Hi everyone,
Been back for 4 days now and can hardly believe it. Where did it go? We had a wonderful time in Bali, as usual. Have stayed at the Gazebo Beach Hotel, Sanur, four times now and find the staff to be wonderfully friendly and helpful. I had had a very busy few months before we left, and was particularly looking forward to doing as little as possible. As Murphy's Law would have it, I got sick on the Friday before we left (on the Sunday) and had absolutely no voice and was a little sinusy - not good for the plane flight.
As we've been to Bali quite a few times now, we decided that we didn't want to do the usual temple, Monkey Forest-type tourist things. We had never been to Lovina, so took a day trip there. Our friends had never been to Mengweh (I think that's how it's spelt) temple (the one with the moat around it), so we stopped there briefly and watched the ladies making the offerings for a big temple celebration. Then on to Lake Bratan and Pura Ulu Danau (once again sorry if the spelling's off). From there we went to Gitgit waterfall, up to Singaraja, on to Lovina for lunch and then the hot springs. It was lovely but a very long day, leaving at 8.30 and not getting back to the hotel until 7pm. The hot springs left a little to be desired, a massive concrete type swimming area with the hot, murky looking water in it, however it was very popular. I think I was expecting something a little more natural looking. The whole day might not have been quite so long if our driver and guide had not decided to take a 'short cut' home, which although I'm sure it took longer, did afford some magnificent views as we drove across the ridge of the mountains.
We did our usual trip to Ubud, as we had some friends who were staying there. Lunch at Casa Luna and a bit of a poke around the markets.
The rest of the trip was spent with occasional trips into Kuta for a quick shopping spurt, long walks, lots of reading, resting, drinking and eating. And, my favourite part, massages. We had a massage every couple of days on the beach at Sindhu Beach (Sanur), Santi does mine and Tini my husband's, with her husband, Chris, doing a bit of reflexology on the old chap a couple of times too. I've tried to lock the sights, sounds and whole experience in my memory for those difficult days at work that are sure to come.
We also had the 'Royal Bali Massage' at the Green Garden Resort in Tuban. Great value for money and thoroughly indulgent - three hours of bathing, massaging, exfoliating, masking, etc, all finished off with a ginger tea and cake. They even pick you up at your hotel and drop you back - I highly recommend the experience, if you like massages, of course.
The restaurant scene has changed a lot at Sanur in the last few years, with some very nice, up market places springing up. We followed the recommendations received here to try the Beach Café and The Village, and found them to both be excellent food and excellent value. Other places we ate were Benno's (for breakfast most mornings), Bonsai's (excellent seafood platter for around AU$20), La Taverna, The Gazebo (of course), Mango's and the Griya Santrian. The Gazebo Patisserie for afternoon tea was also a favourite, with lovely chats with Betty who is there most days.
We arrived home on Sunday afternoon at about 2pm having not slept of course, and needing to be at work on Monday am. I know that I'm completely relaxed because I'm still walking at Balinese pace, and no one has been able to get me to hurry or to get under my skin. Can't wait to go back to Bali - all in all a perfect - just what I needed at the time - holiday!!