From backpacker to living in luxury - Bali style

Breakfast in my villa

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Little bit of luxury in Bali 🙂

I always travel solo. For me it’s a no-brainer to stay in hostels where ever I go. It’s cheap and so many outgoing, fun people to meet all in the one place, its perfect! During my first trip to Bali I made sure I ticked off everything on the obvious ‘to do’ list. Actually I was kind of obsessed with that. Pretty sure I spent a cringe amount of time with my head stuck in my Lonely Planet guidebook on the next hunt for their top listed restaurant or bar. I had such a brilliant time and couldn’t wait to go back. …………………………….. Here are some of the things I definitely recommend to do: -Learn how to surf on a course in Kuta. (‘Ripcurl School of Surf’ are great and I had a few random, fun nights out with the instructors) -Experience the nightlife of Kuta. (For the party animals, ‘Sky Garden’ is the main place to be-rooftop bar and dancing until the wee hours of the night 🙂 ) – Trip to Uluwatu. (Probably one of my favourite days, ever. Breathtakingly beautiful cliff-top setting with temples scattered along the edge. By the way there are a lot of cheeky monkeys who are not afraid to get close, really. I couldn’t help laughing (inside me head) at all the squeeling families dodging the suspiciously tame monkeys. Oh and stay for the Kecak fire show at sunset. Stunning is truly an understatement for that place). -Trip to Ubud. (More chilled out place. Go here for beautiful walks through the brightest of green rice fields, buy a painting, stay in a yoga retreat, or in a homestay, take a Balinese cooking class, go on an adventerous white-water rafting trip). -Stay on Nusa Lembongan island. (The most gorgeous, peaceful island. No cars, only scooters. I stayed in a lovely bungalow with a dive company onsite that took me on some of my best dives. It was here I dived with manta rays, I was on a high for days after!) -Go to Seminyak. (This is the more upscale, trendy part of Bali. An abundance of boutique stores, unique cafes, fine-dining restaurants, beach lounges and of course the place for your very own luxury villa. Go to the architecturally unique ‘Potatohead’ for a fancy cocktail in the pool overlooking the sunset-it is picturesque, and very trendy. ‘Ku De Ta’ for another day of sunbathing, sipping on your ginger and apple cocktail whilst waiting for your delicious crab cakes to be delivered to your sunlounge. ‘Mantra’ and ‘Mint’ are cool bars I went to). -Get a massage every day. (Yeah every day, sometimes I did twice a day. I think I was hooked on getting reflexology massages. I mean really, my day didn’t feel complete and i’d get anxiety if I didn’t fit some form of foot soothing heaven in to my day. Ah its a tough life. Go to ‘Prana Spa’ – I think I probably had the best 3 hours of my life. I may be saying that a lot. But its true. Starting with 10 minutes in the hot and cold plunge pool, followed by foot scrub, full body massage, superb facial and finished off with the most blissful milk cream scalp massage and hair bath. I thought I had died and gone to heaven!). -Eat. (A lot. I just love asian food and there are so many restaurants to choose from, sometimes I feel I spend most of my holidays searching for the next best place to eat. Definitely one of my favourite things to do. Hm is that an acceptable hobby? Yeeaah why not. Did I mention that everything is so dam cheap in Bali, i’m amazed I didn’t gain 10 kg!). ……………………………..

Cocktails at Potatohead

So for my recent second trip to Bali, I decided to just totally and completely RELAX. Guilt-free laziness, no guide book, no moving about seeing this and that. I was pretty exhausted after not really having a proper lie-in for 3 months. So I decided to book myself in to a little bit of luxury (villa with private pool and butler service that looked like i’d just stepped in to a Homes Design magazine. It was called ‘Le Jardin Boutique Villa’ – stay there if you get the chance!) I pretty much pampered myself every single day, and drank A LOT of cocktails. Amazing ones. All the time. I don’t think I can go back to the old Rum n Coke after my tastebuds have been accustomed to the likes of Honey And Lychee or Rose And Apple martinis. I have lots more to write about wonderful Bali but I will save that for another post 🙂