Bali's best personalised transport service

We met Ketut Yadnya at the Banjar Hills warung of Ibu Kade. We were immediately taken by his genuine friendliness. When we booked his car to take us back to the airport several days later, his honesty of asking for a modest price instead of 'trying it on' further impressed us.

As it turned out, he not just took us straight to the airport but made detours via Munduk and the lakes and made stops for us to take plenty of pictures, to feed the roadside monkeys, to visit several temples, and visit the Butterfly Park as well as Tanah Lot.

Of course, we tipped him handsomely and so will you, if you come to Bali and book him for a trip around the island. His name is Ketut Yadnya and his mobile number is 081 353 344 370. What he lacks in English language skills, he makes more than up for with his genuine desire to please you and show you his island.

We recommend him highly!

The biggest smile at HARRIS Tuban

 

Suwalo at HARRIS Tuban is a jolly fellow, always happy and always with a big smile!

 

Our trip back to Denpasar

Click on map to enlarge

Rather than going back to Singaraja and then south through the centre of the island, our driver, Ketut Yadnya, agreed to take us west to the small town of Seririt from where we headed up into the hills to Mayong, then east to Munduk, and the twin-lakes Tamblingan and Buyan, before joining the major north-south road again.

After saying 'good-bye' to Padma's favourite gym in the village of Banjar, we headed into the hills.


Our first stop was at the Bali Panorama View Point Restaurant.








Then came enchanting Munduk, probably the nearest thing to the New Guinea Highlands I have ever seen.




The area around the twin-lakes Tamblingan and Buyan is a hiker's paradise and I want to come back here one day.












But why do they sell boomerangs in the local souvenir shop???


Then came a lot of monkeying-about before we joined the main road again.












Of course, no picture collection of Bali is complete without the ubiquitous water buffalo. This one even talked to me. I think he said, "I'm a lot of bull."

We say "Selamat Tinggal" to Banjar Hills

A Bali Bathroom

Despite my many visits to Bali, in the "Sturm und Drang" of renovating the bathroom at "Riverbend", I had totally forgotten how beautifully functional and simple a Bali bathroom can be: slate-covered walls which, with their natural unevenness, any fool can do himself, with just the odd piece of slate positioned horizontally to serve as a "shelf" for the soap and the odd flowerpot; a concreted shower run-off covered in smooth river pebbles, with a few concrete squares below the showerhead to stand on; and a perspex-covered roof to let the sunshine in.


Instead, I bought expensive tiles, engaged an even more expensive tiler, spent a small fortune on a freestanding glass-screen for the shower, even more on a spa bath and vanity unit, and all up parted with $25,000 to finish up with a bathroom which has none of the 'natural' feel of a Bali bathroom.


Perhaps next time I bring back this toilet roll holder for "Riverbend" 's toilet.

Bathroom at Riverbend