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I've Been To Bali Too
Aug. 2nd, 2024 04:10 pmIt has been more than ten years since I've visited Bali, and this has been my seventh visit to the island. A trip, initially for seven (two dropped out due to Cloudstrike chaos) was organised by my dear Darwin friend, Lara D. Other attendees included Jac, Steph, and Anton. Our initial nights were in the excellent mid-range villas, Satriya Cottages, in the middle of Kuta. The place is somewhat quieter than previous visits, but still brash with locals touting various products or services. It doesn't really strike me as a sustainable economy to have people effectively guarding several hundred dollars worth of goods for a few sales a day. In any case, it was an opportunity to gather everyone together before going on our separate ways. Lara, Anton, and I headed north to Ubud, whereas Jac and Steph made their way to Nusa Dua. The reality is that people have different desires and priorities on such a trip; Jac likes their four-plus star resorts, Lara likes fine dining, and if it were left to me, we'd be spending all our time in temples, museums, and art galleries.
Ubud provided a good mix of all of the above, which was probably perfect for first-time attendee, Anton. We booked out all three apartments in the small Angel House villa, notable for its absolutely superb customer service, a very cute house cat, and excellent facilities even if it is a little out of town. Somewhat shocking for both Lara and me, who have visited before, is the amount of traffic and tourists who now frequent what could once be described as a sleepy artist's village, which is quite incredible. Attempting to reach a restaurant in one evening took 45 minutes to travel a mere 5km. Bali has seen some good improvements in infrastructure over the past decade, but the road infrastructure in Ubud is certainly not keeping up with population and vehicle pressures.
This said, the place still has its charms. This included a visit to the 1000-year old Elephant Cave temple, which alas does not have cave-dwelling elephants, and the famous Sacred Monkey Forest which (apart from being a sacred forest that has monkeys) also is home of temple complexes built in c1350 CE. A visit to the Kemenuh Butterfly Park was quite delightful as were visits to local waterfalls and rice paddy views (which has the additional entertainment of swings and zip-lines). As an indulgence to Lara, we attended the Mosaic restaurant, recognised by Wine Spectator as one of the top 50 restaurants in Asia, a member of "Les grand tables du Monde" etc. We had a long eight-course dinner with paired cocktails and, as one can expect, the presentation, service, and food were absolutely excellent. I was amused by the fact that the head chef comes from Ashburton, New Zealand.
For the final two days, we went to Canggu staying at the beautiful and inexpensive Desaku Bungalows and basically did very little except enjoy local cuisine and drinks (we picked up some Arak from our concierge in Ubud). On our last day, Anton, Lara, and spent the day in a cabana at Echo Beach (which one assumes was named after the the Martha and the Muffins song). Now, composing this at the airport I am about to board the plane back to Melbourne. I actually had a real holiday and managed to avoid work for pretty much the entire journey. It was a wonderful time, with truly wonderful company. I must say, I'm rather looking forward to the next adventure.
Ubud provided a good mix of all of the above, which was probably perfect for first-time attendee, Anton. We booked out all three apartments in the small Angel House villa, notable for its absolutely superb customer service, a very cute house cat, and excellent facilities even if it is a little out of town. Somewhat shocking for both Lara and me, who have visited before, is the amount of traffic and tourists who now frequent what could once be described as a sleepy artist's village, which is quite incredible. Attempting to reach a restaurant in one evening took 45 minutes to travel a mere 5km. Bali has seen some good improvements in infrastructure over the past decade, but the road infrastructure in Ubud is certainly not keeping up with population and vehicle pressures.
This said, the place still has its charms. This included a visit to the 1000-year old Elephant Cave temple, which alas does not have cave-dwelling elephants, and the famous Sacred Monkey Forest which (apart from being a sacred forest that has monkeys) also is home of temple complexes built in c1350 CE. A visit to the Kemenuh Butterfly Park was quite delightful as were visits to local waterfalls and rice paddy views (which has the additional entertainment of swings and zip-lines). As an indulgence to Lara, we attended the Mosaic restaurant, recognised by Wine Spectator as one of the top 50 restaurants in Asia, a member of "Les grand tables du Monde" etc. We had a long eight-course dinner with paired cocktails and, as one can expect, the presentation, service, and food were absolutely excellent. I was amused by the fact that the head chef comes from Ashburton, New Zealand.
For the final two days, we went to Canggu staying at the beautiful and inexpensive Desaku Bungalows and basically did very little except enjoy local cuisine and drinks (we picked up some Arak from our concierge in Ubud). On our last day, Anton, Lara, and spent the day in a cabana at Echo Beach (which one assumes was named after the the Martha and the Muffins song). Now, composing this at the airport I am about to board the plane back to Melbourne. I actually had a real holiday and managed to avoid work for pretty much the entire journey. It was a wonderful time, with truly wonderful company. I must say, I'm rather looking forward to the next adventure.
