A lot of birthdays are coming up in the family, so we took the opportunity to celebrate everyone while we stayed in Ubud. However, the days in Bali was coming to and end for Ulrikas family, and we decided to spend the last 24 hours in the busy nightlife of Kuta, the party place in Bali. Ulrikas family left Bali and a couple of days later we put our few belongings in our back packs and started our journey towards Europe.
Det var flera födelsedagar som närmade sig i familjen, så vi tog tillfället i akt att fira alla medan vi var i Ubud. Därefter började familjens dagar i Bali att närma sig slutet, så vi bestämde oss för att spendera de sista 24 timmarna i det livliga nattlivet i Kuta, partyplatsen på Bali. Ulrikas familj lämnade sedan Bali och några dagar senare packade vi ned våra få tillhörigheter i ryggsäcken och påbörjade vår resa mot Europa.
Our time in Ubud was all about celebrating birthdays and Ulrika’s sister will be 30 this year, so she got special attention and we went to her favorite restaurant in Ubud. Happy birthday little sister!
But first, surprise birthday celebrations for all of us, orchestrated by Ulrikas mother. Niklas turns 26 in May and both Pontus and Ulrikas birthdays are coming up, June and July respectively.
Maja took us to Nur Salon – a traditional Balinese spa and we got massages and facial treatments.
Be prepared to get your massage fully naked, no covering clothes here. As we’ve mentioned before, Balinese people have no problem or tabu with nudity. Women will be taken care of by women and men by men, so no need to be afraid trying it. However, expect to feel like a five-year old getting washed and cleaned by your mother again.
The inside of Nur Salon is beautiful and you will find both a beautiful flower garden and different creative art pieces around the property.
The restaurant we went to in the evening had decorated our table, writing “Happy Birthday” with flowers and lit candle lights for us. It was a really good day celebrating birthdays in Ubud.
Final days before the family was flying home to Sweden, and we spent them in Kuta.
Showing them Kuta beach from where you can watch airplanes coming in for landing.
And we visited “Ground zero” , the Bali bombings in 2002. In October 2002, a suicide bomber walked in and detonated the first bomb inside a pub in the middle of the busy tourist street in Kuta. Twenty seconds later, while people were running out in to the street, a second bomb (car bomb) went off creating a one meter deep hole in the street. 202 people people were killed and 209 people got injured.
Five Swedish citizens and 22 other nationalities were among the victims.
We stayed at the hotel in Kuta that has our favorite pool.
The pool is so clear so it creates funny illusions. Here is Niklas with tiny legs.
Pontus floating around on a duck.
We walked around in Kuta so the family could do some last minute shopping. We also found a really cool “steampunk”-like motorbike.
We had to eat at McDonalds at least once here. The price of a Big Mac menu is half compared to in Sweden.
We also took the family to our favorite restaurant in Kuta, Mamma Warung.
Last night with family before they left Bali.
It was sad to say goodbye, but we’ll see each other again soon!
We spent a few more days in Bali eating and hanging around a lovely little Indian restaurant, before we started our travels that will bring us closer to Europe. First stop is Singapore.
Jag spenderade en månad på Bali nu i vintras och måste erkänna att Kuta var inte min favorit, det var så illa att vi beslöt oss för att dra därifrån tidigare än planerat och rymma vidare till Gili-öarna istället. Det var helt kaotiskt i Kuta, man kunde inte ta sig nånstans, polarna blev rånade och taxi var bara att glömma, men så var det dagen innan nyår också…inte att rekommendera haha.
Oj, så illa har jag dock inte upplevt Kuta, men jag håller mig borta från stora folksamlingar och mycket ljud så jag kanske instinktivt undviker sådana platser. Älskar Gili Air och Lombok. Ubud och Amed är dock favoriterna på Bali 🙂