Bali Trip

I've written about Air Asia's cheap flights in the past here. R and I finally had a chance to try Air Asia out. Overall, the experience wasn't that bad and because of the low airfare it made our trip to Bali very reasonable. The plane tickets were not booked during one of those very cheap Air Asia Sales, so we could have done better on the price. But who can complain for round trip tickets at 393myr each (about $125 USD).

We decided to stay only in Ubud, Bali during our seven day stay. It was good, but after a few days we found ourselves booking a driver to take us to temples and other sites outside of Ubud which was fun and a great way to see the rolling green countryside. The view above is of the rice paddy field behind our hotel.

As the trip was to be economical, we decided to stay at Nirwa Homestay where we bargained the price down to 200,000 Indonesian Rupiah (about 72myr or $23 USD) per night. You can see from the photos the place was charming, but for reasons I won't go into R and I wouldn't recommend the place. There are plenty of other places to stay that are nicer.

The terrace outside our room on the ground floor

Inside our room

The food in Ubud was pretty good compared to Malaysia, I guess because they have so many picky western visitors. We enjoyed some dishes you can't find easily around Malaysia. But, our favorite place was an organic restaurant out in the middle of the rice paddy fields (see above) it was a long walk from the main road, but actually not far from our hotel. We ate at Sari Organic almost everyday. A couple times for early dinner because it closes at 8:30pm -- you have to walk back in the non-lit rice paddy field paths and it gets very dark. When we were there it was around full moon time which meant that the place could stay open a bit later and the paths were not as dark. Actually, around full moon is a good time to go to Bali we were told by our guide because after full moon it is considered a good time for ceremonies and cremations (we saw a few of both while we were there). Anyway, food, alcohol and treats cost us -- I'm guessing -- no more than 475,000 Indonesian Rupiah (about 171myr or $54 USD) per day.

All in all, it was a great trip; we plan to keep checking the Air Asia sales and see where else we can go in Southeast Asia... the airport is close to our house and the flights aren't that long because Malaysia is centrally located!

I'll post some photos of the many unique plants we saw soon.