds


Shrine


Lil House On The Patty


Irrigation


XTreme Farming


More Terraces


Puri Sebali Resort From Other Side


Difficulty Level Lowered After Second Guy From Left Fell Into A Patty. Dodi Gave The Fella His Own Flip Flops To Finish Tour


Spider

Following the tour, we cleaned ourselves up for one last trip into Ubud. My wife wanted to get a reading and blessing at a place that was featured in "Eat, Pray, Love". I just wanted to find a place to watch Man City open the season against West Ham. In the shuttle we went with the intention of getting some lunch, blessings, and football.



Pumpkin Soup For Her


NOT(exactly) Pizza For Him



Liyer House, Run By The Son Of The Guy From That Movie


Blessing/Reading

We were now fed and blessed and off to find the next thing to occupy us. My wife typically leaves the details of our vacations to me and just goes with the flow. She slacked a little to far on Ubud, though, I was surprised that my yogi wife had never heard of the Yoga Barn. Apparently it's a big deal in the yoga world and the pseudo-yoga mecca of Ubud. We walked from the Liyer house to the Yoga Barn. My wife thought she had died and gone to heaven. She spent the next 4-5 hours exploring, Tibetan bowling, Ying-yanging, and green drinking her way through the joint. I slipped down to the Last Chance Saloon to catch my boys in blue decimate West Ham 5-nil to open their season.



Yoga Barn Reception


Yoga Barn Class


Last Chance Saloon Sign

We were exhausted by this point and it was time to arrange a taxi as it was beyond the resort last shuttle run of the day. Uber/Grab/marked taxis do not exist in Ubud. It's often referred to as the "taxi mafia". The locals will tell you the rules are in place to keep outside drivers from taking the work of locals. Regardless, you're required to negotiate a rate with the driver prior to getting in. I'd rather it be metered or, more so, use ride sharing but it is what it is. Just sucks having to haggle at the end of the day, Our place was 15 minutes out of town so extra haggling was in order but I think you get a much better deal the further you have to go. Anyway, for 80,000 rupiah we were on our way back to the resort for our last night.

Next Up: Goodbye Ubud...Back To The Chaos