Bali Bliss

April 09, 2018

Bali Bliss

Sometimes, just sometimes, my propensity for being super organised pays off. So booking and paying for our easter holiday in November last year was one of the best plans I have made.

After the last couple of months, the need for a complete holiday of relaxation was essential - for all of us. And to also know that it had been booked and payed for made sure we didn’t cancel !!

So, on Good Friday, off to Bali we flew. Mike has always been quite cautious and even negative about a holiday in Bali, so I needed to make sure I did it right. This meant a private villa rather than a resort in Kuta full of bogans. Luckily, I nailed the accomodation- it was perfect.

We stayed at villa called Bayu Gita Residence, which has three bedrooms and wonderful living spaces. There is another house next to this one that has 6 bedrooms called Bay Gita Villa and they can be hired together for weddings or family/friends holidays. However, the best part of the property was the outside space - a great, larger private pool, seperate jacuzzi and a large shaded daybed. The staff there were wonderful and I cannot recommend the place highly enough. We spent every available minute in the pool and lying on the daybed. I managed to get through 3 books and we all got in to some serious relaxation time.

We did manage to have a few outings - one to Sanur Beach which we enjoyed but we really did like the peacefulness of our own villa - spoiled !!! It was lovely for me to be able to catch up with a girlfriend who used to live in HK, and it's always good to get the lowdown from someone who lives in Bali. Max and I did a day trip up to Ubud to see the rice terraces in Tegalalang, and checkout the art and action in Ubud. This ended in us finding somewhere for a foot massage and chilling out - as you do after living in Hong Kong for three years. The rice terraces are truely beautiful and at this time of year, they are so green it is quite a sight.

The only adventurous outing we did was up to the north of the island to go quad biking and buggying. Sadly for the boys, they were not allowed in control of the vehicles, as they were too young, so Mike and I proceeded to give them some thrills with some crazy driving skills. Not sure Max was too impressed with my quad skills, especially going downhill. He comes across full of bravado but really is still my little man at heart.

On our last day, one of the staff mentioned that there was a local salt factory just down the road. So, never one to shy away from an adventure, the boys and I went and had a look. This small shack about 15 metres from the beach collects salt water from the ocean and then boils it for hours and hours, to collect the salt flakes. They are then sold in bags to the local spas and resorts for scrubs and treatments. This small family business was hard, hot work but it was fascinating to spend a few minutes with them and the see the process in full swing.

Overall, I think I converted Mike to Bali - he enjoyed the villa, the food and the complete relaxation that Bali has to offer.