We booked our transport from our homestay. The long ride to Kuta cost Rp500,000. I had requested for the driver to stop by at the twin lakes area for us to take a few photos and he gladly obliged. Leaving Munduk via a winding road with multiple switchbacks, we up on the crater rim road once more.
Twin lakes is actually quite inaccurate as Danau Buyan is a lot bigger than Danau Tamblingan. You may notice that unlike the Batur caldera, walls of this caldera are not as high or steep. Apart from the views, there are also bats and snakes for you to take photos with – for a fee of course.
The road goes all the way to Wanagiri, near the end of Lake Buyan. From here, we enter the monkey forest. It was late in the morning and the crowds have arrived, indiscriminately feeding the monkeys. The road descends to Pancasari, then Bedugul. Traffic turned from light to heavy. After almost 2.5 hours, we pulled into the narrow, busy streets around Kuta/Legian.
I decided that it’s time to experience a bit of Balinese luxury. We checked into the Kuta Lagoon Resort. Their rates are very reasonable, their staff well-trained and food in the restaurant is great. We booked a room with pool access. My No. 2 had a great time stepping into the pool from the back door of our room.
Yes, we were finally in the most happening part of Bali to spend our last two days. The good thing about these parts is, Grab and Gojek drivers here do respond to calls. But that happens mostly around the hotel areas. There are reports online from Grab users who were not allowed to board their Grab cars outside certain shopping malls where taxi mafias were operating. I didn’t manage to any any response from Grab or Gojek at Mal Bali Galeria.
Prices of goods and food around Kuta are also rather steep. Suffice to say that you’ll get better deals in Malaysia, so I decided not to buy too many things.
Kuta may be shamelessly commercialised, expensive and sinful, but if there is one thing I love about Kuta, it’s the sunset. I was captivated by the sunset here 26 years ago. Nothing has changed. The sunset at Kuta is still captivating.
At night, a band played on a stage surrounded the swimming “pool” which was actually some kind of a moat. I pulled a chair out on the balcony and listened to the music; numbers which were popular some 30 years ago. To my surprise, my kids joined me. Live music has a way of drawing people to it, even if it’s a bit old-fashioned for the kids.