Kuta
(June 28 – July 05)
The last leg of my trip was going back to Kuta where I originally started. I would stay at the “HARRIS Hotel & Residences Riverview” and just continue to relax with no real plans besides enjoying the last few days in Bali.
I would go back and eat at “Yogi’s Paradise and Grill” several times in addition to eating a great western steak at Mozzarella for a decent price. I was quite surprised for the amount of food and the overall quality. It was delicious. But my definite go to was at Yogi’s.
It would also rain a couple of these days so I would get “lazy” and not venture out. And the location of Harris’ hotel wasn’t the most convenient either. It was on a very busy street that might be similar to a highway. Overall the stay at Harris was good except for the location. And because of this, that also deterred me from going out. What was convenient though was that they had a restaurant and several pools for convenience. Next door, there was also a massage parlor which I went to. Finally I got a massage for cheap while I stayed here. I should have gotten one every other day or so since they’re so inexpensive. I didn’t but now since it was next door, I got two or three.
On July 4th I would book a white water rafting and elephant park visit with Bali Adventure Tour which was definitely a great highlight to my trip. I white water rafted with a family I believer were from China (a father, daughter, and may be the nanny/family friend?). I wasn’t sure exactly the dynamic of the family. Not sure where the mom was. The non-mom also spoke English, but they didn’t. But I never really asked. I also met an Australian family during the elephant visit. They were nice.
At the elephant park, I rode an elephant. I would say it would probably be the last time I would. It wasn’t very comfortable and I’m sure it wasn’t comfortable for the elephant. I’d like to believe the elephants were treated nicely and they seem like they were by the trainers. But not to go political, it’d be nicer if the elephants were free and just living in their natural habitat. Just my opinion. I got to feed and touch the elephants. They ate these bamboo sticks that were prepared and chopped for the tourists. Their skin felt rough and the hairs growing sporadically on them felt like broom bristles. They were definitely not soft to the touch and were harder than I expected. Yay, Experience!
So in addition to trying new things I also got my feet eaten by these fish. They would eat the dead skin off. I would say this was the second time I’ve gotten this. Once back in the Philippines a couple years ago. It tickled at first but you get use to it. My feet felt naturally soft and smooth. Again, I wish I had gotten this more often.
Saturday July 6th would be my last day and my flight back to the states. A stop over in Taipei and Seattle. The whole flight back would be 25 hours. I would arrive back home around 5am. Yay!
This adventure was awesome and I hope to do it again.