Ayodya + tips for beginner tourists
Rested from 06.01. 2012 to 20.01. 2012. To a greater extent, I agree with all of the following, I will try to challenge the rest)) A sea of emotions, so there are so many letters! )) Impatient please do not read!
About the flight:
flew Cathay Pacific with a change in Hong Kong (3 and 4 hours) - just SUPER! Before Hong Kong, we were generally given a business class, but even in the economy there is plenty of legroom, the flight attendants are all kind, films and music are played for the entire flight absolutely free (although in the economy all films start centrally and there is only 1 channel in Russian, but there are all other languages), in general, cinema, wine and dominoes are almost like in business! All flights went smoothly, without turbulence and, in principle, easily tolerable (especially in business, of course))) There is a full-fledged bed in general, and if you can’t sleep, the flight attendants are always at your service, address you by name, deliver French champagne and cognac, feed you according to the menu , as in a restaurant, they give out a set of cosmetics, socks, a mask.
So you don't have to take anything with you on the plane! Who has the opportunity - fly, it's worth it!
Another common feature that for some reason no one mentions. On the 2nd and 3rd day of our holiday, it rained continuously! No, we were aware that it was the rainy season there, but everyone writes that they go mostly only at night or very short ...Therefore, at first, of course, we were upset, but then, when we started traveling around the island, we understood that rain is not a hindrance and not a problem at all! But it's better to be mentally prepared for this when you go in January-February : )
About the hotel:
The hotel itself is huge, the territory is beautiful, huge, 5 * definitely!
Room: All the good stuff left is leftover from the Hilton. It begins to slowly fall apart and, I think, in a year or two everything will be completely obscene. In the bathroom, the shower is a quiet horror! Built into the wall, not removable, just a tap below! Panels are falling off cabinets.
There is no clothes dryer on the balcony, and under the condition of 80% humidity, swimsuits on the backs of chairs do not dry out even in 2 days, so take more of them! ) The light is indeed turned off centrally on the balcony, only at 23 o'clock, not at 22 : ) But at the same time, you will not be able to read not only in the "fresh air" (although it is so humid there that I would not turn my tongue to call it fresh ...Now in Moscow it's -18 - that's fresh! : )))), but even in the room, because the lights are all dark. Talking about the rainy season: 2 months ago, before the start of this very season, the hotel management decided not to issue umbrellas! Well, this is quite funny! AT 5*? ! ? Brad and greed! Another unpleasant fact: the day before departure, the lock constantly broke and we could not get into the room (even with the cleaner's key). I had to wait 3 times for half an hour for the manager at the door of the room until he came from the reception (and we lived at the end of the hotel, by the sea).
I also think that 5 * could be repaired after the first time, and not wait 2 days until we suffer and leave ....Although I read somewhere that in Hyatt things are even worse with the rooms and staff ...About restaurants: on the first evening we went with vouchers (ask at the entrance! About 17 dollars costs 1 voucher and entitles you to either a buffet or order 3 dishes from me in any restaurant) to Waterfall for a buffet. Ordered a bottle of Pinot Grigio and 2 bottles of Perrier water. We got a bill for almost 100 dollars for drinks)) Well, it's just a laugh! They didn’t take wine there anymore)) I got poisoned in a Japanese restaurant ...Perhaps because they offer “sets” with vouchers, in which fish and meat are mixed, and everything, everything, everything ...We went to dinner 3 times along the beach to the left to warung (walk 3 minutes) - prices are excellent there and lobsters are quite edible)) For example, a set lunch for two with lobster, fish, shrimp, rice, spinach and a bottle of local wine - 390 thousand rupees (approx. 40 dollars) ).
Everything is very tasty, fresh and cheap! The only thing, for some reason, gourmet flies always flocked to the lobsters, I had to cover the food with a napkin)) But these are already climate features)) We went to dinner in the village of Bualu, which is right from the hotel, because I didn’t like the Bali collection right away. It seemed that this is a paddock for tourists straight, no local flavor. Although in fairness, I note that for a change, they still dined there in the notorious Frangipani, where they ate very tasty meat. In the village, they always went to Nyoman's Beergarden, Mai-Mai and Kakadu. Everywhere tasty and cheap, only in Beergarden, as it seemed, the smallest portions. Baby gooling is generally a laugh! 3 pieces per tooth without fat and 2 fatty! For a man, 10 of these are needed just to kill the worm)) But the atmosphere there is the most pleasant! Oh no, for a few. days before departure, they somehow quickly built and opened another Prada branch - that's where the yummy, beauty, cheapness and live music are!
It's probably what I liked the most! Plus chairs for foot massage from their own SPA right on the street - a buzz!
To justify the hotel, I want to say that the territory is the most beautiful, the service (better in the Laguna restaurant by the sea) at breakfast and the breakfast itself, we liked it, except that there was no porridge, but I'm sorry! For porridge, as my husband said - this is a boarding house in the suburbs! )) The beach is the most beautiful (with the possible exception of St. Regis, but there the price level is completely different. And the algae is not removed from the shore) and clean on the entire coast. At the Inna Putri mentioned in the review below, by the way, the beach is terrible! Everyone is lying on each other's heads, the dirty sea and old sunbeds. Yes, there are merchants near Aiodia, but it’s enough not to lie down on the first line - and they will not cause any discomfort.
And the last thing I would like to note.
We met people who didn’t go further than the Bali collection and said that they don’t like Bali, in Thailand on the islands the beaches and the sea are better. Guys, well, it's a well-known fact that Bali is not a beach holiday! Behind the white sand and the azure sea, welcome to the Maldives, the Caribbean! You need to go to Bali, look, soak in the magical atmosphere, study the life of people (the kindest and most sympathetic of all that I have met! )! We alternated a day of the beach (for which purpose Nusa Dua, in my opinion - the best option! ) And a day of "excursions". We were very lucky on the second day, when it was raining, to go to the spa in Kakadu (in the village on the left side of the road) and meet a wonderful guide boy there, who helped make our stay unforgettable!
His name is Indra (Andrey), he speaks Russian quite well, took Russian lessons, so he can even read and write in Russian : ) We traveled almost the entire island with him, he told us everything and showed us, he has his own program, to which we made changes at will (for example, we went to the Git-Git waterfalls, where Russians usually do not go, because they are far in the mountains). We saw all the temples, bird parks, reptiles, a safari park with him, he took pictures of us everywhere, opened and closed the doors in the car, answered all our questions along the way, knows the names of all plants and fruits, helped a lot with exchanging money at a good rate and buying a modem for the Internet (because the Internet is unrealistically expensive in a hotel). He is so modest that we barely persuaded him to dine with us 2 times when he and the driver dangled with us from morning until late evening!
At the same time, he still ordered the cheapest dishes for himself and did not want to embarrass us by lowering his eyes into the plate)) In general, just charm itself! And all this pleasure cost us 35 dollars a day (with the exception of one long trip, when they took us to the waterfalls in addition to the program, and to Denpasar for a modem, and waited somewhere in the evening, I don’t remember. Then we gave they are $70). In general, if you need the services of a guide who knows his business and never requires an extra penny for himself, here is his phone number: if you write / call from a Russian number, then +628.805 44.085. You can find it in the same Kakadu. Be sure to say hello from Andrey and Nastya - get a discount on massages and other services : ) Although the conditions in their SPA are very spartan and everything is very simple, after meeting him we were given a Balinese massage for only 100 thousand rupees (approx.
11 dollars) for more than an hour, as a friend we received a 20% discount on the menu in their restaurant and a bunch of positive emotions and interesting facts when communicating with a real Balinese : )
More about trips: from Kuta (Legian) they barely took their feet - some kind of Cherkizovsky market! The beach is a garbage dump, a bunch of obscure personalities, narrow, dug up sidewalks that are impossible to walk on! From everywhere you are beckoning and pulling hands, there are signs to the places where hallucinogenic mushrooms are sold, drunken Australians are walking around, in general, it seemed to us like hell!
In Seminyak, Ku De Ta is a place that everyone should visit. The beauty! The most stylish and fashionable institution of the island. Worth at least once to go drink a cocktail and see. Expensive but very nice! In Seminyak, we found a wonderful Italian restaurant Trattoria. Just lick your fingers!
The highest quality seafood, properly cooked pasta with shells and all sorts of reptiles, the freshest octopus and fish carpaccio - even my Italian husband was delighted! Prices, as you might guess, are lower than in Nusa Dua : )
We went to Ubud twice. We were delighted with this city in the jungle and regretted that we paid for Ayodya for the entire stay and could not stay in Ubud for 2-3 days. Just a magical place! Feeding the monkeys in the forest has become our favorite pastime (the second time we bought 6 huge bunches of bananas on the way to the store and had a blast! ), and the city itself sunk deep into our hearts! Narrow streets in the middle of the jungle, craftsmen carving wood, painting pictures, painting eggs. Yes, and just walking up and down the streets, sitting in pleasant taverns, shops with cheerful sellers, palm trees around ...
Even in the rain (and it is almost always there this season), we have the warmest memories of this place...
We went to the volcano. In the rainy season, there is no point in wasting time - you can’t see anything at arm’s length: (No volcano, no lake ((
Jimbaran. Also a "must visit" to Bali. Although there are simple tables right on the sand on the beach, which, to be honest, is not always clean at low tide)), but very tasty seafood, beautiful sunsets (when seen from behind the clouds), airplanes taking off as if from behind you shoulders and the lights of the Four Seasons in the distance...Beautiful! I don’t advise you to walk around the village itself - it’s dirty and smoky. Regarding the choice of restaurant: we went to LIA'S cafe for the first time, based on the rave reviews on TripAdvisor. Didn't regret it! Lobster is very tasty, well cooked (on the grill without anything), inexpensive (approx. 50 dollars per kg). We got a lot of pleasure from eating this multi-colored handsome man! Shrimps...
they are also shrimp in Africa)) Only now the shells were made to us with such a spicy sauce that we could not eat them ((With a bottle of wine and water, all this pleasure cost about $ 100. The second time we were brought to Blue Marilin. Entertainment is included in in the form of Balinese dances, everything else is the same, but the prices are almost 2 times higher - lobster is about $ 80. We got a 10% discount, but still paid 2 times more for dinner than the first time.
Well, all sorts of temples - there is a lot of information about this on the Internet. Very beautiful and colorful everywhere! After Uluwatu, a trip to Jimbaran is included in the program and in the price, so for $ 25 for everything about everything, Indra was also waiting for us after dinner, as it turned out, and took us to the hotel, which was the last pleasant surprise for us : )
Phew, like everything, I didn’t forget anything))) I hope it helped someone! Ask questions - I'll be happy to answer!