We Made it to Sanur – Day 28

Our First Month Away from NZ

I can’t say that it’s a month away from home as we don’t have a house so to speak.  Our home is now wherever our passports are.

It’s been a learning curve during our first 4 weeks as travellers and we have come to realize the difference between being a tourist and being a traveller.

The learning curve hasn’t been unpleasant at all.  We have had our challenges as things don’t always go to plan and sometimes we have struggled to come in on budget as Bali as a whole is one of the most expensive destinations in all of Indonesia.  We won’t really have a clear picture of how we did on the budget front until we leave on Sunday but I’m sure things will equal out in the end.

We have been travelling Bali rather than holidaying in Bali and we don’t think that we have missed out anything that we felt we really wanted to do.  We just had to weigh up whether doing an activity was really worth spending the money on.  In hindsight I would have to say that what we did splash out on was worth every cent.

Resorts vs Homestays

We have had the discussion on whether we felt ‘cheated’ by not staying at resorts, rather than opting for Home Stays and Guest Houses.  The last time we were in Bali a couple of years ago, we stayed in a 5-star resort in the heart of Seiminyak so we have seen it from both sides.

We both agreed that although the experience of a 5-star resort was amazing, we have had had so many unforgettable experiences, met so many friendly locals, ate the ‘real Balinese’ food that we would not want to trade one for the other.

Walking is Free

Getting lost on a daily bases

We love our walking – we get up early most mornings to beat the heat but also to see the surrounding area coming alive for the day.  There’s just us and the locals going through the motions of starting their day.  No matter how early we started out, we always felt that they had a good head start on us and were well into their routines for the day. 

This is when we discovered those hidden alleyways, getting ridiculously lost but seeing sights that we would never have found if we knew where we were going.

Gili Air to Sanur

It was one of those days that you just needed to go with the flow.  The fast (ironic name) ferry was an hour late arriving to pick us up but the sailing was smooth.  The wharf at Panang Bai was nothing short of chaos.  The hawkers were in full swing and were aggressively plying their trade and trying to get fares.  We had an inclusive ticket which included bus transfer through to Sanur so we were heads down, packs on our backs and virtually had to charge through them.  I let Scotty go first of course.

Getting onto the correct shuttle was nothing short of a miracle.  We ended up in a car with two French tourists with their toddler who were going to the airport.  There wasn’t much chance of any conversations as no one in the vehicle spoke English. 

Amazing Accommodation

We ended up in the most amazing home stay – Kubu Daton Home Stay. It has only been open since December so it is lovely and new with

Chilling by the pool

a large swimming pool.  It is so new that it hasn’t yet made it onto Trip Advisor (we will make sure we change that). The hosts are so welcoming and are always on hand for anything we need.  I feel guilty when they make up our room every day, even though we ask them not to worry about it.

It is away from the hustle and bustle of the main tourist area and we are about a 2km walk to the beach but it suits us just fine.

The little family warungs around us are so cheap and we eat where the locals eat, not with the rest of the masses.

We walked the length of the beach walk parade and it was a treat not to have to look out for scooters coming at you in all directions.

Beach bliss at Sanur

Enjoy the video below for the highlights of our stay so far.