Category

International

Category

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.

DSC_0042

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

DSC_0024

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.

evan_bali-l

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!

Shapshots of 2013

For the past four years, I’ve made an annual Shutterfly book that covered all travel and adventures for the year. I just finished my 2013 book yesterday, and it was extremely tough to keep it at 111 pages! I literally had to delete 6 pages in order to complete it. What an amazing year! We went to SF/Napa three times (more pictures here), Durango, Dunton Hot Springs, Boston, New York City, Miami, Dallas, Austin, San Antonio, Minneapolis, and Bali. We remodeled a house that became our home, got married and are now expecting a baby girl in 2014. I’m almost sure that fits the definition for ‘whirlwind.’

How was your 2013? What are you most looking forward to next year?

Click here to view our 2013 in snapshots (pictures below by Ryan Ray).
Sasha_Ailee_Wedding_479

Sasha_Ailee_Engagements_162

Click here to view my 2012 book. Click here to view my 2011 book.

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!

DSC_0940

DSC_0956

DSC_0965

DSC_0970

DSC_1004

DSC_1009

DSC_1013

DSC_1024

DSC_1036

DSC_1068

DSC_0006

DSC_0021

DSC_0023

DSC_0024

DSC_0028

DSC_0036

DSC_0038

DSC_0042

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!

DSC_0745

DSC_0763

DSC_0793

DSC_0803

DSC_0812

DSC_0819

DSC_0827

DSC_0846

DSC_0867

DSC_0907

DSC_0922

DSC_0926

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!

DSC_0633

Sunset at Jimbaran Bay

DSC_0641Loving the soft white sand on my toes

DSC_0628

Sasha working it

DSC_0661

Sasha at Kampoeng Seafood where we ate dinner

DSC_0651

Deciding which poor lobster to eat

DSC_0658

Weighing his dinner for the night

DSC_0671

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

The most gorgeous sunset

DSC_0675

Heinz showing us the local spices

DSC_0694

Gorgeous colors in the market

DSC_0691

A local Balinese woman preparing rice religious offerings

DSC_0690

DSC_0689

Bali bananas are all this tiny

DSC_0688

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

DSC_0684

We used plenty of these gorgeous peppers in our cooking class

DSC_0677

Another local Balinese woman prepares another type of Hindu offering

DSC_0704

Getting ready to get his hands dirty

DSC_0717

Preparing the vegetarian peanut sauce salad

DSC_0729

The vegetarian end result (heaven on earth)

DSC_0723

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

DSC_0738

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