Отдых на Бали Holidays in Bali

Review of a trip to Indonesia
Travel time October 8-22.2009 12 nights in Bali at the Intercontinental Hotel, Singaraja room and 2 nights (actually one) in Singapore, at the Marina Mandarin Hotel.
Direct flight by Singapore Airlines Moscow-Singapore 10 hours. 9 hours in Singapore waiting for the connection, then again Singapore Airlines Singapore-Denpasar 2.5 hours. Back along the same route, but with an overnight stay in Singapore. I will say right away for those who are planning their trip along this route - in Singapore you must definitely spend at least two full days, and preferably three. This city is worth it. We got only the evening of the day of arrival from Denpasar and the full next day. At night, it was already necessary to fly to Moscow. Tiring, but there are a lot of good impressions from this city.

I organized the trip on the Internet for myself and my wife. Saved 82 thousand rubles from the amount that was named in the travel agency. Firstly, since I ordered in advance, I received a good discount from Singapore Airlines (36 thousand rubles for two), and secondly, hotels (Intercontinental and Marina Mandarin) also gave a good discount for the same reason. In short, down with travel agents, long live the Internet. Looking ahead, I will say that we had no problems with either tickets or hotels.
Impression. The flight to Singapore is not easy, although the crew did everything possible to make it as comfortable as possible. But it's not their fault that they flew with us, a team, in my opinion, of water polo players (men are as healthy as cabinets). They drank hard, apparently this is part of the program of their preparation for the competition, and not only the uncles, but also the aunts who flew with them. For this reason, the team wandered around the plane all the way looking for each other and happily talking loudly. The coolest thing is that we flew with them on the way back, but they were already quiet. Either they lost the competition, or they spent some money.
For those who have to wait for a connection in Singapore for several hours, and are tired of a long flight, I recommend renting a room at the airport and getting a good night's sleep. It is better to book a room in advance via the Internet, so as not to wait for the room to be free and to be put in order. SGD 76 for a double room for 6 hours is a reasonable price. Who is full of energy, take advantage of the free sightseeing bus tour of Singapore. You can combine both, but before you go to sleep at least a couple or three hours, check the time of the bus trip so as not to miss a flight that is convenient for you. Sightseeing tours are designed for 2 hours and have their own schedule. You must return two hours before your departure.
If you didn’t get on the bus sightseeing tour and you have free time, you can use the free shuttle bus to the city to the City shopping center or take a taxi to the city. Airport - city center by taxi about 10 Singapore dollars. Leaving the airport and returning from the city is such a simple procedure that you fall in love with this city just because of this. Everything for tourists. Come and leave your money.

After some sleep and familiarization with Singapore, we went further to Bali. After a ten hour flight from Moscow, 2.5 hours seemed like a cakewalk. At the airport in Denpasar, obtaining a visa took no more than 5 minutes. The baggage was already “spinning” on the tape (I always wonder why everything is somehow different in Russia). At the exit, a representative of the hotel was waiting for us, after another 5 minutes we were already driving to the hotel.
I have traveled a lot around the world (in Southeast Asia in particular), both for work and leisure, but Bali, and especially the Intercontinental Hotel, is perhaps the best thing I have seen. The local people made a particularly strong impression - so many smiles, attention and friendliness. This also applies to hotel staff, waiters in cafes and restaurants, merchants in shops and shops, taxi drivers, and in general to all Balinese. All the time we were surrounded by an amazing atmosphere of attention and kindness.
The hotel impresses with its architecture, landscaping and size. Thanks to this, the huge number of people who live in it is not noticeable at all and does not bother at all. The territory of the beach is about 400-500 meters. There are no mushrooms on the beach itself, they are stretched along the edge of the hotel territory and located under the trees. Lots of sun loungers, enough space for everyone, no one shakes their bodies under your nose, and you feel quite private. A lot of different pools for both adults and children. Foreigners mostly hang out by the pools, our fellow citizens prefer the ocean. White sand, Jimbaran Bay stretches like a Turkish blade for five kilometers - a great place for morning walks along the coast along the edge of the surf. Gorgeous ocean waves, especially at high tide, magnificent sunsets, cozy restaurants with seafut, what else do you need for a good rest. Surprisingly, the water in the ocean was quite invigorating, 23 degrees (maybe we were lucky with the season), there was no stuffiness in the evenings and you didn’t go all sticky with sweat, as it was with us, for example, in Vietnam.
The breakfasts at the hotel are very decent, a wide variety of juices and fruits, the quality of the products is excellent, you can eat Indonesian food, you can taste Japanese food. European and American breakfast is also at your disposal. If you ask, they will bring freshly squeezed juice, make fried eggs, scrambled eggs, or curly scrambled eggs, bake pancakes, cut fresh baked meat. If you are not too lazy and learn a few frequently used phrases in Indonesian (good morning, thank you, etc. ), then you generally become a best friend. They greet you with a smile in the morning and greet you by name, lead you to your favorite table, having studied your preferences, already carry your favorite dad and freshly squeezed orange juice at the beginning of breakfast without reminders.

I don’t know about other rooms, but in our Singaraja room everything was solid and tasteful too. Marble bathroom, wooden floor, Indonesian style furniture. As in all reputable hotels, a booklet greets you in your room, in which you are kindly informed that they are ready to change bed linen every day, but if you are friends with nature and try not to harm it especially, they ask you to determine when you need to change linen. All you have to do is put this booklet on your bed when you leave your room in the morning. In short, everything was in the room. Shampoos, gels, safe, tea, coffee, mini bar, etc. The buildings of Singaraja offer a light "snack" in the lobby. We thought this would help us somehow close the issue of nutrition during the day, but in fact you are only offered drinks (juice and cold water with mint), coffee, some cookies and quite a few exotic fruits, more precisely any one fruit. If someone expects to eat a sandwich or chicken curry, then nothing will come of it. But we especially did not use this service. Like normal Russo tourists, they bought fruits in the city, placed them in the room (some of them in the refrigerator) and satisfied their appetite after returning from the beach.
I confess that we dined at the hotel only once, on the day of our arrival. It was delicious, we ate grilled king prawns, fish and something else, drank whiskey, wine, exotic cocktails, and when we got the bill, we realized that we got a little excited. 2.5 million local tenge impressed us. Although it is only 300 dollars and in Moscow for 4, seafood and everything drunk would cost no less. In addition, everything happened in the wonderful atmosphere of the restaurant with live music (local guys sang rehashings of world hits), and even the sound of the ocean. But we didn't go there again. Our "mothers", of course, wanted shopping and every evening we moved to the town of Kuta, which is full of shopping and various cafes and restaurants. There they usually dined (or dined? ) to whom it was convenient. Taxi from the hotel in Kuta is approximately 5 am. dollars. Just funny after Russia. Shopping is good. Naturally, you can’t buy a coat or a fur coat for yourself there, but you can buy good things for the spring-summer season. The quality of the products is solid, not cheap. My wife and I bought ourselves a lot of wood products. God Vishnu on his throne-bird Garuda, Rama and Sita, the head of a dancer, funny, bringing good luck to Ganesh. They dragged two large boxes with various figures to Moscow and, although they checked everything in luggage, they arrived perfectly. The girls in the store packed well.
We were not particularly fond of excursions. I just wanted to relax by the sea on the beach. I went rafting myself. To be honest, I liked Turkey better. In Bali, the river we rafted down is very shallow and we got stuck on rocks all the time. In the end, it even became annoying. Were in the temple, it seems, Ulu Watu, as it is not very far from our Jimbaran. We looked at the majestic cliffs with the ocean surf, cheerful, arrogant and mischievous monkeys (in our presence, they stole the glasses from about four gaping tourists and tore off all the bright pendants from the sightseers from their backpacks). We watched an ethnic dance. Interesting. At the end of the tour we had dinner on the beach not far from our hotel. We also went to some town, Ubud, in my opinion, where we visited a store with various wood products. On the way they brought to some shops (batik, pearls, silver). Wood in this place is very expensive. Well we saw them before in Kuta. Prices in Ubud are twice as expensive as in Discovery Shopping Mall in Kuta. Here are all our tours. I didn’t want to drag myself somewhere far away or wander in the heat in the open air. In addition, we have seen all this in other countries (birds, elephants, snakes, etc. ).
SPA. I myself am not fond of it, I am indifferent to it. I think they're fooling us like swine flu. Just to make money. Once I went to Turkey, they crushed my sides, put me in some room in a bath with petals, and I sat there alone like a fool for half an hour, I thought, they probably forgot. That's all my impressions about SPA. But, if it seems to our women that after that they look even better, let them go stupid. For us, they are always amazing. In the SPA hotel, the salon is again very solid, marble is all around, everything is bubbling and fragrant. The interior is Indonesian, the cleanliness is amazing. Towels, swimming trunks, combs, lotions are all at your disposal. I love the Turkish bath, so I went to this SPA. The procedures themselves are not cheap. The most expensive is 2.5 million local tenge, but you can choose cheaper than thousands for 700, but this, as they say, is only for one ear. My wife and girlfriend went somewhere in the city, it's cheaper there. That's all I can write about SPA. Sorry ladies.

Singapore. The city made the strongest impression. The wife all the time exclaimed: here are the Singaporeans! Cleanliness, no traffic jams, lots of greenery, architecture. Everything is thought out, everything is for the person. You don’t even have to go outside, there are air-conditioned passages underground (our Manege in Moscow) with shops, restaurants and cafes. You move from one shopping center to another without going outside. There is also a metro station and even access to our hotel (Marina Mandarin). It's easier to get around the city by taxi. Maximum six Singapore dollars (150 rubles). On the metro, an average of SGD 2 per person one way. But do not forget to return the card at the station where you arrive and you will receive back 1 dollar. As for a returnable container. The metro is great. Everything is air-conditioned, the cars are quiet, there is no such rumble and rattle as in Moscow. Of course, one day for Singapore is clearly not enough. Make sure you plan two or three days. Singapore is worth it. In the evening, be sure to go up to the 72nd floor of the Swiss Hotel. Great view of Singapore at night. Sitting there and admiring the amazing view of the city at night should be a must on your Singapore itinerary. You don’t have to order drinks, just wander around the bar from window to window, you won’t be thrown off the 72nd floor and they won’t chase you around the bar either. Tourists use it, and not only ours. During the day, the bar is open from 15.00. Also a great experience, you can take cool pictures of the city from a bird's eye view. There are no people in the bar at this time. Walk along the river. This is also an unforgettable experience. It doesn't matter if you do it during the day or in the evening. Satisfaction guaranteed. Well, chilly crab is just a visiting card of the city. Be sure to visit the Jumbo restaurant at the East Cost Seafood Center and order yourself a pepper crab or Sri Lankan crab. Otherwise, you have not been to Singapore. That's what guidebooks and tourists on the Internet say, although I don't really like crabs. With them you don’t particularly eat, but you are always guaranteed to get dirty. So this time I decided that I must definitely try this miracle. To be honest, nothing special, as always dirty and splashed with sauce. But the place itself is worth a visit. Plan your dinner there. You might as well eat something else. Ask the concierge at your hotel to reserve a table for you, it will be better and more reliable. Too many tourists there. It is better to book a table on the second floor in an air-conditioned room. Still, Singapore is almost the equator.
My wife liked shopping, she says that she would love to come here again. I would too, but not because of the shopping. There is something to see here. I should have visited Sintosa Island. We didn't succeed. Search online for special offers from Singapore Airlines and you might find something attractive. In the summer, for example, there was a promotion - a Moscow-Singapore air ticket for 1 Singapore dollar. Visa on the spot without any problems.
Hello,
Michael