Day 8 was our final full day. We pretty much followed our routine of get up late, have brakfast/lunch nearby, drink alcohol in the pool and read books.
Then dinner at a local warung! This time we tried Gazebo Warung – good food and good prices but stay away from the vegetation to the left of the beach dining area unless you want to be besties with some wild rats. Some very ballsy wild rats that will attempt to steal your food.
I booked our transfer to get us to the airport 3.5hrs before scheduled departure as I have read many recent horror stories about traffic around Kuta and on the road to the airport. It wasn’t necessary as we were very early (travelling on a Sunday helped) but made me less stressed. We used booking . Com for our airport transfers and it was $15 AUD each way. It was easy to book online and each time they contacted us via WhatsApp to confirm 24hrs before.
At the airport we accessed a pay per use lounge which is just a little bit more comfortable to wait in. It also meant someone came and met us on arrival which was an unexpected bonus of booking online through TonDesk. We arrived before our flight opened so they got us checked in via the service desk with priority boarding as well. The lounge we we booked into used to be called Premier Lounge (seems to be no name now) and is very basic…but at least you can easily find a power point and stretch out a bit. There are snacks and drinks too.
Packing list review:
Samsonite tiny bag did good! No room at all to spare though. For a longer trip or a touristy one I can see that might be an issue. The weight was also smack bang on 7kg (6.8 going over, 6.5 coming back) which would be a problem if I had to bring my laptop. Hmmm I do not like this 7kg including personal item nonsense. I still love travelling carry on only and not having to deal with luggage at either end though – and the sink washing is manageable now that we have mastered things like laundry sheets and the towel burrito to dry stuff quickly.
- MVP items this time around: My linen/viscose loose tanks from sportsgirl were fantastic. Very pleased with those. Same with my denim shorts that I basically lived in! Perhaps next time I need 2 pairs? The weight is…a lot…for those though. I also really liked my black crz swim top which doubled as a tank top…a bit sweaty but also meant I could just pull shorts on and wander about near the beach without feeling too exposed. The other new item I had was a camixa lightweight crinkle linen shirt. It was cool, kept the sun off and dried fast. It also doubled as an extra layer when I got a bit cold sitting under aircon at the airport
- Anything missing? Maybe need some more of the lightweight polyester crop tops as they dry super fast and are excellent in warmer places which have less modesty issues (eg Vietnam cities wouldn’t work, beach areas would).
- Anything to leave behind? I could have left my Capri quick dry pants – I wore them once. I wore my linen pants on the plane and at dinner so they got a bit more use….I think both would have had more use if we had gone on day trips though so it depends on the type of holiday it is. And if it is raining I guess? I also had 6 pairs of undies (3 pyjama ones, 3 day ones) and as I spent so much time in bathers this was definitely overkill
Accomodation review:
We stayed at Ajanta Villas for around $200 AUD a night and while that seems cheap for a private villa, it’s reflective of the older accomodation style and some of the crappy fittings eg the shower is terrible. The staff were generally good (lower level English than the resorts but that’s fine for us) and we loved the private pool. It was also really close to restaurants, the beach and shops. I think we would come back here!
You do have to walk through the Sindhu Market to get to the beach and back which means ignoring people trying to get you into their shop and it feeling a bit dark/sketchy at night. If we had come back late at night I think we would have come in via the front rather than the market.
Sanur as a location for us
Mel thinks: I find Indonesian food a bit of a struggle as it seems to be very rice oriented and very heavy/greasy which really doesn’t sit well for me. I was able to find lots of alternatives as well as a few local dishes I could eat though. Soto Ayam for the win! The location, the quiet, the weather, the beach, the cost and the private pool all worked for me and I’m ready to just live here now 😂
B thinks: this was definitely a change of mind trip. Happy to come to Bali (Sanur in particular) again, especially for a 3.5hr flight time and with the changes in the visa entry process meaning you just walk right on through. Sanur is definitely what B was hoping Bali would be like the other times he has come. While we did get a bit of the street hassling “you see my shop” and “you need taxi” it was really minimal and they (mostly) respected a no thanks.
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Our next few trips aren’t too far away! Hamelin Bay in southwest WA again in December and then hopefully Vietnam/Singapore in April. Then maybe Bali for my “milestone” birthday and another big achievement at the end of next year
Mel's Travel Blog 