Relaxing in Ubud

We quickly wanted to escape busy Kuta and after some searching around Ubud we are now staying in a small bungalow set in a lovely Balinese compound owned by a friendly man named Toko. Definitely recommended for anyone who gets the chance to go to Bali. The name of the place is Toko Toko, as it is Toko’s Toko (=shop/business), located at Jalan Campuhan Sanggingan. There are only 11 rooms and in the compound right next to us is little family temple. Just a few steps away there is an infinity pool with rice field view! So happy that we ran into this one, as you cannot see from the street that they rent out bungalows. For the moment we are just relaxing on our beautiful day bed and enjoying the food. Will probably stay here for a couple more nights to unwind and get ready for our next stop. We’re using Bali to pamper ourselves a little bit. We haven’t decided yet where we will go next. Currently thinking about maybe heading to Sulawesi, Kalimantan and Borneo.

First night in Bali

After arriving on Bali we were so tired that we just wanted to go to the nearest hotel. On our Asia flight we saw an add for a new hotel and asked the taxi driver to take us there. Of course he tried to sell us another place, when we got there a one-eyed man showed us a filthy room. So… we decided to stick with the original idea for that night.

The founder of Tunes Hotels is also the owner of Air Asia and the concept is the same, everything = low cost, like Ryan Air in Europe. The base price is low and varies depending on demand and how long in advance you make your booking. The rooms are basic - not much in it, but what’s in it is good – comfortable bed, but no TV, small bathroom but with rain shower. The base price only includes sleeping in the room and having the room cleaned. Towels, blow dryer, wifi and even air conditioning are charged separately. Interesting concept: you get what you pay for!

Stopover in Bangkok

Personally the thing that I am a little bit disappointed about is all the yummy Thai food that I did not get to taste! We did go out and have pad thai on a small square near our hotel where little food stalls had set up some tables. And I was happy to try a street snack, some sausages and fish cake with a spicy chili sauce. Yieling, Wendy, Frank and King; here’s the proof of using the tooth picks! Other than that not much to do, as there was a curfew in the evening and we were only there for less than a day.

On our way from Dusseldorf to Bangkok

A good thing about all the commotion about Thailand was that apparently many people had cancelled their flight. The plane was probably only 1/3 full, so we quickly conquered a row with 2 seats and a row with 4 seats for the two of us. We were also flying on an Airbus 330, which had just crashed in Tripoli, this may have also have added to the reason why people were not eager on flying…

Bangkok, to be or not to be there?

Right before we were supposed to fly to BKK the confrontations with the red shirts and the Thai army were getting heavier and heavier and the state of emergency was also declared in other provinces across the country. So last minute we decided to book a flight to get out of BKK asap, as my friend where we were gonna stay also advised us not to come. The cheapest flight we could find was to Bali - not bad at all of course – and we booked a hotel to sleep in between flights. When I say we arranged this last minute, I mean last minute. I think we booked the flight and hotel about 3 ‘o clock in the morning. But when we woke up a few hours later, the leaders of the red shirts had given up! Just our luck… :)

Final days back home in Holland

The last days before our departure were pretty hectic. I worked up until the 10th of May. Julian was free by then, but busy setting up his company DUNC Consultancy (the website should be up and running in the next few weeks www.consultdunc.com). We have given up our apartment in Amsterdam and spent the last days moving all of our stuff out and storing it at our parents’ houses. Most of it is at Julian’s mom’s house, so Susan thanks again!