BALI

This has been the place we have visited that we liked the most so far, Bali is everything, people always grateful and helpful, spectacular beaches, beautiful accommodation everywhere, good food, and above all the peace and good energy that provides the island. We’ve been there twice: the first time we rented a car and we toured the whole island, a real adventure driving in Bali. The second time we took a driver and went to the places we liked the most on our first trip to visit it thoroughly, it all depends on how adventurous you are to choose one option or another.

Ubud

Our first stop was Ubud, you have two lodging options, one is between the rice fields, separated of the center of Ubud, in an spectacular and very calm houses in a lodge specialized in the retreat, yoga and meditation…, , or in the center of Ubud with all the services near. We have used both options, and I prefer the second one. When we lodged outside between rice fields our accommodation was Sativa Village, a spectacular villa with and outstanding breakfast served in the mornings, but it was quite far from the center and you need to call a taxi every time you want to go to a restaurant or visit any attraction, very cheap by the way, but you rely on transport every time you want to go somewhere. It is the best option is you are looking for a quite place, but if you prefer to be close to everything, I will choose a place near the Monkey Forrest. The second time we lodge in Ubud Village hotel, and it was a very good experience, small charm hotel and in perfect location. This option was most liked by our son, probably because there are more attractions and things to do around the hotel than in the villa.

Ubud is one of my favorite places in Bali, because of the calm it inspires and the amount of healthy restaurants, and our son loved being able to join the local children to play barefoot soccer in a muddy place. It is essential to visit the market, in the morning, the interior market offers food, spices, magnificent incense (the best I have ever bought), and in the exterior market you can find bags, clothes, handcrafts… it is worth spending the morning there bargaining and finding artisan wonders.

We leave Ubud early in the morning to go towards Smarapura, about 40 minutes away, to visit Kerta Gosa, the Hall of Justice built in the 18th century. It is well distributed into a moat and offers an exquisite example of the Klungkung style of painting and architecture that can be seen in its ceilings.
Here we also decided to take a guide who explained to us the meaning of the paintings, what people who committed a crime were facing. After the visit at the museum we moved to ::

We continued our trip to Lovina and made the next stop in Kintamani where you can have an impressive views over the lake of the Danau Batur boiler, but we were not lucky because there was a lot of fog and we could not see much, and by the way it was very cold compared to the usual temperature in Bali.

Going down to the north coast you can make a brief stop at the Sangsit temple. In Lovina we stay at the Lovina Beach resort, as I always say, there are many options in Bali, both in type of accommodation and price, this is an intermediate option, where we rest and have a wonderful dinner after a hard trip day. We spent only one night at this hotel, but you can make another one if you have time to, so you can enjoy the hotel, as they take you out very early to see dolphins. The next day we went to the Banjar thermal water, where we took a bath and visited the Buddhist monastery. That was another funny and interesting stop for my son. You have to pay for the thermal spa, but it is a few rate, and there are baths and wardrobes. From there we moved forward to Seminyak.

Canggu Seminyak

This region of Bali is very turistic and the beach is the best one for kids. It is a long white sand beach, the waves are of a very intermediate size, so it is ideal for beginners to surf, both adults and children. in addition to the classic surfing schools of the big brands, it is very typical that after the shift, the lifeguards give lessons to groups and individuals at a very good price, and who better than them. The beach is full of resorts, lovely beach bars and restaurants.

The Seminyak area, further south of Kuta, is the older, and the Canggu area is the most modern, with many accommodations geared towards yoga, eco, vegetarian etc… We went to the Double six beach area, a resort called The Royal Beach Seminyak, on the beach-front and a villa located a little further back Annora village, both were wonderful, each one in different style.

We took this area as a the most relaxing part of the trip, we went to the beach in the morning and in the afternoon we usually go to the main street full of shops suitable for all tastes and pockets, and restaurants of all types. As we told you before don’t miss one of the days at Tahna Lot, this temple is about 40 minutes from Seminyak. It is the temple of the Earth in the Sea and it depends on the time you decide to visit it you will see it wet or not. When the tide is low, it can be reached by walking on the rock, but when it rises, that small footbridge is practically covered by water. We saw it in the afternoon, so we could see it dry and enter into it to receive the blessing of the monks and enter into the caves and see the snake around it. It is one of the most special temples in Bali.

Another stop in Bali that we loved was Ulluwatu, we stayed five days there in a big hotel, the Lexington Klapa resort, it is on a cliff just above Dreamland beach, which is for us one of the best in the area, and 15 minutes from Jimbaran, it is well located, the breakfast was good and it has a terrace upstairs with a pool and a great restaurant if you want to stay for dinner

The village of Uluwatu is on a stone mountain and when you climb all the stairs to the top you discover spectacular views of the sea, there are several restaurants from which you can watch incredible sunsets.

Just below you find the famous beach (it’s more a reed than a beach) of Ulluwatu where the surfing championship is held.

Another must-see there is the temple of Ulluwatu, which I recommend you go right after lunch to see the sunset there, because it is spectacular, and there is also a traditional dance show that we liked very much. It closes at 18, because in Bali it gets dark at that time.

In this area you have to go for dinner to Jimbaran, a fishing village, which has a big fish market. We were guided by a local person, there are two possibilities at dinner time, enter the market, buy the fish and they do it in the outside in some barbecues, this is very cheap, but in fact we entered and left the market three times and we were not able to buy anything, the conditions and the smell were not the best. Second option is the recommended by our local guide and the choice we happily choose. There are a lot of restaurants on the seashore that when sunset took the tables to the beach, you choose the fresh fish and seafood, they weigh it and make it for you in barbecues, then you sit to take it on the beach, while locals pass by playing music, a great plan to go out for dinner. The a lot of restaurants, we chose Ganesha Sea Food and Coffe.

A very typical beach to visit in this area is Padang Padang, the name of this beach created some confusion by tourists. The beach that tourists use to call Padang Padang is in fact Labuan Sait for the Balinese people, we were taken there by a local who explain us the confusion and then took us to the real Padang Padang.

To go to the first on, Labuan Sait, you have to pay to enter, you go into a cave, go down some stairs and enter a small beach with blue water, it is worth going to see it, have a drink and go to spend the morning in the real Padang Padang, much bigger.

To get to the real Padang Padang you have to walk along a path through the undergrowth, it seems that you go through the middle of the jungle, but when suddenly the path ends, you arrive at the beach and you think you are in paradise, it was the most beautiful beach we were on. It is incredible the amount of treasures that the sea leaves on the shore of this beach, shells of all sizes and shapes, pieces of colored coral… The best thing you can do here is take a sunbed and relax while you drink a coconut enjoying the sound of the sea, it is all calm and peaceful. On this beach there are also a couple of places to eat or drink, but when you go to look for hidden places I recommend you take some water and some snacks just in case.

Dreamland is another amazing beach in this area, as I told you at the beginning, our base hotel in Ulluwatu was right above it, it’s a white sand beach with crystal clear water, if you need you can rent umbrellas and sun beds, there are also several restaurants and bars. It is a comfortable beach to go with children, although there are some waves, you can swim without problems, as it is between rocks.

Interesting facts in Bali:

Bali is a fantastic place to go with children, they will love everything, the Balinese are very hospitable people. The food in Bali is easy for them too, besides the fact that there is fruit to buy everywhere, they will find it very tasty, especially the native fruits, such as the dragon fruit or the snake fruit, are very brightly colored and delicious. Typical dishes combine rice or pasta with vegetables and chicken, they also eat eggs and of course fish. Anyway in the most touristic places you have international food like Italian, hamburgers… you won’t have a problem. Water cannot be drunk, or even used to brush your teeth.
To travel with children on the island the best thing is either rent a car, only suitable for braves, or take a driver, this option is much cheaper than it seems, in Bali everything is very cheap, and worth it, he will take you to many places that you would not reach. If you go without children you also have the option of renting a motorcycle, equally suitable for the brave, the roads are very narrow and have a lot of traffic, there are dogs everywhere and even chickens, a chaos. So for those less daring the chauffeur option is perfect, also think that you generate a very decent job in a developing country, which lives from tourism. We will post here the best places we have visited and some advices. Here we post the places we liked the most, at the end of the post we will write down two possible routes to follow. One for the restless and another for the ones who want to have a great time but staying in Bali. The road is a real mess, so even if the distances are not very long in kilometres, it takes much longer than usual to travel. There are dogs in freedom everywhere, and they respect them a lot, the dog may be sleeping in the middle of the road, and drivers drive by carefully. The floor is full of offerings that they make all the time, so be careful not to step on them. As it happens in many Asian countries, motorcycling is crazy, there are many of them and ride the whole family on a bike, or the mother with the baby, or a child driving. It shock at the begining. They are very kind, I do not have the impression as in other countries that some of them ask for money for nothing, but they want to give you a service in return, to be useful.
In the northern villages there was no mobile coverage, so don’t hesitate to buy a local company data card. In this area, gasoline is sold to you at a street stall or shop, in bottles. We went one day from Ulluwatu to Nusa Dua, but we didn’t like it at all, they are very quiet beaches full of resorts, nothing else. We didn’t visit the Gili Islands. We keep it to have an excuse to return.

Bali Routes

Depending on the days you are going to be there, or how much you want to move, we have made two routes