OUR BALI HOLIDAY PART II - SEMINYAK

Hello dear friends, hope you are well.

As I promised in the previous post, I am picking up exactly where I left you, on the road from Ubud to Seminyak .  As I mentioned in the first part of my Bali Odyssey, Ubud and Seminyak have totally different vibes yet both are very interesting places, each in its own right and it's worth visiting both of them.  If you are joining us right now and missed the first part of my story, you can catch it here and if you follow me on Instagram, you already know how much we enjoyed our Bali holiday.

It took us no more then two hours to reach Seminyak and check in My Villas in Bali.  The attraction of this place was it's prime position in the heart of Seminyak while offering a private oasis to each guest. Each villa comes with a swimming pool, a peaceful Balinese garden, in-house masseur and a private butler who will prepare and serve us breakfast.  We were given an iPhone with a single phone number which we can call anytime we require something from the host.   All we needed to do every morning was to send him a message of our breakfast choice (American, Continental, eggs cooked to your taste, traditional Balinese breakfast dish etc) and 20 minutes later he would come over bringing all the necessary ingredients with him and cook and serve us our breakfast.   No matter the choice, every breakfast would  begin with a glass of freshly squeezed juice and a plate of freshly cut local fruit. 

I wasn't very comfortable with this arrangement at first but then my husband pointed out that we will not have this opportunity again any time soon so why don't enjoy it why we can.

We arrived at the villa in late afternoon and since we had no plans for the evening, our driver suggested  that we should take a walk down to the beach to watch sunset and have dinner at the beach club called La Plancha,  bohemian beachfront Spanish restaurant that serves tapas and bar.  We did some unpacking and then went out.  

The minute we were on the street, we got sensory overload from the cacophony of noises and sounds coming from cars and motorbike roaring past, car horns from the passing taxis, calls from the staff sitting outside massage parlours, tattoo shops, bars, souvenir shops etc offering their goods and services.  Luckily, the walk was not too long and soon we reach Seminyak Beach and asked for direction to La Plancha.  As we walked along the shore we saw a sea of colouful bean bags spread right on the sand under the bright traditional Balinese umbrellas and realised that we had reached our destination.  

We both agreed that we are too old to sit on the beanbags and instead walked to the restaurant and asked for seats upstairs.  It offered a panoramic view over the whole scene:  the ocean, the surf, the beach underneath us looking amazing - covered with the beanbags and umbrellas and hundred and hundreds of people eating, drinking, dancing, swimming and generally having a great time.  We loved it all.  

We ordered a couple of sundowners, a few plates of food and settled to watch the sunset.  All the dishes that we ordered were cooked on a round flat  metal pate following the Spanish tradition and tasted absolutely delicious.  When the sun came down, we were mesmerised by the bright colours spread all over the skies and their reflection in the ocean.

As I previously mentioned, we had a list of sites and things that we would like to do and we got to it straight away.  First on our list was a trip to Tanah Lot.  

It is a rock formation overlooking the Indian Ocean on which an ancient Hindu pilgrimage temple was built in the 16th century.  When the tide is high it looks like the temple is floating but when the tide is low people can walk to the temple to receive a blessing.

We took a slow walk around taking in the scenery, the view and the spirituality of the place.   We fought through the traffic on the way back to villa and upon arrival put our swimming pool to a good use.

The following day we wanted to see the famous statue of Garuda.  When we were in Bali 7 years ago, the monument was in its rudimentary stage but even then it looked mighty impressive so we were very keen to see it completed.

Its full name of the statue is Garuda Wisny Kinsana aka GWK, it is 122 meters tall and is located in Garuda Wisny Kinsana Kultural Park.  This challenging project took engineers, stonemasons and other skilled artisans over 20 years to construct.  It sits on top of the hill and is so tall that you can see it in the distance from almost anywhere.

In order to get to close to the statue, you need to buy a ticket and hop on an open bus that will drive you along the winding road through the park where you begin to appreciate the full scale of the project.  The bus takes you only to the base of the statue and if you want to see the inside of it, you have to pay again.  We were quite happy just to walk around admiring the statue int its size and beauty.  

Just thinking of how many labour hours, materials and technical and creative skills were poured into this project to make it a reality makes you appreciate how far can people go in order to fulfill their visions and dreams. It is truly a magnificent structure and its presence could be felt all over Bali.  

After a while, we started a slow descent back to the bus and shortly after were back in a carpark where Kadek (our driver) met us and drove us back to the villa.  

When we woke up the next morning, I felt that I had have enough of sightseeing and a bit of shopping sounds like a good change.  There are three places for shopping that  every tourist should visit:  Seminyak Village, Seminyak Square and Oberoi Flea Market.  They are in walking distance from one another but apart from a few boutiques, all the shops were selling the same staff that we have already seen in Ubud.  However, we dutifully walked up and down the streets, mostly just doing window shopping.  When we thought that we had enough, we stopped at the lovely place called BossMan, the first dedicated burger joint in Seminyak, for lunch.  They were exceptionally delicious and well-priced.

One day went did some snorkeling.  We didn't want to drive too far and our driver took us to a very popular snorkeling destination in Nusa Dua.  The tickets for one hour of snorkeling were quite expensive but when the boat that took us out to the spot, stopped the motor and we jumped int the water, it was so dirty and full of rubbish floating around us that we climbed on board almost immediately and asked the crew to take us back ashore.  We were quite disappointed and slightly angry from this bad experience.  Thankfully, Kadek knew another spot that he promised would be very good but it was about 2 hours away by car.  This time we didn't hesitate and the trip, although rather long due to the unbelievable traffic, was worth every minute.  The water was crystal clear and very warm and we saw the most amazing fish.  It was as good if not better than what we saw in the Great Barrier Reef.

On our last day in Bali, we decided to take things slowly.  Our plane was leaving late in the evening and we agreed that we've done enough and will take things slowly.  After breakfast, we packed our bags and decided to walk  down to the beach and have our farewell drinks and lunch at La Plancha.

After lunch, we slowly walked back to the villa, had a swim in our pool, read and have some rest until it was time to say goodbye to our host and drive to airport to fly back to Sydney.

I hope you enjoyed reading my Bali Odyssey.  If you are planning your trip to Bali, please don't hesitate to ask me any questions in a comment section below.

Until then,

Anna

xoxoxo