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| It was business as usual with Tom wearing a sarong as the required dress to enter the temple. He had a hard time managing the steps. He just didn’t have the same experience as women who’ve worn long dresses, knowing when to hold up the hem for ease in walking. |
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| Me, at the monkey temple wearing the required sarong. |
“Sightings on the Beach in Bali”
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| The flow of the river at low tide. |
This is our last post from the West Bali villa. Soon driver Butu will arrive to drive us on the harrowing four hour trip back to Denpasar which is only 74.5 miles, 120 km, where we’ll spend tonight in a hotel prior, flying to Singapore tomorrow afternoon.
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| This is where we dined each night with views of the pool and the sea. |
We’re excited for the upcoming two months in Southeast Asia, especially once we’ve completed the process of acquiring the three necessary visas hanging over our heads while we’re in Singapore for a week.
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| The entrance to the villa. Water spouts from the trunks of these elephant statues. There are Koi pools in front of each statue. |
The packing went well especially since we’re able to leave the duffel bag behind in the storage room awaiting our return, saving us hauling an extra 25 pounds, 11 kg, of items we won’t need in the heat of Southeast Asia.
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| These two chaise lounges provided us with shade for part of the day. Later, we’d move to the shade of the cabana. |
After completing the packing yesterday, we weighed our bags only required to pay US $19.39, IDR $260,000 for the excess online. That was good news.
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| The villa from the beach side. |
Yesterday, Gede stopped by to say goodbye. We presented him with a generous tip for all he’d done for us. This morning we tipped the two Kataks and Ribud. They were grateful, graciously acknowledging the tokens of our appreciation. Interacting with the four staff members six days a week had been delightful.
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| The infinity pool and Jacuzzi view from the second level. |
Also, yesterday was our last day poolside. It rained in the morning with the sun not peeking out until around 11 am. Once the sky cleared we couldn’t get outdoors quickly enough to sit in the comfy shaded chaise lounges on our last day at the villa.
By early afternoon, it rained again driving us back indoors while it rained into the evening and again this morning. Overall, we’ve had very few rainy days during these past two months.
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| Kingfisher sitting atop a palm frond. |
As we prepared the final expenses, using all the data we’d previously entered on the spreadsheet we were astounded to see how affordable the two months in Bali proved to be.
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| Four buffaloes passing on the beach. Its amazing these young kids can handle these large animals which obviously know them and cooperate. |
Once you peruse these numbers, you too may be surprised at the reasonable cost of living in this fabulous property with a full staff to attend to our needs. We can’t thank the staff and owners enough for the finite attention to detail in this property and anticipate our return with happy hearts.
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| Dragon fruit, a popular local item. |
Here’s the numbers which are among the most reasonable we’ve seen in our 44 months of world travel:
Expenses for 59 nights: US Dollar to IDR Indonesian Rupiah
Vacation Rent: US $ 4,648.03 IDR $62,330,082.30
Airfare: US 579.96 IDR 7,777,263.60
Taxi: US 403.00 IDR 5,404,230.00
Visa Extension: US 122.57 IDR 1,643,663.70
Tips/Laundry: US 435.22 IDR 5,836,300.20
Wifi (SIM card) US 20.32 IDR 272,491.20
Groceries: US 935.00 IDR 12,538,350.00
Restaurant: US 60.00 IDR 804,600.00
Hotel: US 61.00 IDR 818,010.00
Pharmacy: US 28.00 IDR 375,480.00
Total: US $ 7,293.10 IDR $97,800,471.00
Average Monthly Cost: US $ 3,759.80 IDR $50,418,918.00
Average Daily Cost: US $ 123.61 IDR $16,576,279.17
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| Flower market in Lovina. |
The above referenced grocery total included the cost for all the items purchased by the cooks for our meals plus all items we purchased on our own. The above mentioned restaurant amount is an estimate for tonight’s dinner in Denpasar.
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| Beach views. |
We couldn’t be more pleased with this Bali experience in its depth and breadth of what we’ve learned about the Balinese way of life, the affordable cost of living, the luxury and ease of living in this beautiful villa and the wonderful people we’ve come to know and love.
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| Beach views from second story at high tide. |
We’ll be back tomorrow with comments after dinner in a restaurant and the night in the Hilton hotel in the capital city of Denpasar!
Photo from one year ago today, June 27, 2015:
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| One of many quaint outdoor/indoor restaurants along Williams Esplanade In Palm Cove beach in Australia. Please click here for more details. |