Kintamani & Nusa Dua

After swimming with dolphins, we took our ride from Lovina to Kintamani for lunch. And for the panaromic view of Gunung Batur and Danau Batur. The 2nd highest active volcano in Bali. The view was nice and the wind was very strong. The high altitude made the place very cooling. I've got to tell you, it requires courage to sit by this view for lunch with just a tube and shorts :P

After the expensive yet not delicious lunch, we skipped Pura Besakih and headed straight to Nusa Dua.

We stayed in Grand Mirage Hotel, another relatively cheapest beachfront hotel in Nusa Dua. We arrived in Nusa Dua in the afternoon, it was a low tide, so no luck for water sports. So, we were just sun tanning and swimming all the time in Nusa Dua hotel and beach.

I didn't take any photos in Nusa Dua, the volcano photos were the last shots I took throughout the trip.

In conclusions, anyone who love sun and beaches, Bali is worth to go. But be prepared that the food and transprots aren't cheap at all. The accomodation can be cheap if you do not chose to stay at beach front hotels. But we're lucky, we've got budget airline to give out free tickets, like Airasia! Saved a lot for that~

I LOVE IT~

Dolphin Day

Mini aquarium in the hotel lobby

When we departed from the seaside to watch dolphins

Breathtaking experience

On the forth day, we work up as early as 5.45am to meet our dolphin tour boat man. And yes! We're very excited about it, but at the same time, praying for the best so that we could spot wild dolphins at the sea.

Lovina beach was a black sand beach due to the volcano around it. The water was very clear, but due to the dark colour, you hardly see through the sea water. But the sands were very nice and smooth to walk on.

We boarded our small little boat, fit only 3 persons in 3 different rows. I thought I was lucky for not falling out from the boat when I was so excited seeing the dolphins. Our boat man was actually quite good and experience. For the first 2-3 times when the dolphins surfaced out from the water, we were quite far apart. We even saw dolphins making jumps like what we saw in the animal shows. After several attempts, our boat man got hold of the direction of the dolphins, we've actually have twice close encounters with the dolphins when they surfaced out just beside our boat! I was super excited at that time. I just can't express the feelings properly.

Wild dolphins just beside the boat!!!! How cool was that?!

It was an 2 hour tour, but it felt so short. When we finally got back to the hotel, we had our breakfast and got prepared to swim with the dolphins in the hotel. We caught a dolphin show first then the swimming.

I had quite some mental preparation how it would be like, but too bad I didn't really prep Yee Hau very well. So, he's kind of traumatised by the experience. The dolphins weren't very "gentle", nor they are violent. They were very playful. I believe they were just using normal strength, but we're already having bruises all over. At the first dip, the dolphins were just gently moving with you as you swim. But after a while, they started to "assess" you by pushing you. Then when they think they can play with you, they're getting very playful and rough. And yes, dolphins do "molest" us! Especially females! Seems like they can differentiate females and males. They don't quite like Yee Hau when he went into the pool with me, so that keepers have to pull him out from the pool. I was there in the pool pushing around by the dolphins, and molested. Gosh! Of course, I have bruises like what they said in the internet and blogs! Hahahaha!

By the way, something that I must mention here, the dolphins actually kissed me! Without me asking for one :D

All in all, I did not regret doing this, I had fun, with some pain :P

Just be prepared what you gonna get from big animals like these :)

To be continued: Kintamani & Nusa Dua

Road Trip--Ubud, Bedugul, Gitgit Waterfall in Bali

Ibu Oka's Babi Guling in Ubud












Bedugul Market

Danau Bratan, Bedugul

Gitgit Waterfall

On our third day, we hired a driver to drive us from Sanur to Lovina. We spent Rp650,000 for this trip. It's much more expensive if you're travelling one way because the driver will have to be back to their own town very late, and they'll be back on empty car. So, very difficult to bargain for lower price. We still went ahead with this plan, as we did not want to spend time travelling to and fro everyday.

We arrived at Ubud quite early, around 11.30am for an early lunch at Ibu Oka, the famous babi guling shop in Ubud. The babi guling was delicious but very oily. I bet my mom is going to love it! It's only Rp25,000 per person.

Then, we passed Ubud town but we didn't stop for any art and crafts seeing. And definitely not the monkeys too! On the way to Bedugul, we saw rice terrace. But the scale was way too small compared to what we saw in Guilin and Nepal (Yee Hau's trip), so we didn't intend to stop at all.

Our driver took us to Bedugul market and we bought some strawberries and also some crackers. But seriously, the crackers weren't good at all!

Then, we reached the famous tourist spot of Danau Bratan in Bedugul. I bet you've seen this in Bali guide book. The place was full with tourists and we spotted lots of Penangites aunties and uncles too! Muahahahaha!

After Bedugul, the driver drove us to Gitgit waterfall. It was quite a long walk from the entrance to the waterfall itself. The water was cooling but we didn't play in the waterfall, cause it'll just be so troublesome to change there. What's more, we have cameras!

At 4pm something, we finally checked into our room at Melka Excelsior Hotel in Lovina. We decided to stay here just because of the dolphins. Melka Excelsior Hotel is quite a lousy hotel in terms of facilities, and lots of things were still under rennovation. Of course, I didn't expected this from the website. I think it's all because they use up all the money in maintaining the dolphin pools. Yes, dolphins. We stayed there so that we could swim in their pools with dolphins (at least me!).

To be continued: Dolphin Day~

Nusa Lembongan, Bali

On our second day at Bali, we bought a Perama ticket which took us from Kuta to Sanur on their shuttle bus and a return boat ticket from Sanur to Nusa Lembongan. The journey from Sanur to Nusa Lembongan was a bit rocky due to the big waves. The japanese boys in front of us were feeling very uncomfortable and the younger brother vomitted. Poor thing.

When we finally reached Nusa Lembongan, Robin and Rick were there waiting for us. We're easy to spot as we're the only few yellow skin. Robin and Rick took us on the motorbike to their Shipwrecks Beach Villa. Robin and Rick were both from Australia and this Shipwrecks Beach Villa was actually a holiday getaway until their daughters got married. They decided to turn this into a guest house. Brilliant place~ Besides, Robin and Rick were both very very friendly and helpful.

After our lunch at Linda's restaurant, another Australian friend of Robin, Robin helped us to get her friends to bring us to snorkel. It's actually a drift snorkelling, which we're just left in the middle of the sea and flowed with the current from an end to another end till we reached the boat. The water wasn't crystal clear on that day, that's a shame.

After the first spot, our boat man brought us to another spot to watch GT, Giant Trevally. The fishes are HUGE! And the boat man was feeding them with something when we're in the water. It was quite scary at first when the fishes seem so close to attack us. But when we realized they're over the food, not us, it's all okay.

The snorkelling was suppose to be 2 hours, but we're back after 3 hours. We cleaned ourselves at the opened area shower. We stayed in the master bedroom at Shipwrecks, and the bathroom was the best part--everything is open air! It feels kind of weird at start, but I liked it after a while.

We listened to Robin's advice, we ran to the seaside to catch the incredible sunset! It was INCREDIBLE! It's more than words to describe. We stayed along the beach until the sun was fully set and we got back to villa to get a torch light.

We had dinner in Two Thousands Restaurant. When we're walking back to Shipwrecks, we could see the stars on the sky were like falling to the ground. It's just fantastic~

The next day, we followed the route that Robin told us, we went to see the sunrise. We didn't have luck that morning. The clouds were too thick, but still nice.

Nusa Lembongan is a nice place to learn how to "do nothing" for a whole day. I love this place. And what's more, it's the most enjoyable stay I had for the entire 4nights trip. Thanks to Robin and Rick's warm hospitality. And of course, thanks to Min Chunn for recommending too~

To be continued: Ubud, Gitgit Waterfall, Bedugul

Kuta, Bali

Yee Hau & I decided to go to Bali because we managed to grab hold of the $0 ticket by Airasia from Singapore to Bali, a new opening flight this year! I was very excited about this, because it's free, and I haven't been enjoying myself with beach and sun since the last trip to Pulau Redang with my sister and her friends, which was 2007. I LOVE beaches!

On the first day of Bali, we stayed in Kuta. Yee Hau chosed a beach front hotel, named Bali Garden Beach Hotel, which is one of the cheapest beach front hotel in Kuta and Legian. We love the swimming pool so much, we just can't stop ourselves from dipping into the pool as long as we can. The hotel room itself was a bit old and disappointed if we think about the price. But beach front with wonderful 3 swimming pools, I love it!

In our plan, we should be going to Uluwatu and seafood dinner by Jimbaran beach on the first day. But we fell in love with the beach hotel, we just stayed around Kuta area for the whole day.

Kuta has wonderful sunset. The sand was very very smooth and the waves were very big and strong. We saw lots of surferes along the stretch of beach, it's really a surfers paradise.

We didn't do much on the first day, just plainly relaxing, especially after the shock of being "caught" by polisi (traffic police) and gave him kopi duit! We rent a bike in Kuta on the first day, we drove around to have a look at the town. We made a U-turn at one way street which we didn't know it's a one-way street because there was no signage at all. The polisi were there to wait for the prey like us, and makan our $$$$. We're not alone, another caucassian pair were caught at the same time as we does. So, be careful if you going to ride a bike there.

To be continued: Nusa Lembongan

山水之旅——D10独秀峰

桂林人以他们的状元为荣。所以，在桂林市多出的那一天，我们就到独秀峰去参观参观。

当天早上，睡醒的时候天不停地在下雨，我们睡了又醒，醒了再睡，雨还是在下。没法子，我们就让小洋楼帮我们叫外卖。外卖送来，我们两个坐在小厅里，自顾自的吃，看着漓江的水，望着不停的雨，很无奈。

到了中午，天上的雨稍微转小，我们马上出发！

当天的风很大，气温虽然不会很低，可是强风可以把你吹走

独秀峰在靖王城里。其实我们眼前的靖王城，是重建的。二战的时候，靖王成被毁坏了。现在重建的靖王城，除了是旅游胜地之外，也是师训大学。靖王城是AAAA级景区（中国的景区都由此分类），算是大力得很好的景区。地方干净之外，每位入场的观光客都可以随着免费的导游。

在独秀峰旁，听说是桂林最大风的地方。再加上当天的强风，简直是雪上加霜，就连当地的导游都受不了。更何况是我们之中没见过世面的山芭佬？独秀峰里，藏着的是皇帝的龙脉。其实，龙脉里，收藏的就是太岁。这地方保留得很好，游客都需当地的导游带，才可以进入。在里面，导游叫我们如何拜太岁。我对这种事情不懂，他们说，我就坐呗~

观光完以后，我们实在是冷到不行了，到摩玛蛋糕屋躲起来。把钱败给了草莓蛋糕~

其实，在桂林的最后几天，我们都没在所什么。不外是到处逛逛（对于桂林市的步行街，我相信我们闭着眼睛也知道有什么店门），买书逛街……唯一到的景点，也不过是独秀峰。其他时间，我们用来向桂林人学习，看天做人。下雨就躲在房里，雨停就出门。走路慢一点，看风景多一点。饭吃多一点，衣服带多点……

总结~

比起我到过中国的其他地方，桂林肯定不是我最喜欢的。可是，我也当然不讨厌。食物方面，桂林的美食只是普通。交通方面，桂林也没有云南的方便。说起旅游景点，一些地方的管理方面还是有待改善。可是生活步伐，桂林肯定是最悠闲的！

如果一定要我再去桂林一次，我会去哪里？我会住阳朔（废话！当然是老班长啦！），在兴坪漂流，然后上龙脊梯田无所事事。

这三个地方，就是桂林的重点了~

我还会再去吗？可能不会了，因为中国那么大！走也走不完，还是去别的地方吧~

山水之旅——D9北有长城，南有灵渠

从旅行回来以后，发现我在灵渠拍的照片最少。第一，是因为我当天拉肚子了。全身没力气，老是担心什么时候又要上厕所；第二，是因为灵渠让人失望。

知道灵渠这地方，完全是因为姐姐看了Nat Geo，发现原来是秦始皇的杰作，所以去朝拜。我俩反正是与秦始皇有关的就去！结果，让人大失所望。

灵渠其实可以是一个非常悠闲的古镇，可是，可能因为地方政府规划得不好，那里就成为一个普普通通的一条渠。多浪费。

我们游荡在领取周边，直到到达了灵渠公园，想进入的时候，竟向我们收费40元/人。我们看了看，很不满意就走人。结果，我们在灵渠只花了短短的三个小时。

我已经很懒惰在未领取介绍，因为姐姐的很详细，就让她来告诉你吧~

山水之旅——D8龙脊梯田到桂林

隔天一早，闹钟把我们吵醒。我们望望窗外，发现有如老板所说的，肯定没有日出，准得不得了。我们在桂林已经8天，也学会了看天做人，所以就像老板说的，睡觉很幸福，再睡一会儿。我们睡到自然醒，醒来已经9点，下楼向老板娘要早餐，边等早餐，边拍照。

老板娘的米粉，比那个在阳朔吃的闻名的螺丝粉好吃多了！香喷喷的~还有一个煎蛋~

这里的蜘蛛究竟吃什么长大~

我们在附近胡乱拍照以后，中午就下山回桂林。由于第一天的“恐怖”经验，我们决定聘人帮我们背包。结果，老板娘扔下自己的客人不理，帮我们找了一位好姐妹，两人为我们一人被一个下山去。由于下雨，路滑得很。我们两个从城里来的山芭佬很怕死，走路慢得很。再加上我在老寨山跌了一回，很怕再跌一次，走路特别地慢。老板娘找来两支拐杖。还扶我们下山。T_T好尴尬哦！

我们搭了到龙胜县城的巴士，打算在龙胜转车到桂林。在车上，买票的小姐问我们是否往桂林。她说根本不用到龙胜，在路上要是遇见开往桂林的巴士，可以帮我们叫车。我们听得有点一头雾水，不过他既然说了，我们就看看再办。结果，真让我们遇见桂林的车，司机向桂林车示意要停车。然后，就让这叫我们赶快下车转车。我俩就这样背着大包，在大马路上奔跑。桂林的司机也很好，看我俩的包够大，天又下雨，还倒车让我们容易追得上。台好人了~

就这样，我们就回到桂林市。

我们二话不说，往第一天物色的小洋楼青年旅社，舒舒服服的住了下来。




待续：北有长城，南有灵渠