Monday 19 August 2013

Holiday Postcards - Travel Supermarket Competition Entry: Beautiful Bali (picture heavy!)

Magical Memories of Beautiful Bali..........

I've been doing a lot of reminiscing this week so it seems fitting that I start this week with my competition entry for Travel Supermarket with a post about my most memorable holiday.

About an hour ago I sat and started to write about the Dordogne in the South of France but my mind kept wandering to my honeymoon and Bali.  I had such an amazing time while we were there, I didn't want to be cliched and write about my honeymoon but I just have to share what Bali has to offer.

It's been really difficult to pick one particular place as so many destinations have great memories, I've been fortunate enough to visit some incredible and beautiful places over the years, Bali being one of the most magnificent. This is why it is going to be my holiday postcard!


Honeymoon cocktails

So, why did we choose Bali? Initially when we were looking at honeymoon destinations we were looking at Maldives, Mauritius and Seychelles (so expensive!) and then Adi suggested I look at some of the hotels that are available in Bali (namely The Samaya), I was sold as soon as I looked at what it had to offer! We booked through Turquoise Holidays and I cannot recommend them highly enough, yes they aren't the cheapest but the service we received not only on booking but while we were in Bali when we had an issue with one of our trips. Their customer service is exceptional.  

We chose to do a 3 night stay in Ubud which is more tranquil and rural and then 7 nights in the popular beach resort of Seminyak. We flew on the Monday after the wedding (August 16th 2010) to Kuala Lumpar and then on to Bali, a total of 15 hours for the 2 flights (thank the lord for my Diazepam as I hate flying!). 




When we did finally arrive in Bali we were met by our very, very friendly Balinese guide (in traditional dress) who was ready to take us to our first stop.....before this though I remember we had to stop and get some cash (organised as always!), stupidly we forgot to inform the credit card company we were travelling to Indonesia so they immediately put a block on our card! Great start! Thankfully that was soon rectified and we were on our way to the Ubud Hanging Gardens. On arrival to the Hanging Gardens we were once again greeted by some lovely Balinese ladies who presented us with flower garlands and welcome drinks, we were then shown to our room via the funicular, which I loved riding in!! 

The funicular to take you to the different levels




You could take the steps but there were so many and the funicular was great fun!
We stayed in a panoramic pool villa suite which are nestled up on the hills within the jungle. Goodness they are tranquil and so lovely, they have such rustic charm too and featured an outdoor plunge pool which overlooked the jungle and across to the temple. 


The entrance to our suite
The temple we could see from our suite


The plunge pool overlooking the jungle
We often had regular visitors!
Our lovely and very comfy bed

I can't even begin to describe just how relaxing this place was and it was so silent other than the Monkey and Birds, we rarely heard any other guests and it was almost like we were in the hills on our own! The Beduur restaurant that was on site was fine dining and some of the best food I'd ever eaten, the only trouble was with being in such a remote location we had little choice but to eat here and it was a tad pricey!

We were able to visit Ubud via the free shuttle provided by the hotel which was great, Ubud market is truly brilliant, if not a little manic but we were able to barter for some lovely Balinese craft souvenirs.  The picture below was taken in one of the quieter parts of the market, you might recognise it from the Julia Roberts film 
Eat Pray Love in which Bali is featured as is the market. We also attended a Balinese cookery lesson which was loads of fun! 












After our three nights in Ubud we then made our way with our guide to our next stop of Seminyak which is a much more fast paced beach resort. We stayed at The Samaya which was stunning. The main hotel had it's own private beach and restaurant, we stayed just over the road which were accessed by being driven the 1 minute journey in golf buggies, brilliant! Our accommodation were the Royal Courtyard Villas and I've never been so blown away by a room (or should I say apartment!), it truly was stunning and this was the reason we barely left to visit anywhere while we stayed there! We had our own private pool and butler and the whole experience was one I'll never forget. 




We did venture out of the villa on a couple occasions, we did a trip to Mount Batur which is an active volcano (eek!!!), this was a trip more suited to Adi however as I came back sweaty, dirty, stinking and bored of looking at lava but that being said it was an experience, I mean when am I ever going to get so close to an active volcano again?!?! On this trip we also visited rice paddies, a coffee museum and a temple so I suppose it wasn't all bad.









We indulged in some massages at The Samaya and I snuck in a mani & pedi too, we drank ice cool cocktails on the private beach and had some incredible food at Breeze, the hotel restaurant. We relaxed, sunbathed, ate and drank far too much (but hey what are honeymoon's for?!). 

The practically empty private beach

To be honest, we splurged. It was our honeymoon, we wanted it to memorable! The memories aren't all about the materialistic things though, even though they were amazing , it was the hospitality and pure friendliness of the Balinese people that made this trip. They treat you like absolute royalty and nothing is ever too much.  It's very unlikely that a trip like this for us will ever happen again, maybe in 10 years time I might be lucky enough to renew our vows here or have a blessing and share it with our children. Until then I have my memories and these photos to remind me of just what an incredible time we had in beautiful Bali. 





Beautiful Frangipanis
Bugger, just writing and thinking back to all this makes me want to go back to Bali badly now! Oh well, will just have to look forward to France and New York this year :-) 

Hope you've enjoyed reading all about Bali and what it has to offer.
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18 comments:

  1. I always wanted to go to Bali. Your photos are just so lovely! x

    Donah
    www.mnemonicreveries.blogspot.com

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    1. Thanks Donah! You should definitely visit Bali if you ever get the opportunity, it truly is a beautiful place :-) x

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  2. Great pictures and love the look of both places you stayed...we chose Maldives for our honeymoon, maybe Bali for 10 year anniversary ;-)

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    1. Thanks Carly :-) I'd love to go to the Maldives too! You should definitely do Bali for 10 years! X

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  3. All these beautiful pictures and the one I love the most is the cocktails!! Looks like a really beautiful place, your pictures are glorious! :)

    Kate Hurn x

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    1. Thanks Kate! Who doesn't love cocktails, they were amazing! Thank you for your comment :-) x

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  4. What beautiful pictures! It looks like a fantastic place

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    1. Thank you so much! It is a fantastic place, well worth visiting if you ever get the chance. X

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  5. Oh wow, it truly looks amazing, never thought about visiting it before, but will certainly put it on my wish list in the future (you know things I would love to do once children have grown up more) x

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    1. I know exactly what you mean, I can't wait to go back again at some point. Thank you for your comment :-) XX

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  6. Wow, that looks amazing and no wonder you have great memories! I wouldn't want to come home!

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    1. Trust me I didn't! Magical memories :-) Thank you for your comment X

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  7. I have such honeymoon envy - we didn't get one. One day hopefully we'll repay ourselves that debt!

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    1. Ahh sorry that you didn't get a honeymoon, fingers crossed that one day you do and maybe consider Bali? X

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  8. Wow...Bali looks divine, so beautiful. Your photos are gorgeous!

    Thanks for linking up with this weeks #MMWBH xx

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    1. Thanks Debs!It's one of those places that stays in your memory. Thanks for letting me take part :-) x

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  9. Wow lovely!!
    Looks gorgeous there!
    love the photos

    New follower :)
    www.life-as-mum.blogspot.co.uk
    Love your blog!! xx

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    1. Hello, thank you so much for your comment :-) Bali is indeed a beautiful place. I will check out your blog! X

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