It has taken me four months to finally write about our final week in Bali (in early January). With so much time on my hands due to the current status of of the world – better late than never right? The truth is I wasn’t 100% happy about our last week in Legian and I did myself a disservice of not following up on tasks I set myself. For months I have been feeling guilty that I didn’t finish my post and it eroded some of my self esteem. With the lockdown in place I decided to write something (I have been reminiscing about Bali and saddened that I wont be able to travel to my favourite place for a while). With that here is the last bit of our Bali trip (as much as I can remember).
So our time in Ubud came to an end, I was feeling a bit sensitive as we had had the issue of the missing laundry at our accomodation. Anyway we said our goodbyes and we were picked up by our driver (Nyoman). On the way to Legian, I thought it would be a good idea to be a tourist (lol). I had searched on google – so we decided to head to the butterfly park (Kemenuh). We have been to the butterfly park before and loved seeing the butterflies so it was such a lovely repeat – the cost of entrance was about $10NZD per person. It is a small park however there is no time limit. This time we took our time looking at the beautiful butterflies and at the end we got to hold moths and get photo opportunities which was lovely.
We got back into the car and headed to our final homestay Pujihouse One in Legian/ Kuta. The accomodation cost about $40NZD a night for 2 people; included wifi and a small swimming pool – perfect for our budget. The traffic from Ubud to Legian was atrocious as it was New Years Eve. The streets were packed and there was so much excitement in the air; as we always opt to travel to Bali in September; this was a first celebrating New Year overseas. We arrived at our accomodation after three hours of sitting in traffic.
The owners at the guesthouse were so lovely and friendly and check in was smooth – paid cash upfront after I had looked at the room (a bit pedantic but I prefer to see before I pay). The location of the accomodation was the mistake I made – it’s basically in Kuta borderline Legian. To be honest the accomodation was a lovely haven from the chaos in Kuta. However the location I didn’t like it – thats the truth. Kuta is a bit too grimy and our last week here it was really clear we will not be returning to Legian/Kuta again. Still my husband encouraged me to be optimistic and still enjoy our final week.
Decided to get dressed up and celebrate the New Year. As we were getting ready – the electricity went out at the guesthouse. I was panicking as I had half my face done. There was no way in hell I was leaving without a full face of war-paint (makeup). So husband decided to help me and set up my phone and Ipad flashlight and camera so I could finish painting my face whilst he followed up with the owners in regards to the electricity (these are some of the compromises one has to make). Turns out the it was a minor power failure – phew I was worried about not having AC!
We decided to walk to Fat Bowl in Legian for dinner (had not made a reservation thought we would just waltz in and everything would be fine lol). I have to say the streets were packed! People were already partying and boozing and it was just 7pm – sensory overload.
The walk was filled with toots from taxi drivers and several random scooter drivers offering taxi services. We generally prefer to walk everywhere in Bali if we can. After dodging and refusing taxi offers; as well as other offers… we arrived at Fat Bowl – the line outside the restaurant was long and the restaurant staff informed everyone in line that the wait would be an hour or two (lesson learnt always book instead of winging it). As we were debating on where to go (I was not going to waste my war paint!) we looked across the street and Makan had a few empty tables. We made our way over and we were seated at a table in 15 minutes. We were seated looking out towards the main street and people-watched whilst we waited for our food. We started chatting with the family next to us; discussing our holiday trips so far. I had a regular fish and chips with salad and husband had a pasta dish – all were satisfactory. We ate, drank and just talked for a while. Things started to get more exciting – we decided to head to the beach and watch the fire works until midnight. WOW is all I can say – so many people at the beach; fire works going off continuously and the music from the bars we started dancing – just like several other people. Just before midnight, I was completely exhausted and couldn’t take much more action – we decided to head back to our place and head to sleep. Didn’t get up until 11am the next day.
After New Year we spent the rest of our days swimming, reading, lazying about honestly. We ventured to the Beachwalk Mall – did the usual mandatory, Candylicious trip. We also visited the Vihara Dharmayana temple – highly recommend! Really beautiful temple; really peaceful. Finally ate at Fat Bowl – pork belly OMG is all I can say! Also ate at the Brunch Club – I have to say we had some really lovely meals at this place and our regular trip to Gloria Jeans and Starbucks as always. I got a massage everyday and drank so many coconuts (its a wonder how I haven’t turned into one myself as I drank my weights worth and more) and spent a lot of money at Yoghurt Republic as well (the staff knew our names and orders by the 4th day…). basically the last week we ate and ate.
I didn’t really like Legian this time around and will definitely not return. We fell in love with Sanur and Ubud (as always). Our final leg in Legian did not deter me from loving Bali. It’s my favourite place and I am saddened I am likely unable to visit for another year or even more. I just have to contend with re-reading trip reports; blog posts, pictures and video clips of our previous trips. I definitely can not wait to return to the Island of the Gods – I know I am not the only one! I JUST LOVE BALI!
Hope everyone is staying safe! I sincerely hope that the situation in the world will improve soon.
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