I vacationed almost 2 weeks in Indonesia, arriving via Jakarta, but staying mainly in Bali with a day-long trip to Lombok.
Getting There
The flight there on Cathay Pacific from SFO was remarkable in that we head strong headwinds, so had to refuel in Taipei before the stopover in HK.
I imagine many of the passengers were annoyed since their final destination was actually Taipei, but were not allowed to actually disembark during the refueling. So they had to fly on to HK, then back to Taipei.
The refuelling stop meant that I was short on time for my transit in HK, so I requested a seat near an exit, and the stewardess was kind enough to move me to first class half an hour before landing. Thus I made the connecting flight to Jakarta.
Kuta
Arriving in Bali after a flight on Garuda from Jakarta ($110), the Kuta area was busier than I have ever seen it, with hotels sold out.
I was booked at the Bounty Hotel for 2 nights ($60/nite), then had to hit the pavement to find another hotel.
The Bounty is the wildest hotel I have ever stayed in, and deliberately so. There motto is, “For the young at heart.”
It caters to drunken Aussie partiers, male and female, who party day and night in and around the 2 swimming pools. Each Friday nite there is a rock concert on the hotel grounds. The holiday season lobby mascot is a life-size, hungover Santa Claus holding a beer bottle. Definitely recommended to those who want to have a good time.
On Jl. Legian, I found a hotel, the Sari Yasa Samudra Legian, where the front desk did not speak English, so I was able to get a bungalow there with my adequate Bahasa Indonesia. AC and breakfast (toast and coffee), but no hot water or cable, for $22/nite.
The hotel is about 50m to the center of Jl. Legian nightlife: Paddy’s, Maccaroni, and other nightspots.
To celebrate New Year’s Eve, I went to Maccaroni for their dinner party. At midnite 3 kecak fire dancers performed, which was breathtaking in the dark.
Some really good restaurants in the area are Cafe Havana on Jl. Popies 1, and Cafe Sendok on Jl. Legian. Cafe Havana has excellent Cuban/Latin American food, including burritos and tortillas, but not tacos. I’m not exactly sure why there’s about 100 photos of Che Guevara, though.
Cafe Sendok is very popular at nite. It has good food and also free wifi.
I brought an Acer Aspire One netbook on this trip – only 2 pounds. Generally you can find free wifi around Jl. Legian at all times, so I was able to keep up on my email.
One change worth mentioning is that Ade Rai’s Hammerhead Fitness Gym moved from the very convenient Jl. Legian to the somewhat remote Jl. Nakula about a year ago.
It is located on the 3rd floor, above a minimart. (If you can climb to the third floor without puffing, you’re already in shape. 
) A staff member told me they used a crane to move the gym equipment.
The gym is now a little smaller and more crowded, and doesn’t have a separate floor area or crossover cable apparatus. It’s out in the countryside, but still the best gym in Bali, so people find it. Flagging down a taxi is possible, but they dislike destinations on Jl. Legian, fearing traffic jams.
There’s a big picture of Komang Arnawa in the lobby, who now trains in Australia. I met his brother, Ketut, who lives in Bali and also works out.
There is also a Wawan’s Gym in Tuban, but I haven’t visited there yet.
Lombok
I spent one nite and day on the island of Lombok, which was a 20 minute flight on Merpati ($78 return) from Denpasar, or 5 hour ferry. I chose to fly. You can see great views of the Bali and Lombok mountains on the right-hand side of the plane, including Mt. Rinjani, clouds permitting.
I stayed in the Hotel Holiday Beach Lombok, $62/nite, which is an outdoor beach resort with good facilities and dining on Sengigi Beach. It’s located 30 minutes from the airport. It must be a 4-star hotel, since it has an acre of marble in the lobby.
There is a small gym, which is usable if you pre-AC it for an hour and arrange the equipment with enough separation for safety.
During the daytime in Lombok, I took photos in Batu Bolong Hindu Temple, and a nearby village. There were 2 new cute housing developments, with dozens of colorful one-room buildings for sale.
According to the driver, Pak Haji, who has been a driver for the hotel for 15 years, Lombok is what Bali looked like 20 years ago. Indonesian people are not that excited about visiting Lombok because it “just looks like a typical village.”
Going Home
The flight back was tough. My connecting flight in HK was delayed over 2 hours because the plane was commandeered to replace one needed for an Indian leg apparently.
Because of the delay, my boarding pass was also good as a meal voucher for $75 – that’s HK$75, only enough for a burger combo. The restaurant employees helpfully run up your total until it hits $75, whether you ask or not.
Eventually my plane showed up, and we had a 80-100 mph tailwind – but with a very sick family onboard, crouping all 10 hours of the flight. The kind of souvenir you don’t want to take home, but unavoidable.
Note: prices listed above are in USD at an exchange rate of USD$1 = 11,000 Rp.
