Kuta - some recommendations

I’ve just spent a few weeks in Kuta and thought I’d give a few recommendations.

Kedins II

I’m staying here and really recommend it. It costs 125,000 for a single, and 190,000 for a double. They give a small discount (around 10%) for long term stays. I’d describe this place as flashpacker – the rooms are large, clean, with good mattress’, clean sheets, ceiling fan, bedside tables and wardrobe space . The rooms are set around a little garden and pool.

Kedin’s II is in Gang Sorga, off Poppies 1. This whole area is very quiet at night. There are no bars or nightclubs nearby, and the Gang has little speed-bumps so motorbikes have to go slowly, so they are quiet. I was telling a friend the other day that it is quite ironic that the quietest place I’ve stayed at in Indonesia is in heart of Kuta!

About once a week I get woken by other travellers coming back from clubbing, who are drunk and noisy, but the staff are onto this and usually ask them to quieten down, so it’s not a big problem.

One annoying thing about Kedins is that they don’t take reservations. But, there is a constant turnover, so if you turn up before midday you’ll probably get a room.

Kedins II phone number: (0361) 763 554

Hotel Sorga

Right next door to Kedins, this is a hotel, and not so much a backpacker place. I stayed here one night because I was arriving in Bali in the evening and wasn’t sure Kedins would have a room. The prices are around AU$28 a night for A/C and, I think, about AU$24 for a fan room. I highly recommend this place as a budget hotel. The rooms are large, the A/C is strong, there’s a little balcony for each room, and the whole place is very quiet and peaceful. They have a little restaurant, and the food is basic but not terrible.

Website: http://www.hotelsorga.com/

Krisna Massage

If you walk out of Kedin’s or Hotel Sorga, turn left, go to the end of the lane-way, and turn right. About 40 metres up is a little massage place called Krisna Salon and Spa. There’s a girl who works there called Lucy who gives an excellent massage. She has a great ‘touch’. (I’m a bit addicted to massage so I tried a few in the local area before finding Lucy – she is great. I’ve had 3 massages with her, and all were really good.)

The Balinese massages cost 50,000. She will come to your hotel , and the massage then costs 100,000. The salon’s phone number is: 081 706 62213

Restaurants

If you walk out of Kedins II or Hotel Sorga and turn left, there are a couple of nice restaurants right at the end of the lane-way.

Warung Pama – this place serves Indonesia, Western, Indian and Thai food. I eat there most days and the food is cheap, but pretty good. I particularly like their Indian food. They do take-away.
Accross from Warung Pama is a little Greek food restaurant. It’s nicely decorated, small and cute, and the food is nice and fresh.

Bali - Amed area - April 2007

AMED AREA – LIPAH

I stayed for a few days in Lipah, which is a few bays along from Amed. I really liked this area; it is extremely quiet, after about 8pm at night there were almost no cars or bikes on the road. The area has a real village feel, although, of course, there are strings of guesthouses lining the bays. I really liked the beach at Lipah, there was snorkelling there and no waves (good for floating in that very salty water!)

Getting there and back:

I returned from Amed to Ubud using public transport the whole way – I found it

really easy and much, much cheaper than paying a private driver to take me. All the buses connected up and I didn’t have to walk more than a block with my bags. This is what I did:
- bemo (truck) from Lipah to Culik, 5kms, 5000 rupiah, runs only in the mornings until around 10am.
-bemo from Culik to Amlapura, around 20kms, approx 10,000 rupiah
-bus from Amlapura to outskirts of Ubud (via Candidasa, also going onto Denpasar), around 1.5 hours, 15,000 rupiah. Buses go whenever they’re full – I think around every hour.
-bemo from outskirts of Ubud (Mas) into the market, 5000 rupiah

Accommodation:

I stayed at Tresna Yoga bungalows. They aren’t really bungalows, more like small apartments built up the side of a hill overlooking the bay. They were lovely – big, clean, white, and large windows across the front of the room with great views. The photo at the top of this blog is the view from the balcony of my bungalow. For one person the cost was 80,000. The only problem was the rooms got very hot because they had a lot of sunlight. There was no AC, just a fan.

Food:
I recommend Café Indah, on the beach. The food I had was fresh, well-presented, and cheap.