Beautiful Place, Beautiful People
We left Singapore after a busy few days sightseeing and took the 2 1/2 hour flight down to Bali with Air Asia for some well earned Rest & Relaxation and ended up having one of the most memorable trips.
Our first stay was in Sanur at the Akana Boutique Hotel. We booked directly with the hotel but just as easy to book on Booking.Com. This place was amazing ! Spotlessly clean, great restaurant & bar, beautiful pool and some of the best staff we have ever encountered. Nothing was too much trouble and the fact that all staff addressed you by your name was a lovely personal touch. I had great communication with Alvin from guest services beforehand who organised our taxi from the airport to the hotel and our transport to Gili Meno. Our room was spacious and opened up onto the pool and and the bathroom was huge and part outside…and there were no creepy crawlies !
The hotel is located within a 7 minute walk to the beach (we timed it !) and they even have their own area on the beach with free sunbeds and beach towels provided. It’s worth mentioning that dogs are free to roam on the beach but none of them bother anybody and most are owned by locals. The hotel also offer free bikes to use as you wish which was great as the beach path is divided into two to cater for bikes and pedestrians. Lots of beach bars to choose from along the long stretch of beach of which our favourite was the Genius Cafe Bar where we spent many an afternoon chilling with a homemade smoothie (for Louise 😊) and a beer for me.
We ate in some fabulous restaurants on the beach including Retro Beach Restaurant and Coco Bistro, and at Warung Baby Monkeys on the main street running through Sanur. For a special evening tasting amazing Indonesian & Balinese food we ate at Gong Restaurant where the setting and food was amazing.
Don’t forget the abundance of places to get a massage at incredible prices…. a full body Balinese massage for around 100k IDR which is about £4.80 !! Spoilt for choice 😁
Next stop in Indonesia was Gili Meno in the Gili Islands near Lombok. Alvin organised the transport and boat transfer for us and we even left our suitcases at the hotel Akana and just took backpacks to the islands. The boats only go from mainland Bali to Gili Trawangan (Gili T) so we had to then get another boat for the 8 minute crossing to Gili Meno. What a place this was, we even walked around the entire island in just over an hour !
Gili Meno is the smallest and quietest of the islands and has such a laid back vibe. We stayed at an Adults Only resort Le Pirate in colonial style beach huts with outdoor toilet and shower…different experience ! The resort is right on the beach and has 3 swimming pools too with a fab restaurant and bar and beach waiter service for drinks and food…..too chilled to walk to the bar ! Gorgeous turquoise sea, snorkelling and swimming with turtles was definitely a highlight and all within a stones throw from our beach. We found an amazing beach bar restaurant New Sasak Cafe and ended up eating there every night. Beautiful sunsets, live local music, great food, tasty cocktails and fire juggling….how else do you spend an evening on a paradise island ?😀🍹🥂
Then it was time for our final stop back to mainland Bali where the owner of the villa we had booked met us back at the Akana and took us to Sari House in Ubud. Ubud is a bustling town with many shops, bars and restaurants but still maintains a very artistic atmosphere with many places displaying the famous wood carvings from the surrounding area. The villa is a 15 to 20 minute walk from Ubud centre and is situated in a quiet residential area.
Our own Balinese style villa with pool and garden was an oasis. Everything you could need was provided from pool towels to mosquito repellent. Adil and his wife were the perfect hosts, coming in every morning to prepare an amazing breakfast and Adil was happy to tell us about the Balinese culture and way of life. He even offers tours where he will be your driver for the day so we booked the Ubud tour which took us to the Monkey Forest, Elephant Sanctuary, rice fields with one of the famous Bali swings, amazing temples and picturesque waterfalls. Adil’s knowledge and commentary was greatly appreciated. Another place that was well worth the visit was the Ubud Water Palace, about a 15 minute walk from the villa. A sarong, gown & traditional headwear are all provided and add to the experience.
Adil also took us to a locals’ restaurant Warung Kayana in the evening where we savoured some wicked BBQ food at crazy low prices. The Bali Hampton served up a great Chicken Satay and for our last night after 2 weeks of Indonesian food we treated ourselves to a bit of fine dining at Brie Restaurant…outstanding food and drink and still at such a good price !
And then the last day arrived and Adil even drove us to the airport for our flight back to Singapore then onwards to London…..many hours of travelling but so worth it with many more memories made ❤
Bristolians Abroad 