Bali isn’t just a
destination! Beaches, adventure, sight-seeing, night life, luxury, nature,
modern facilities, traditional art and culture and
everything that is required for a perfect getaway, Bali has it all!
Whether on honeymoon or chilling with gang of
friends or on a family holiday, whether on a small or super huge budget, whether
extremely adventurous or total laid-back, Bali is for one and all!
Exempted Visa for Indians, connectivity with Singapore which
was already on our travel chart, abundant luxurious villas at insanely
reasonable prices and a mixed group of people with different travel goals; Bali
seemed just perfect for our family holiday!
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| Welcome at Indonesia! |
We stayed for four nights
in Bali and believe me, it wasn’t enough! Although there is so much to see and do, I strongly
recommend you to not go by the to-do-list, instead just let yourself lose and
allow Bali to take you! Explore it on-the-go, be more audacious, more
spontaneous and more fun!
Each part of Bali offers a different and incomparable
experience. Depending on the preference, you can stay at -
- Seminyak/Kuta
– Heart of the city with lots of people, restaurants, shops and proximity to
party places making it immensely popular with the youth
- Nusa
Dua (means two islands)– Serene and calm neighbourhood to relax; plethora of
luxury resorts with private beaches
- Ubud
– Cultural hub of Bali with shops selling goods from the region’s artisans;
centre of the island for better commute within the city
- Gianyar
– Bali Safari Park that offers an unforgettable wild-life experience
I suggest dividing the stay to have the best of both the worlds and a
super happy experience. Just
pre-book the hotels and a taxi at disposal for your stay (It is extremely reasonable!!)
and relish the travel
experience that Bali has to offer!
This
is how it looked for us -
Day 1-
On arrival at Denpasar airport, we were embraced by the warm culture, humid
weather and deep affection from Wayan (our driver – who my husband Ankit knew
from his previous trip to Bali)
After a drive of almost
two hours, we reached our hotel - Mara River Safari Lodge at Gianyar, a safari-themed
resort located within Bali Safari Park that offers an experience of true
natural wild life encounter. I suggest booking directly through their website
which typically includes activities like safari journey, animal presentation, Harimau
show, elephant show, fire show, Water Park and breakfast with the lions.
With tons to do in one
single day, we quickly checked-in our Tembo Family Suite, instantly fascinated
by the sight of rhinos and zebras right from our room balcony, savoured our
packed Indian snacks, freshened up and headed out for a free interaction and
photo opportunity with the animals (which can be a bird, monkey or even a snake!)
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| Fire and Dance Show |
In the evening, we
thoroughly enjoyed the open-air fire and dance show followed by Night safari- a
phenomenal experience of a night time adventure in the wilderness. With the big
cats on the loose and us in caged tram, it was exciting to witness and hand
feed animals at a close range.
Too fatigued and too
excited for our 8am pick-up the next day, we tucked ourselves early into the
bed.
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| Breakfast with the lions |
Day 2
– It was time for Breakfast with the Lions. And guess who offered the
ride…..Elephants!!! It is indeed a breath-taking experience of riding an
elephant through the wilds and then be dropped at the restaurant to enjoy the delectable
breakfast in the company of lions.
We went for a pre-booked morning Safari (inclusive in the package) - A 25 min guided safari tour in no-noise
air-conditioned bus around the park. It was phenomenal to see lions, giraffes, zebras,
porcupines, white tigers and many more species of animals roaming in a free
habitat. You name it and there it was! I have been to many sanctuaries and forest
reserves but this was an experience like never before.Post-safari, we rushed for
the numerous shows and activities conducted at the lodge of which animal show (commendable
act by birds, mice, cats, orang-utans etc.), tiger show, elephant bathing, giraffe
feeding were marvellous. The plus is that one can enjoy the activities even after
check-out and spend two days at the price of one.
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| Animal Sight during Safari |
One can even stay
somewhere else and pay a visit to Bali Safari Park; but I strongly recommend
staying one night at this place to enjoy the activities leisurely. It is an
absolute worth of every penny spent. It is unfortunate that it is not well
promoted on social media and people miss out on this experience.
Late
afternoon, we bid adios to the park and headed to the active Mt. Batur Volcano,
last erupted in year 2000. When we reached, sun suddenly hid somewhere and clouds
covered most part of the volcano. Although we couldn’t see the crater, we
really enjoyed the cool breeze, sight of huge patches of green & black landscape
caused by the volcanic eruptions and buffet meal at ‘Grand Puncak Sari’ restaurant
that offers majestic view. One can even trek to see the
crater and experience the hot steam (must pre-plan as the tour starts at around
2:30am).
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| Mt Batur Volcano |
After taking tons of
pictures and offering detailed explanation to the innocent curious questions of
my nieces “What is Lava? Why is it hot? Will it reach out to us!” we drove to
Ubud.
En-route to Ubud, there are
interesting tourist points like hot water spring, coffee plantations (preparation of the world's most
expensive Luwak coffee) and rice terraces.
If time permits one can
take stops at one/all of these; we however had a packed day and hence enjoyed
the views from the car. We
reached Ubud by 4pm and got
down at the centre of Ubud market to firstly satiate our hunger pangs at Indian Cuisine (one of the many Indian restaurants in this area). To feel the real Bali, we walked around and happened
to witness a Balinese wedding ceremony at a temple.
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| Balinese Temple at Ubud |
The
traditional village of Ubud is a treasure trove of cultural landmarks, ranging
from ancient temples to majestic age-old royal palaces. It is a reservoir of Balinese
culture, arts and crafts with eclectic masterpieces that one can observe in
local museums/art galleries.
With hundreds of shops selling antiques, woodcarvings, crafts, textiles, paintings
and jewellery, one can’t stop admiring these Balinese handcrafted items and bringing them home!
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| Villa Winata |
Unfortunately it started to rain heavily and we hurriedly
proceeded to Seminyak for check-in at ‘Villa Winata’
that we booked through AirBnb. The duplex villa was a 10 on 10 with proximity to party places, swimming
pool, good host and on-call caretaker, fully equipped kitchen, huge bath tubs, music system
and what not.
We
made our sumptuous dinner of rice, theplas, MTR mutter paneer, Dal Makhani and
instantly felt at home. A little tired but too excited for the night-life that
Bali had to offer, Ankit and I actually walked to “La Favela” at 1 in the
night. As much a thrill it was going there, the inside was pretty cool too! Semi-indoor
gardens covered by dense foliage, artificial waterfalls and ponds, alfresco
tables, messy walls and roof tops at the bar backed up by cool clubbing tunes
and special exotic signature cocktails made it an overall dreamy venue
attracting a pretty international crowd. No entry to boys without shoes!!
Day
3 – After a really late night, we slept through the morning and later enjoyed a
dip in the swimming pool and hydrated ourselves with coconut water. At Bali,
sun keeps playing hide-and-seek as weather transitions from being hot and humid
in the afternoon to raining in the evening.
Although we ended up
lazing around, one may visit Tanah lot temple (drive of 1.5hrs from Seminyak),
the signature location of
Bali on Google. It is a Hindu temple in the middle of the water offering mesmerizing
sunset view. Entry inside the temple is restricted for tourists but it is said
that it is spectacular to catch the nature painting the portrait of ocean and
sky kissing!
On this day to
pamper one-self in luxury, dress up and show up at ‘The Rock Bar, Ayana Spa and Resorts’
in Jimbaran. Rock Bar is like a huge
extended balcony located just above the water that offers unparalleled views. A glass of wine, best
beats in town and dashing waves against your wall at just 14m above the Indian
Ocean is miraculous. Reserve a table
before-hand.
Since we missed on this
one, we went to “Potato Head Beach Club”, another very popular destination for
good times!! As mesmerised we were by the interesting pathway that leads to the
beach club, walking down their private beach glowing with moonlight was
charismatic.
With multiple bars and restaurants,
infinity pool overlooking endless water, spectacular sunset, huge seating
capacity, wonderful hospitality, lively music and good food, this place
definitely lives up to the hype. (Reserve the table, cover charge for entry
at peak hours, minimum order for different seats but absolutely worth the
money)
Day4 –
While in Bali, how could we miss Balinese massage!! With numerous options like
traditional body massage, cream bath, hot stone massage, we chose to relax and unwind with these services in
the comfort of our villa.
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| Fly Boarding |
After pampering us enough, we
headed to
Nusa Dua – the up-scale district of Bali with an incredible
collection of world-class resorts facing a pristine beachfront.
From
various water sports organized at Benoa
coast (Nusa Dua) like banana boat ride, Sea walker, Parasailing, Scuba diving,
Flying fish, Jet Ski and fly boarding, we did Fly boarding that is new, unique
and a must try.
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| Turtle Island |
I recommend
taking a one-hour tour for Turtle Island. This is an excellent way to watch
marine life from a glass-bottom boat, experience the serenity of the sea, feed
the fishes, hold turtle in your hand and click photos with birds,
snakes, comodo-dragon and even a bat among other Balinese wildlife. Ssshhh… We bargained almost 50% for all
activities.
It was almost 7pm when weather transitioned, sky was
scattered with a variety of hues ranging from shades of orange and blue but we decided to glance over Nusa Dua beach. To our surprise, we drove
by an area which was gated with guard posts, studded with beautiful manicured
lawns, decorated with huge stunning sculptures, hosted international-chain
hotels and important buildings. It was a world away from much of the rest of
Bali.
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| Ayodya Beach Club and Resort |
It was drizzling when we
reached the white crescent sandy beach of Mengiat. Intrigued by sea side strip
of colourful bean bags, umbrellas and candle-lights in the distance, we walked
a little and to what seemed like multiple shacks turned out to be one huge
beachfront bar ‘Ayodya Beach Club’.
With LED light decoration
all over the garden and the swimming pool, food kiosks, icecream parlours,
spotlight photography point at the beach, it was like a fantabulous carnival! Sipping
on refreshing drinks and satiating ourselves with wood burn pizza and Mie Goreng (Bali noodles) in utmost comfortable seating, we lost all our fatigue. As we
strolled through the property, we discovered that it was a part of 500 room
hotel ‘Ayodya Resort’ adorned by gardens, lakes, fountains, statues,
restaurants, bars, etc. Ayodya was a complete surprise package!
After gone-too-soon four days at Bali, I
must acknowledge the world class hospitality
and ever-smiling, super helpful, extremely courteous Balinese people.
To experience the most of Bali in limited
time we were constantly on our toes. So, while planning a trip to this heaven I
suggest you to keep few free days to sink in its splendour. Spend
a day leisurely to just walk by the beach, play with water, click pictures of the waves kissing the shore, lay on the sunbed, indulge in cocktails
with little munchies and gaze at stars in the moonlight with no guilt of missing
out on something else. Spare some time to absorb Balinese culture, visit Uluwatu temple, relish Kecak Dance, enjoy the gorgeous sunsets and pamper yourself with traditional massages.
Here is some FIRST-HAND ADVICE -
- Pre-book a taxi for your entire stay as there
is no app-based taxi service at Bali
- Art lover, party enthusiast, luxury seeker,
wildlife admirer or wanderlust - Choose location of stay according to your
interest as travel within Bali can be quite time-consuming
- If you are travelling with family, book your
villa through AirBnb; there are plenty of incredible deals
- Carry ready-to-eat food items as there are
limited vegetarian options and most villas have fully equipped kitchen
- Rains can be a spoiler, avoid the rainy season
from October to March
- Keep your power banks handy as this paradise on earth is a visual delight for
all photography enthusiasts and you would want to capture everything
- Some of the clubs
have a dress code and beach wear/slippers don’t always make the cut. Some of
them don’t allow kids and some have time restrictions. It is better to just call
and check before visiting
So
pack your bags and rush to Bali…. Unwind, relax, get adventurous, do insane things,
admire nature, get some piece of mind, splurge, indulge and outlive!!
Happy Holidays!!
Shruti
This was the
time; I enrolled in a designing course, bought an advanced stitching machine,
and started making outfits for just friends and family. Soon, they started
referring me to others and queries started pouring in. With two small kids, I
was a little sceptical about starting something professionally. Gracefully with
the support and encouragement of both sides of the families, I co-founded
SMARTYs- Kids Clothing Boutique with my sister Shruti.
Shilpa:
Hmm... From being awarded with the best designing student to winning
trophies in numerous fashion shows, it indeed feels amazing to get noticed for
my work. Awards like “Sashakt Naari Samman” and “Woman of Excellence from ICOM”
have been very encouraging and helpful personally and professionally. Being
highly recognised and rewarded for being the fashion designer for shows like
Aarunya, Cinelanza and now for India Kids Fashion Week making almost 150 kids
walk the ramp has been very overwhelming. Candid and promising feedback from
our clients and extensive media coverage for all our exhibits and shows is no
less than an award.
