We had the fortunate experience of staying at a very luxurious resort whilst visiting Bali for a family wedding.
The Karma Kandara Resort is situated at Bali's southernmost extremes - a limestone peninsula known as the Bukit. We were located in Ungasan, south of Nusa Dua and the airport. It was a very peaceful spot and well away from the hordes.
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| Two bedrooms looking out to own private pool |
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| The entrance to our villa no. 31 |
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| Living area around the pool |
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| Dave relaxing |
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| Some of the walkways |
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| di Mare restaurant |
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| The breathtaking view from where we breakfasted |
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| Also from the restaurant, the beautiful swimming pool and the hut on the left was where I received my massage. |
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| Nammos café down at the beach |
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| Some of the locals! |
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| A view from the bridge linking the restaurant and bars to the residential area. Cute and very mischievous company  
We were advised to leave all belongings inside the villas, don't leave windows or doors open or you know what....
They also said not to feed them but as a going away present we left some apple out for them!
The express reason for the Bali trip was to be present for Michael and Danielle's wedding. Michael is Dave's nephew (Myvanwy and John McFarlanes son). Danni's relations from the Isle of Wight also made the effort to attend so they were lucky to have so many family at the occasion. Several family and friends from Perth also made the trip to see Danni and Michael get married.
 The venue, Nammos Kandara, down on the beach, around 4pm, sun setting, tide receding - a very lovely setting  
They (8 of them) arrived in the ir beautiful yellow gowns with frangipannis fixed in their hair.
Danni taking her vows ( Michael is there , just obscured)
 Jenifer (sister to the groom) was by far the most attractive of all the bridesmaids. 
Mr and Mrs McFarlane and guests releasing the balloons.
 
The hotel Melia Bali had a big sand garden in one of the hotel wings with various decorations and also special messages - thought this was a lovely touch.
Apart from the wedding taking place it was a great opportunity for various family members to get together as normally we all live in different parts of the country with many thousands of kilometres away from each other.
 Mother Peters, Myvanwy (mother of groom) and Dave  Mother and Dave  Myvanwy's family. At the back on the left is Steven the eldest and Michael is next to him (groom) Jenifer is seated on the left and Myvanwy (mother) next to her  Matt is Jenifer's boyfriend - a very endearing rascal  Danni (Mrs McFarlane) and Mother Peters 
Dave and Jean at the Aroma Restaurant on Jimbaran Beach
The sightseeing part of our trip was deliberately very selective as we did not want to haggle and be harassed by locals wanting to make a living. Instead we hired a local fellow Ieda Bagas who was the gent that collected us from the airport on our arrival. He drove very patiently and sedately along the roads/tracks/highway and was an appealing sort of a character. We had Iedas services for 3 days at a very reasonable rate and he literally took us where we requested. It was a very convenient arrangement and we were somewhat protected from various hassles.  One of the cultural events we were entertained at was a Barong and Kris dance (Equivalent to an opera of a play in western culture) We weren't able to sit in the front of the stage so the pictures are poor quality. Mother has a new prosthetic leg and not greatly confident in moving about on it yet so she had a walking chair as a support. Indonesia is not really well set up for Disabled Access so we sat on the side of the stage instead of trying to walk up all the steps.   Essentially the Barong play represented an eternal fight between the good Barong ( a mythical animal) and evil spirit Rangda( a mythical monster) There was some beautiful dancers, lovely background music, very energetic leaping beasts/actors and it ended happily ever after.   We stopped at a large silver factory and retail outlet, possibly Ieda's relations owned the business. Anyway it was interesting seeing the artisans at work and all the beautiful finished pieces of jewellery. I contributed to the economy by purchasing a lovely linked silver bracelet. Mother did a magnificent job of "getting around" on her walker amidst all the steps and uneven surfaces.  Padded terraces - a very picturesque piece of country up in the Ubud area  Rice crop not long been planted  Interesting and cleverly designed so the water trickles all the way down the hillside in a controlled way  A very "suss" Bali sunset but it was a lovely cool place to be on our last night in Bali. |
