Bali, our Honeymoon Destination!

Day 1

Hotel Bintang Bali Resort, Kuta

We explored the Kuala-Lampur airport and visited each and every store. It was a huge airport with several interconnected terminals and numerous retail chains. We hopped from one terminal to the other in the tram, just for fun and read out funny signage to each other. Back in the flight we spent our time mostly watching series or sleeping. We arrived at Bali, welcomed by a full size photo frame at the Bali airport which read, say Baliii ❤ instead of say cheese. At the exit of the airport we found several cab owners, so we picked up a random one and asked him to take us to our hotel Ramada Bintang Bali at Kuta. Everyone in Bali was conversant with English and received us with a warm smile. It was half an hour drive from the airport to our hotel. We looked around and saw large sized idols of Krishna/ Arjuna/ Hindu Gods on the crossways and noticed the obvious and loud connections with Hindus Mythology. The reception staff noticed the choorah on my wrists and said,” Oh India? Honeymoon?” We blushed to it only to realize that this was the common remark all across by everyone we met later, be it the cab driver, the shopkeepers, the hotel staff, in short everyone! It was late evening by which we had reached our hotel, so we decided to go around and checkout the local shops and finalize our itinerary for the remaining 5 days. We stopped at a small shop just across our hotel to buy a local Sim. The shopkeeper named Puttu got friendly with us quickly and told us about the local attractions. He also agreed to be our guide and provide cab whenever required. We walked along the road and checked out the restaurants and live foods. For non-veg lovers, the food was just awesome and mostly the dishes were with rice base.

Day 2

Waterbom Bali Indonesia

The next day we spent at Asia's biggest water park, the Waterbom Bali! It was at a walk-able distance from our hotel. We bought the tickets from the counter. It costed INR Rs.2500/- per person and every penny was worth the mesmerizing experience we had for the whole day inside the water park! We purchased credit bands for spending money inside the premises for food or other purchases. The bands also had the tag facility for taking photos from the professional photographers inside the park. The rides were grand and total fun! The people in general were very courteous. We later played pool volleyball with a bunch of French guys after we had taken all the rides to our complete satisfaction! It was a day to remember! We recommend this to all water park lovers! You just cannot miss this out if are in Bali!

Day 3

Bali Zoo, Pod chocolate Factory, Coffee Plantations

For the next day, we took a cab to visit the local attractions and Puttu came along with us as the cabby. We got the cab for Rs.2500/- for the whole day. We started off after a heavy breakfast buffet from our hotel. We stopped on the way to watch the traditional dance and drama show as suggested by Puttu. It appeared to be similar to the episode of Sita-Haran of Ramayana but the characters were very loud, colourful and dramatic and we were not very sure of the story line. We did not enjoy the show much and left in between and continued with our journey to the Bali Zoo. We bought counter tickets and spent about 2-3 hours in the Zoo. It was a nice ambiance but the concept of caged animals did not appeal much to us and we proceeded towards our next stop which was the Pod chocolate Factory. It was a private factory in the middle of a forest. They were offering elephant rides to the tourists. The factory was not open for visit and only the store and restaurant was open for visitors. So we tried different varieties of Balinese chocolates in the store before buying a bag full of chocolates for our favourite people back home in India. While we were busy tasting the chocolates, it starting raining heavily! We watched the heavy rain from the restaurant and waited for the sun to reappear before walking back towards our cab through the dense forest. We then stopped at a jewellery store on Puttu’s request, but without wasting much time there, as we are not very keen, we proceeded to see the coffee plantations. We went into a private coffee farm where variety of coffee was grown and processed. We were shown the steps involved in the processing of coffee and later were give a taste of all the varieties. It was all happening in the middle of a dense forest and the ambience was very peaceful and refreshing. In the end we purchased a few coffee packs just out of courtesy and came back to our hotel late in the evening to relax and enjoy the pool. Later we planned for our most awaited day- the water sports day!

Day 4

We were very excited as we were going to experience the most awaited water sports activities of Bali. We had negotiated for a package of 3 adventure sports for Rs.12000/- each. We went in the cab towards the Kuta Beach and reached the shack of Benoa Marine Recreation Dive and Water sports, North Coast. We first went for scuba diving. We got into our diving suits and wore the googles and oxygen cylinder. I was a bit nervous at the very thought of going deep inside the Indian Ocean. But to our surprise we were given a nice training for the same and were taught breathing in swimming pool for around 20 minutes. This boosted my confidence and we went inside the ocean on a motor boat. Once we reached an appropriate spot, we were told to jump out into the ocean. We had one instructor with us. I was again getting nervous. The moment we dived into the ocean, I hit my head at the bottom of our boat and panicked! I was unable to relax and signaled the instructor to pull me to the surface. After this I could not gather confidence to go back down into the ocean, so I got back into the boat. But my hubby Mayank, was undeterred and went deep into the bed of the ocean and enjoyed watching the fishes and fed bread crumbs to them. He came back and narrated how heavenly and peaceful he felt down there and how I had missed out on the most ravishing experience ever!

Next we did the Parasailing. It was a thrilling experience and we felt being on top of the world, floating 20 ft above the ocean, watching the waves, mini islands and experiencing the moist wind splash across our faces. This was followed by our adventure of surfing! We had to balance ourselves on a surf board while being pulled away by the motor boat. We attempted it 3 times each and could manage to stand for just a few seconds before falling face down into the ocean with so much force that it almost felt like drowning! We then had dinner at a beautiful restaurant along the beach raising toast to the most memorable day that we had!

We were on our way to the Lembongan Island in a ferry. We chose to sit on the deck so as to enjoy the warmth and sight of the ocean. Upon reaching the island, we enquired about a desolate beach from the locals and after a few inputs, we took a shared bus to the Dream Beach Hut. The sea over there was so blue, clear and pristine, that the sky and the ocean merged into each other seamlessly. It was a beautiful sight with very few people around. We enjoyed in the waves for hours and then spent the rest of the time at a pool facing the sea.

Day 5

The next day we dedicated for exploring the Nusa Lembogan Island. We took a ferry across the ocean. All the booking were again done through Puttu at a very reasonable rate. He also saved us from a fraud money exchanger in the market who deceived us by a counting trick and handed over just 8.5 lakh Bali rupiah instead of 13 lakh as per the then conversion rate for a 100 USD dollar note! When we counted the cash, it was 8.5 and when the guy counted it was 13. So we gave him a benefit of doubt after he counted the same 2-3 times. But when we went to Puttu’s shop and told him about the incident, he immediately told us to count again and came with us to that fraud shop and helped get our money back! So we were on our way to the Lembongan Island. We chose to sit on the deck so as to enjoy the warmth and sight of the ocean. Upon reaching the island, we enquired about a desolate beach from the locals and after a few inputs, we took a shared bus to the Dream Beach Hut. The sea over there was so blue, clear and pristine, that the sky and the ocean merged into each other seamlessly. It was a beautiful sight with very few people around. We enjoyed in the waves for hours and then spent the rest of the time at a pool facing the sea. The overall experience was very relaxing and a feast for the whole mind and body. We returned back to our hotel and bought some souvenir for our friends. Back at the airport we again explored all the retail stores and eateries. We returned back with the best memories for life!!

And now we don’t say cheese, we say Baliii in front of the lens!

P.S. Pl comment in the box in case you want Puttu’s number, he responds on whatsapp:P