Wonderful Indonesia – Denpasar – Praba Guest House feels like home

Our arrival at Denpasar airport was uneventful after 36 hours of travelling from Canada! We were met at the airport by our host, Ayen, from Praba Guest House, just a few minutes away. She was a smiling, welcome sight, holding a sign and joyfully greeting us even late at night. A quick pick up by Ayen’s husband and we were whisked away to the little oasis of the Praba Guest House. We seek out small, family hotels with a personal atmosphere on our travels and Praba is exactly what we had in mind. We had some wonderful conversations with Ayen about family, heritage, and ancestors! This is now our ‘feels like home’ place in Denpasar!

Once we were showered and settled in we went directly to bed as we try to get onto local time as quickly as possible.

Day one of our Indonesian experience started with a wonderful breakfast at Praba covered garden. Lovely local produce with chicken and rice! Yum! We were very pleased that breakfast was included and we didn’t have to search for it! After a quick dip in the cool pool we were ready to check out the neighborhood.

Out-and-about for a walk around the neighborhood we found some interesting buildings which we believe were small Hindu temples for offerings. Beautifully carved and painted doors and spires amazed and humbled us with their beauty.

Our hostess mentioned we could walk to the nearby beach so we did! We walked through the business section where there were many shops and restaurants and a closed-in mall as well. We enjoyed exploring the things to see and eat and bought a few items to use during our stay in Indonesia.

The beach was lovely and not many people around. It is now shoulder season so tourist crowds are less than expected. Busy time around 5:00 found us in the middle of some traffic and the ‘rule of thumb’ is once you start crossing the street…don’t stop! The cars will figure it out and go around you (hopefully)! A little nerve wracking but effective.

The Ngurah Rai International Airport is one of the most beautiful I have ever seen with white wall carvings along the street side and a gleaming interior. When our flight to Borneo was cancelled the day before we were to fly with no notification to us we spent four hours in the airport to try to get it fixed. Wings/Lion air management were not helpful but a very nice lady took the time to get it all fixed up for us and reschedule the other flights that would be impacted by the airline cancellation. A flurry of activity rescheduling tours, flights and hotel arrangements left us exhausted but happy that with help from some awesome people it all worked out!

While we were at the airport and it was too late to walk anywhere to go to a restaurant we decide to just eat at a place there, so we did. And lo and behold there, hanging on the wall is my mantra! The food was good but the mantra was better!