Firstly upon arriving in Indonesia we discovered that our visa was $35, not $25 as stated online. If you know where you're headed after the airport, try and take a bus rather than a taxi because a) taxis in Indonesia are useless, I think anyone can wake up one day, jump in their car and charge people to take them to the wrong destination, and b) make you pay toll fees/ car park charges etc on top of your fare.
We were staying at Six degrees hotel, it cost us about £1.50 on a bus to Gamba and then a short (painful) taxi ride from there. The hostel itself is definitely one of the best we have stayed in so far. We stayed in dorms which came with air con, a really nice breakfast (chocolate spread!), a small gym, kitchen, films, a cool rooftop and nice staff. The restaurant opposite looks a bit run down but actually does such nice food! It's a bit of a roulette with the menu though but everything we chose came out delicious and around 50p!
Location wise for us the hostel was fine as we didn't plan on going out but if you're looking for good nightlife, the closest bars were absolutely deserted mid-week, you'd be better off taking advantage of the cheap beers on the rooftop or staying more central.
We spent one of our days at Water Bom, it's not as big as the Bali one but it's a fraction of the price ( about £7.50 gets you entry, a meal and 2 drinks, whereas in Bali it's £20 for entry). The water park itself was pretty empty which was perfect for us and luckily the lady from our hostel warned us to cover up and ditch our bikinis for swimming costumes and shorts.
Taxis to and from the waterpark were not expensive but the traffic at 5pm is really bad and be prepared to watch the meter go up as the taxi driver stops multiple times for directions (can you tell the taxi drivers have really bothered me!?).
On the 29th of August we boarded our next flight bound for Bali. Here's where our least favourite hidden charge crept up on us..... Departure tax/ terminal fee/ whatever else you want to call it. At first we thought they were having us on but no you have to pay to pass through the airport and it seems pretty standard out here so plan ahead so that you have currency left over. This one wasn't bad (40,000 Rp) which is around £2 but some are around £10. On the plus side our extra luggage charge was a right bargain at only 94p!
We were told before that Kuta is basically the Australian version of Malia so we knew that we would love it. It's definitely one of the best places we have been for nightlife. For cheap drinks start at Alleycats it's 15,000 Rp (about 75p) for a double double (vodka red bull), I'm pretty sure it's pure poison but it's a really cool bar and for that price you can't complain! One of our favourite bars was definitely Eikon, we went there every night and always ended up in Sky garden (100,000 Rp entry but includes a decent drink). Sky garden is good fun it's massive so be prepared to get lost in there, me and Aimee ended up in a cupboard whilst looking for the exit....but maybe that's just us.
Sky garden is also one of our favourite places to go for food, it's only £2.50 for an amazing buffet (the type of food differs each day) and unlimited beer between 5pm and 6pm, bargain!
Our accommodation, Maya village was lovely, probably the best place we have stayed. We had our own 2 floor mini house which came with 2 bathrooms, filtered water, air con and the best thing..... The amazing breakfast! On our last day we had sausage bread! I can't even begin to describe how amazing it was so you'll just have to take my word for it!
One of our days in Bali we booked a car to take us to the monkey forest in Ubud. It's about 2 hours drive away and only 30,000 Rp to get in. The monkeys are literally everywhere, one jumped on Jen and was swinging off of her bag whilst people shouted at her to drop her water. Once we knew the monkey didn't want to eat her we were safe to wet ourselves at her expense as it was pretty hilarious!
You don't need more than an hour in the forest but I hear the food in Ubud is some of the best in Bali and really healthy.
Lastly Kuta is amazing for shopping. You can haggle people down and get some massive bargains. Before coming away lots of people told me not to bother shopping in England and to buy everything out here, I don't totally agree as I love English brands and the clothes I brought, but for basic casual clothes I'd definitely say get them out here. Playsuits and tops are a few pounds, New Balance trainers are under £15, sarongs, sunglasses etc are all really cheap. There's normal shops too like Topshop but when you see a dress priced at 1,000,000 Rp it suddenly looks really unnapealing. If you are going to the Gilis buy everything in Kuta first as everything is more expensive there and there isn't much choice.
Everywhere seems to sell the boats to the Gili Islands but shop around for the best price, I think we paid 250,000 Rp for a one way journey.
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