Indonesia In-Progress
Apr 13th, 2007, 08:21 AM
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Indonesia In-Progress
I just got to Bandung, and amazingly, have a free internet connection, so I thought I'd post a few on-the-fly comments about my current trip.
This is mostly a business trip, so there's not too much to tell. I arrived in Bali on Tuesday. My business in Bali required me to stay one night in the Kuta area. This trip I picked the Mercure up on Legian beach, next to the Hard Rock. I've now done most of the hotels around Kuta, so I'll guess I'll have to start over next time.
The Mercure is quite nice, and certainly good value for money. I had a 4th floor room near the pool (yes, the pool is on top of the hotel). The room was quite comfortable, and I had a small balcony with a view of the beach. No carpeting, but that makes a lot of sense for a beach hotel. The pool was good sized, but not deep. A lot of the guests seemed to like to just sit in the pool, looking over the infinity edge at the surfers down on the ocean. Breakfast was good, but nothing special.
Kuta at this time of year is hot but not very crowded. I noticed a lot of construction, but nothing new. The Ramayama has finally finished its extensive remodeling and looks great.
After the one night in Kuta, I took off for Ubud for a couple of days. I stayed at Payangan Hideaway ("P-H"
. Now, in the interest of full disclosure, I should note that P-H belongs to my Indonesian business associates, and I stayed here for free.
The word "hideaway" is entirely appropriate for this place. It is actually some distance (at least 30 minutes) from Ubud itself, out past - way past - the Alila and Hanging Gardens resorts. After turning off the main road, you travel down a narrow lane just big enough for one car for several miles, through rice fields, banana groves, cocoa plantations and a couple of small villages.
Once you get there, it really is like being in the middle of nowhere. P-H is just six villas, arranged in pairs down the steep hill. There's no buildings on either side, and it took me until late the next day to spot the one house up-stream on the other side of the valley.
I had one of the main villas ("Padma II" to be exact). The villa was surrounded on three sides by a sort of moat filled with ornamental fish. There was a little porch at the front, facing the valley. Inside was a king size platform bed, a satellite TV with DVD player and a couple of small nooks, one with a window seat, the other with a desk. The bed's headboard formed a low wall. Behind this was a sort of walk-through closet to the bathroom, which had a nice tub and TWO seperate showers - one inside and one outside.
Next to the villa was an open pavilion where you could sit outside, and behind this was a small building housing a kitchenette, for those wishing to do a bit of self-catering.
The other four villas are a bit smaller, but still quite nice. There are stairs all the way down to the river, where there is a small shrine marking the location of a spring said to have healing powers.
There's also a pool and play area, although I don't think this is a good place for kids, with all the stairs. There's no restaurant per se, but there is a cook who did a nice job with the few meals I ate there. Isolated as it is, the night-life is a bit noisy - cicadas, crickets, frogs and who knows what else.
Personally, I generally prefer a place where you can walk to lots of shops and restaurants, but for those who really want to get away from it all, you couldn't get much further than this. The web site is: http://www.payangan-hideaway.com
This morning I caught a flight from Bali to Jakarta, then drove here to Bandung for more business. I'm staying at the Novotel, which just opened last December. The design is nice, if a bit could-be-anywhere, and as I said at the beginning, you can use the internet in your room for free, which is a nice change from the places (like the Mercure in Kuta) that want to charge five times what you pay to use the internet at a shop.
From Bandung, I make a quite stop in Yogya, then back to Bali for a night on my way home to Bangkok, so there may be more to come.
This is mostly a business trip, so there's not too much to tell. I arrived in Bali on Tuesday. My business in Bali required me to stay one night in the Kuta area. This trip I picked the Mercure up on Legian beach, next to the Hard Rock. I've now done most of the hotels around Kuta, so I'll guess I'll have to start over next time.
The Mercure is quite nice, and certainly good value for money. I had a 4th floor room near the pool (yes, the pool is on top of the hotel). The room was quite comfortable, and I had a small balcony with a view of the beach. No carpeting, but that makes a lot of sense for a beach hotel. The pool was good sized, but not deep. A lot of the guests seemed to like to just sit in the pool, looking over the infinity edge at the surfers down on the ocean. Breakfast was good, but nothing special.
Kuta at this time of year is hot but not very crowded. I noticed a lot of construction, but nothing new. The Ramayama has finally finished its extensive remodeling and looks great.
After the one night in Kuta, I took off for Ubud for a couple of days. I stayed at Payangan Hideaway ("P-H"
. Now, in the interest of full disclosure, I should note that P-H belongs to my Indonesian business associates, and I stayed here for free.The word "hideaway" is entirely appropriate for this place. It is actually some distance (at least 30 minutes) from Ubud itself, out past - way past - the Alila and Hanging Gardens resorts. After turning off the main road, you travel down a narrow lane just big enough for one car for several miles, through rice fields, banana groves, cocoa plantations and a couple of small villages.
Once you get there, it really is like being in the middle of nowhere. P-H is just six villas, arranged in pairs down the steep hill. There's no buildings on either side, and it took me until late the next day to spot the one house up-stream on the other side of the valley.
I had one of the main villas ("Padma II" to be exact). The villa was surrounded on three sides by a sort of moat filled with ornamental fish. There was a little porch at the front, facing the valley. Inside was a king size platform bed, a satellite TV with DVD player and a couple of small nooks, one with a window seat, the other with a desk. The bed's headboard formed a low wall. Behind this was a sort of walk-through closet to the bathroom, which had a nice tub and TWO seperate showers - one inside and one outside.
Next to the villa was an open pavilion where you could sit outside, and behind this was a small building housing a kitchenette, for those wishing to do a bit of self-catering.
The other four villas are a bit smaller, but still quite nice. There are stairs all the way down to the river, where there is a small shrine marking the location of a spring said to have healing powers.
There's also a pool and play area, although I don't think this is a good place for kids, with all the stairs. There's no restaurant per se, but there is a cook who did a nice job with the few meals I ate there. Isolated as it is, the night-life is a bit noisy - cicadas, crickets, frogs and who knows what else.
Personally, I generally prefer a place where you can walk to lots of shops and restaurants, but for those who really want to get away from it all, you couldn't get much further than this. The web site is: http://www.payangan-hideaway.com
This morning I caught a flight from Bali to Jakarta, then drove here to Bandung for more business. I'm staying at the Novotel, which just opened last December. The design is nice, if a bit could-be-anywhere, and as I said at the beginning, you can use the internet in your room for free, which is a nice change from the places (like the Mercure in Kuta) that want to charge five times what you pay to use the internet at a shop.
From Bandung, I make a quite stop in Yogya, then back to Bali for a night on my way home to Bangkok, so there may be more to come.
Apr 14th, 2007, 08:30 AM
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More on Bandung - We didn't have a lot that *had* to be done today, so my Indonesian host asked if I wanted to go shopping. It seems that his wife gave him a shopping list of things to get for the kids.
Now, if you didn't know it, Bandung is, like, THE factory outlet capital of the world. I realised I didn't have a jacket for my upcoming trip to the USA, so I agreed to go along. I ended up with a nice black leather jacket for $30.
Bandung is mainly visited by Jakartans, who come up for the weekend to shop, and eat. There are tons of restaurants all over town (yes, including one of mine).
I have to get up early tomorrow to drive back to Jakarta in time to catch a plane for Yogyakarta. More later.
Now, if you didn't know it, Bandung is, like, THE factory outlet capital of the world. I realised I didn't have a jacket for my upcoming trip to the USA, so I agreed to go along. I ended up with a nice black leather jacket for $30.
Bandung is mainly visited by Jakartans, who come up for the weekend to shop, and eat. There are tons of restaurants all over town (yes, including one of mine).
I have to get up early tomorrow to drive back to Jakarta in time to catch a plane for Yogyakarta. More later.
Apr 14th, 2007, 04:59 PM
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Michael, Appreciate your comments. I used to weekend in Bandung frequently when the Chedi was operating -- beautiful views, good food, the novelty of a roaring fire in Indonesia. I haven't been back since it to changed hands (now called Malya) but I understand it's slipped somewhat. Have you been by?
Apr 16th, 2007, 07:06 PM
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Now just killing time back in Bali before flying home to Bangkok.
Yogya was a really flying visit, just to look at a location. I stayed in the Saphir to be close to the location. It's not bad, but is a rather run-down tourist class hotel.
They couldn't get me a flight back to Bali until noon, so I thought I'd run through Prabanan on the way to the airport, but was surprised to learn that it's still closed due to earthquake damage two years ago. They have managed to clear a path just inside the inner wall, so it's still worth a visit. The driver suggested we stop at another small temple, Candi Sembasari, which was quite nice. It was once covered by earth, and now sits in a large excavated depression.
I had to stay one night in Bali, since the flight from Yogya was too close to make a copnnection to the Thai flight. Since I didn't have to be near business, I decided to stay up in Seminyak, where I haven't stayed for about five years.
I'm staying at the Resor Seminyak, which is next to the Legian. It's quite nice, especially considering the low season price. The superior room is quite large. I could easily imagine spending a week or so here comfortably. Seminyak is still sturprisingly undeveloped, especially compared to Kuta or even Sanur. There are quite a few restaurants along the road outside the hotels, but not so many shops, which means there's aren't any of the touts hounding you down the street.
I get home tonight, so I should have some photos posted in the next few days.
Yogya was a really flying visit, just to look at a location. I stayed in the Saphir to be close to the location. It's not bad, but is a rather run-down tourist class hotel.
They couldn't get me a flight back to Bali until noon, so I thought I'd run through Prabanan on the way to the airport, but was surprised to learn that it's still closed due to earthquake damage two years ago. They have managed to clear a path just inside the inner wall, so it's still worth a visit. The driver suggested we stop at another small temple, Candi Sembasari, which was quite nice. It was once covered by earth, and now sits in a large excavated depression.
I had to stay one night in Bali, since the flight from Yogya was too close to make a copnnection to the Thai flight. Since I didn't have to be near business, I decided to stay up in Seminyak, where I haven't stayed for about five years.
I'm staying at the Resor Seminyak, which is next to the Legian. It's quite nice, especially considering the low season price. The superior room is quite large. I could easily imagine spending a week or so here comfortably. Seminyak is still sturprisingly undeveloped, especially compared to Kuta or even Sanur. There are quite a few restaurants along the road outside the hotels, but not so many shops, which means there's aren't any of the touts hounding you down the street.
I get home tonight, so I should have some photos posted in the next few days.
Apr 19th, 2007, 05:53 PM
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Okay, the photos are up on my travel journal site. Start here:
http://chiengfa.com/gallery2/main.ph...p;g2_itemId=92
New albums are Candi Sambisari and Prabanan in the Java album, and the Monkey Forest and Payangan Hideaway in the Bali album.
http://chiengfa.com/gallery2/main.ph...p;g2_itemId=92
New albums are Candi Sambisari and Prabanan in the Java album, and the Monkey Forest and Payangan Hideaway in the Bali album.
