Padang Padang Beach near Uluwatu. Sorry about the power lines, I’ll fix that – see below.   (C) PJ Croft 2016

See? Fixed. PJC

We moved hotels yesterday to what we both thought would be a very good choice. Huh. Mistake.

The problem is that this hotel, the Artotel, is quite new and has only been open for three months or so. I give top marks to the staff, they are as friendly and cooperative as they can be, but the hotel is not fully finished and the room design is not satisfactory, shall we say.

It’s advertised as 30 sq.m. but it’s just too small for us. For one person, it would be fine, but for the two of us, we have inadequate wardrobe and cupboard space. I’m having to leave my suitcase packed, only opening it on the bed as required.

We asked strongly for a bigger room, being prepared to pay the extra cost, but we’re told there are no beds yet in the bigger rooms. They’re just not finished.

The light switching in the room is just weird. There’s a master switch on one side of the bed, and another switch which is just plain confusing. We can’t work out how to use it. One overhead light isn’t working, and there are no bedside lamps, so we can’t read in bed. But worse, if I need to get up in the night, I would have to go around to the other side of the bed and negotiate the master switch if I want light in the bathroom. No, no, no.

The toilet seemed to be leaking water onto the floor as well. The whole bathroom is tiled in black stone tiles. It feels dark and constricted. At least the floor is not slippery. The tapware is stupid, design gone mad.

But the funniest thing is the safe. I should have let the room guide finish showing me how to use it, because he would have found what I found: first, there’s no power on the safe so you can’t lock it; and second, it’s not fixed to anything. Any thief could pick it up from the shelf and walk away with it. Crazy. They’ve promised to fix it, but I doubt it will happen.

There’s a balcony, but we’re right next to an external stairway so that anyone using it (workmen do) can see into our room. There are no chairs out there and it’s in full sun, nearly all day, anyway. It’s also too small to be useful.

On the good side, there’s a capsule coffee maker in the room, and the coffee served in the restaurant is also capsule coffee made to order and served in double walled glass cups. The staff are fantastic. They’re super friendly and cooperative and are listening to our complaints and doing what they can. Unfortunately, they can’t solve our problem – the too small room.

On another good side, the front ground floor restaurant is great. It’s open air to the street and cooled by fans, with comfortable padded arm chairs and seats if you want to lounge.

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Uluwatu       (C) PJ Croft 2016

Sambal, sir? Ulu Watu.     (C) PJ Croft 2016

We went to Uluwatu on Tuesday and I got ambushed by a monkey. The little bastard came up behind me when I was sitting on a low wall and tore my glasses off my head. I immediately yelled and a guard came, quick smart, and got them back for me, but the left arm is bent out a bit and they won’t sit straight. It should be easily fixed, but I haven’t had a chance yet.

A water dragon in the pool set aside for the monkeys! Uluwatu

Just working on his tan. Uluwatu

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For once, the wi-fi in this hotel is WPA secured. That means I can look at my banking with a reasonable degree of confidence that no-one else is looking over my shoulder. It’s also pretty fast, although utterly variable. Download 7.58Mb/s, upload 4.47Mb/s – at the moment! But a minute later it can be 1Mb/s. It  doesn’t matter, it feels fast, and faster than at home where the best I get is 1.3Mb/s through iiNet.

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After Uluwatu we went home via Benoa harbour, where the passenger terminal is. Nearby were moored two yachts. Look at them!

This is super-rich stuff. The Beagle is Cowes badged and the other, the Sarafin, is Georgetown, Cayman Islands  badged. Both gleaming, immaculate. I’d have better photos but the battery in my camera chose that moment to die.

I was sitting on a bollard and as I stood up, I nearly tripped on a thin rope. Lucky I was carrying my walking stick as it acted to stop me falling.

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More money supplies. Jimbaran (C) PJ Croft 2016