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Bali Travel Guide

DSC_0190If you’ve been reading Snapshots and My Thoughts for awhile now, you’ll know that my husband and I just got back from our delayed honeymoon to Bali. We were gone for 15 days and loved every minute of the trip. We had a 50/50 split between relaxation and cultural activities, so we saw the best of both sides of the island. We ate some amazing meals, especially those in Ubud and Seminyak (where we believe the best food is on the island). We stayed at the Conrad Bali, which was dream-like. The hotel is located in Nusa Dua, which is at the southern part of the island, near most of the other big name hotels. If we were to go back again though, we would stay in Seminyak at an independent hotel to be close to the beach, quality shopping and delicious food – ideally the Samaya Hotel. It’s also important to spend a good amount of time in Ubud, which is in the northern part of the island and is the heart of the culture and arts scene. My last big tip is to get a good driver. We found Panji of Bali Safest Driver on Trip Advisor, and he was such a saving grace. Don’t rent a car – the driving is out of control. Email Panji and he’ll take you wherever your heart desires, and his rate is more than reasonable. Please contact me if you are planning a trip – I’d love to help!

Best restaurants (all with good vegetarian options)

  1. Chandi in Seminyak: Our favorite meal by far – I wanted to savor every single bite and I’m craving the crispy tofu appetizer right now!
  2. Melting Wok Warung in Ubud: This small restaurant has a limited menu, but they’ve perfected each of those dishes, so you can’t go wrong.
  3. Bumbu Bali in Nusa Dua: Sign up for the cooking class and then eat at the restaurant (in that order), so you’ll appreciate every delicious bite.
  4. Sakala in Nusa Dua: A very fancy restaurant (think gastro-cuisine) with delicious meals and a very Vegas-meets-Bali atmosphere.
  5. Bella Vista in Legian: A gem cafe with a delicious menu – we found Belle Vista on Trip Advsior – the good reviews weren’t wrong!
  6. The Bistrot in Seminyak (shown below): I want this restaurant in Houston. The decor and food were both out of this world. I loved it!
  7. Rin in Nusa Dua: This Japanese restaurant is part of the Conrad, but open to all guests – Sasha liked his sushi and I loved my seaweed salad.
  8. 8 Degrees South in Nusa Dua: You feel like you’re sitting on the beach while eating tasty mediterranean cuisine – the best of both worlds.

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Must-Do Activities

  1. Visit the Tirta Empul Temple – bring a spare set of clothes so you can get into the holy water and pray
  2. Go and watch the Devdan Show at the Nusa Dua Theater – well worth the ticket cost
  3. Go to Jimbaran Bay for sunset and eat at one of the many beach-front seafood restaurants
  4. Take a Balinese cooking class – I highly recommend Bumbu Bali with Chef Heinz von Holzen
  5. Visit Padang Padang Beach where they filmed Eat, Pray, Love
  6. Go to the Elephant Safari with Bali Adventure Tours
  7. Get a massage at the Jiwa Spa at the Conrad Hotel
  8. Enroll in surfing classes at Pro Surf School on Legian Beach
  9. Shop in local markets in Ubud
  10. Try Luwak Coffee at Santi Coffee Plantation
  11. Eat dinner in Seminyak (see recommendations above) and browse in the nearby boutiques
  12. Watch a traditional Balinese dance performance
  13. Play with monkeys at the Sacred Monkey Forest Sanctuary in Ubud
  14. Try mangosteen
  15. Play with parrots at the Blanco Museum in Ubud

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Area Guides

  1. Ubud: The yoga-crowd of Bali resides here. There are hippie coffee shops, yoga stores everywhere, gorgeous temples, elephants, and a monkey forest. What more could you ask for? You could easily spend 3 days in Ubud.
  2. Seminyak: Sasha and I loved Seminyak and would choose to stay in one of the gorgeous hotels here and eat all the delicious food nearby. The boutiques have high-end shopping that I was drooling over!
  3. Nusa Dua: This is the more touristy part of the island, so activities and food nearby are price-adjusted (i.e. more expensive!) accordingly – we ended up taking cabs north almost every evening.
  4. South Kuta: Home to Padang Padang Beach, where you must go to see the breath-taking beaches and rock formations (surfing here too). You’ll also find Jimbaran Bay, where you should go for a romantic seafood dinner!
  5. Legian: Just north of Kuta and south of Seminyak, this is a total surfer spot (i.e. Australians everywhere!). Sasha did his surfing classes in Legian, and we ate at Bella Vista – definitely worth coming here if you want to surf or see gorgeous beaches.

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Map by Kate Evans

Love to travel? Check out my other guides to Paris, Durango (Colorado), Austin, Houston, Washington, DC. I’m also working on ones for Istanbul, Athens, and San Francisco. More to come soon!

Cultural Bali in Ubud

On one of the last days of the trip, we took a day tour with Panji from Bali Safest Driver (I highly recommend him!) to a city in the central part of Bali called Ubud. Our newlywed friends, Julianne and Cody, joined us, which we really enjoyed. Ubud is rich in culture and very hippie – we met lots of intense yoga lovers while strolling through the streets. We went to the Monkey Forest and were greeted by hundreds of monkeys, which Julianne, Cody and Sasha all held on their hand, while one decided to lay flat on my head. Afterwards, we went to the Para Saraswati Temple, then to the Don Antonio Blanco Museum. Blanco was a very talented painter, but his art is very, very sexual. We got a good laugh at some of the intense descriptions at the museum. We ate the most amazing lunch at Melting Wok Warung – our second favorite meal of the trip. We went walking through the nearby markets afterward, then headed to a more upscale shopping street afterward. Exhausted after a long, hot day, we got back in the car and went to Seminyak for dinner. We ate appetizers at Chandi (our favorite restaurant where we’d eaten the night before), then ate our meal at The Bistrot. This restaurant is gorgeous – we all commented on how it would thrive in NYC or Houston (where we were both from!). I highly recommend it. Afterwards, we went back to the Conrad and subsequently all fell asleep immediately. One of my favorite days from the honeymoon!

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The Bistrot in Seminyak

Elephant Safari

One of our favorite activities from our honeymoon in Bali was the day trip to visit the elephants in a village north of Ubud. We booked our trip with Bali Adventure Tours, and we highly recommend any tourist book via this operator, as they treat the elephants very well. I’ve never played with elephants before, as they’re very dangerous when you encounter them in African safaris. These massive animals were far from threatening – they just wanted to be your friend (and I was willing to concede). We fed the elephants, then took a 40 minute ride through a park. Afterwards, we ate at the delicious buffet before seeing the show. The show leader emphasized that the elephants weren’t being paraded like in a circus, rather they were showing off their intelligence. And I believe it – they are so smart. We befriended another American couple, Julianne and Cody, on the trip. They were staying at the same hotel as us, and of course, we had multiple friends in common. This world is so small!

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Balinese Cuisine

For the best seafood on the island, any Balinese native will point you toward Jimbaran Bay. We hopped in a cab one night and headed to this gorgeous sandy beach which is lined with seafood restaurants where you literally hand pick your dinner (this is far beyond my vegetarian mind can grasp). Sasha loved it and definitely over indulged (see photographic evidence below) at Kampoeng Restaurant.

The following day, we were picked up at 6am from the hotel and went to a local market, where we met up with our cooking class and instructor from Bumbu Bali. Heinz von Holzen is the Swiss man who runs the show – and we (especially Sasha) loved him. We were gone for 9 hours and loved every single second. We shopped in the local markets for fruit, vegetables, meat and fish, all the while learning about the local Balinese culinary customs. We headed to Heinz’s bed and breakfast, where we spent the latter half of the class learning how to prepare 20 traditional Balinese meals. We were both in awe of Heinz’s passion towards food and left inspired to recreate the dishes we made in class (and devoured after). It was one of our five favorite things we did on the trip. I recommend anyone traveling to Bali to take this class!

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Sunset at Jimbaran Bay

DSC_0641Loving the soft white sand on my toes

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Sasha working it

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Sasha at Kampoeng Seafood where we ate dinner

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Deciding which poor lobster to eat

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Weighing his dinner for the night

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Please see Sasha’s snapper, shrimp and lobster (eyes bigger than the belly)DSC_0667

The most gorgeous sunset

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Heinz showing us the local spices

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Gorgeous colors in the market

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A local Balinese woman preparing rice religious offerings

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Bali bananas are all this tiny

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Traditional Balinese flower offerings that you will see everywhere on the island

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We used plenty of these gorgeous peppers in our cooking class

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Another local Balinese woman prepares another type of Hindu offering

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Getting ready to get his hands dirty

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Preparing the vegetarian peanut sauce salad

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The vegetarian end result (heaven on earth)

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Certified Balinese chefs (i.e. we have a certificate!)

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Sasha demonstrating the hardships of the sulphur porters of Indonesia (read more here)

Initial Bali Snapshots

I’m in love with Bali. It’s truly one of the most magical places I’ve ever visited, and the people here could not be any nicer. I’m a little behind on posting, so I’ve compiled our first few days in one post and will share additional pictures from our cooking class, trip to Padang Padang beach (where they filmed Eat, Pray, Love), dinner at Jimbaran Bay, and elephant ride soon.

Food

Eight Degrees South – great Mediterranean food
Suku – tasty Asian cuisine with nightly Balinese dance performances
Azure – our poolside go-to for lunch
East – a casual dining spot at the Conrad
Sakala – a phenomenal food experience – a trust “must” in Bali
Lakeview Cafe – delicious Asian buffet with breathtaking views
2Day Cafe – as close to a warung (local restaurant) as we’ve tried – great veggies
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Experiences

Relaxing at the gorgeous Conrad Bali lagoon pool and beach
Eating miso soup and drinking freshly squeezed mango juice for breakfast
Practicing outdoor yoga and exploring Nusa Dua by foot
Watching the awe-inspiring Devdan Show (think Cirque du Soleil + So You Think You Can Dance?)
Trying fresh Luwak coffee (read this to find out how it’s made)
Exploring the Balinese coffee plantation, Santi
Witnessing a perfect rainbow between Mt. Agung and Mt. Batur (sleeping volcano)
Trying lots of fresh fruit (except the stinky durian fruit – see Sasha eating it below)
Enjoying the cultural Barong and Kris Dance performance
Our favorite so far – praying in Bali’s holiest water at Tirta Empul
 

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Morning view from our room

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Where you’ll find us (every second day – 50% culture, 50% tan!)

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Temple style watch guard points

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I’m never leaving

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Miso and mango for breakfast

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Onsite temple

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Practicing my yoga moves (outside of the 7:30 Sunrise Yoga class)

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My poolside Summer Salad and Sasha’s hamburger – is there anything better?

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At the Kris and Barong Performance

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Evil and Pure Spirits are fighting (can’t you tell?)

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Amazing costumes in play at the performance

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Two of the main performers

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Waiting to pray in the holy springs at Tirta Empul

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Lots of people and things to be praying for

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Sasha looks darn good in a sarong (I’m totally biased)

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Trying teas and coffees at Santi Plantation

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The freshly picked coffee beans and spices at Santi

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In front of Mt. Batur

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A gorgeous rainbow outside of Lakeview

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Sasha being brave and trying durian

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Me being less brave and trying mangosteen

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Durians look as unappealing as they smell (and taste!)

Processed with VSCOcam with c1 presetMy only picture at Devdan before getting scolded for taking pictures!