Bali - June 2014 - Day 4, On the move to Seminyak
We had arranged for the Villa in Seminyak to send drivers to come get us around noon. The morning was spent eating a lovely breakfast of Bacon, eggs, banana pancakes for fruit, once again made by the Villa staff at Madu. They really do a great job and are very attentive. After food, we packed our stuff and sat around for a couple of hours relaxing. I even managed to drop off to sleep for a few minutes on the couch. Thats how I know I am starting to relax, when I can do that. Its only taken 3 days, but now I feel like I am in Bali.
Farewells said, we hopped into the 2 cars, loaded with the 6 of us and luggage and headed downhill to Seminyak. On the way, we got held up a little by cremation ceremonies blocking roads. The 13th is a sacred day here in Bali and quite a few specials things are pegged to happen on those dates every month (Hence Mick and Debbie at a wedding and teeth filing etc). We had heard that the main road in Ubud was going to be blocked all day, so we were quite lucky to get out in time.
The trip down took twice as long as going up, but it was nice to see the countryside, and the craft shops and rice fields. Some of the roads we took to avoid the traffic were tiny lanes, I am glad the guy knew the area, because even google maps had me completely lost.
We arrived at Villa Kampung in Seminyak, got out of the car, opened the front gate and..... you could have knocked me over with a feather. Truly, I was not expecting this at all....... Let me backup a bit.
Originally we had 12 of us going to Bali. I had spent hours and hours trying to find Villas to sleep 6 couples in and around Seminyak, its hard work I can tell you. Villa Kampung is not listed on Tripadvisor, features on only 2 or 3 Villa databases, and there is a small 2 minute video on Youtube that looks unreal. When we were down to 10 of us, I contacted Intouch Realty (VillaBali.com) and said we’d probably have to cancel, and try and find a smaller villa to keep costs down. They were very easy to work with, and said they would simply lock one room up and reduce the price, AND.... give us the use of another villa till we left for the airport on the last day. Super Super late checkout (11pm). BARGAIN. When were reduced to 8, it was way too late to try and find another villa, and really, we were all super psyched to stay at Kampung anyways, so we sucked up the price increase and continued with our plans. For anybody considering a Villa, Dita from In Touch has been a dream to work with. I have zero hesitation in recommending them and we’ll be using them again.
OK.. The Villa. BLEW US AWAY !
Putu, the head of the staff explained that this is the largest Villa compound in the heart of Seminyak. It has 6 double sized airconditioned bedrooms, all with ensuites, and each has its own living area. A huge pool, dining area, lounge area, Pool table room, media room with big screen TV etc etc etc etc, this is 5 star stuff. And... its just behind Bintang Supermarket. I just timed the walk, it was 2 minutes door to door. And, its amazingly quiet. No dogs, no roosters, no bikes, just BLISS ! The pool is warm as well. We have struck it big time here ! The months of planning had finally paid off.
Putu offered us drinks and Lumpia and some lovely fritters while we chose rooms and the staff moved our bags. I was keen to unpack and then hit the pool. We packed our Bintags into one of the four fridges in the kitchen (Thats HUGE) and settled in around the pool while Putu ordered us our 4 scooters for the week. Organising the scooters was fun, and I ended up with a new Honda Scooby, all shiny shiny. Ironically I am the one with the least amount of bike riding experience in the group. We hopped onto the bikes to work out how to start them etc etc and had a quick run down the alleyways to work out where we were. Not 300m from our Villa, a small Warung is setup selling beer, soft drinks and you guessed it.... Magic Mushrooms (with home delivery) *shakes head* I guess we are tucked away in the back streets and a lot closer to Kuta than last year, so I guess outside out the walls of Kampung we have to expect it to be a little less hibrow than the last trip.
The girls had booked 4 massages in the Villa at 5pm. The cost inc tips is 150,000 for the girls to come to us. This is probably twice the price in the spas up the road, BUT, Putu explained these girls were the best around, and.... she wasnt wrong. All 4 of the girls said it was the BEST massage they had ever had, truly, this made me happy, as I am due one tomorrow (YESSSSSS). Whilst the girls were lying on the huge daybed getting their knots unwound, us boys hopped onto the scooters and headed down a maze of alleys to the beach. We ended up at La Plancha just on 5pm, and sat on the beanbags having 22,000 IDR Bintangs and soaking up the groovy tunes. Hugo, had a grin from ear to ear. YEP... This is Bali !
Around 6pm we hopped back onto the Scoobys and went back up via Double 6 back to the Villa. The roads are unusually quiet too. Even La Plancha was not as busy as last year. A lot of the shops were empty too. Eerie.
The plan was to go to Moo Moo’s in Legian for dinner. Our bellies were craving steak and 2 vedge, and last year we had looked at the menu and it screamed value. To be honest, after eating there now, I can say its OK.. nothing flash, but quite a good price. The steaks were not very flavoursome, and the servings were not huge. We had a couple of cocktails, beers and the food, and it came to around $40 a couple. Not bad, but I probably wont go back. Mick and Deb and Karin and Hugo wanted to kick on, but we have not had one afternoon nap yet, and Litsa and I are always awake before anyone else around 6am local time. So the 4 of them headed off to Billys in Garlic Lane, and the other 4 of us headed up to Laksmana to go get dessert at Bali Cafe. The traffic up the top end was a bit more chaotic, and Mr Learner on the scooter here, had a few bum tightening moments weaving in and out of the cars/scooters and wayward tourists. Bali Cafe never dissapoints and we had mixed desserts, with me choosing the Apple Tarte Tartin with ice cream that I loved last year. Coffees and dessert was $7 each.
Outside we were bailed up by some Viagra salesmen, and I stupidly told one that his prices were ridiculous, and that I could get them cheaper in Thailand !! So it was on, the challenge to get the best price for me between the guys who were now rushing in like seagulls to a chip. I laughed, hopped onto the bike, threw litsa on the back and rushed off. I kid you not though, a young kid was then riding next too me yelling at me with an even better price than I had tried for on the footpath. HILARIOUS !
Home and bed beckoned...... head hit pillow.. BAM... OUT !
Then.. The drunks arrived home. All liquoured up on Long island Iced Teas and too much singing and dancing, they tried to get me out of bed by imitating roosters - Bastards !
I just ignored them hidden behind my curtains, mozzie net, and 2 pillows over my head. They wallowed around in the pool for a while and then got bored and went to bed.
Ahhhhhh Hows the serenity ???
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