One of the familiar names you often see posting comments on Baliblog is Godinho (actually Fernando from Portugal). This afternoon in Kuta I got a call from him and we met up at Santa Fe in Seminyak. Fernando is holiday with his girlfriend and they stayed in 3 different parts of Bali, Kuta, Ubud and Nusa Dua. Fernando said that he had heard about Kuta and that it was not the real Bali, but after staying in Nusa Dua feels Kuta is the real Bali, just a modern version. Fernando said they got a great package deal with the flight from Portugal and the hotel in Nusa Dua. "Nusa Dua is all you will see about Bali in Portugal." The package was very good and the hotel was very affordable, but the atmosphere and lack of local culture made them realize Nusa Dua is not the place to be.
We chatted about Balinese culture, myself ordering us a couple of large beers (him paying). It's always fun to discuss the culture here and listen to people's stories. Bali is a unique island and the culture is as much of a draw as the scenery and the surfing.
I got a laugh out of hearing that Fernando knows about Jevon and Ika and some of the past events. It always blows my mind that people that I don't know read Baliblog.
Anyway it was my pleasure to meet them both and I look forward to their next trip.
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They are both very cool and i really look forward to seeing them here again.
I must confess I read this post must sooner than the reply, but returning home I found there was a lot to do? like working!
It was a real pleasure to meat Nick at Seminyak, and we had a very different afternoon, chatting our way trough the large Bintangs.
As I promised, I?ll make a small comment on my journey to Nusa Lembongan:
We managed to bargain the price of a one day trip that included barbeque lunch, something for breakfast and afternoon snack, snorkeling, banana boat ride (one tripe per person), kayaking and use of the swimming pool at the hotel (I think it?s about it), for 950,000Rp for both, that?s about 80?. The company was Island Explorer Cruises, and I believe they?re the cheapest? of course you can notice it in the quality of the boats, age and probably on everything else. But the price difference is like the double, so if your not too picky their a nice option to visit the island and have a nice time.
The company offers 4 boats (same price) http://www.bali-activities.com with different speeds. We chose the fun ship (2nd slower) and it was no fun at all (the boat I mean). In the end of the day all I wish was to have gone in the ocean flyer ship so I could have seen a bit more a bit faster.
The island itself hasn?t much to see in the few hours you have there, nice sandy beach, very hot, locals trying to take you to a tour on the island (what can they show you in 2 or 3 hours tops?)
We chose to snorkel in the corals and saw some nice marine life. The crew from our boat gave us some bread to feed the fish, so there was always plenty around us. We did some kayaking and banana boat riding and spend some time on the island looking around and taking some pictures.
I would advise to take this trip even though is not cheap (in a Balinese point of view), but not in the fun ship! Choose either the relax or the ocean flyer, they seemed the most wise options.
G’Day Nick,
Yeah, it’s great to put a face to a name you see so often commenting on the blog.