Bali
Narelle bouveng and family dip-test the waters of the Island of the Gods on their first Bali beach holiday.
From Uluwatu to Ubud, we look at this Indonesian hotspot with fresh eyes.
It seemed almost a little un-australian not to have made the holiday pilgrimage to Bali. I had seen the pictures and heard all the stories of everyone else’s ahh-mazing holidays – the spiritual revival, the food, the beach clubs, the bang for buck/cheap flight combo – and it seemed every holiday dream was possible in this place they called the Island of the Gods. So who was I to resist?
Beached in Uluwatu
Something else I had been told was that
Bali could be frenetic, so travelling with our youngest daughter Tiah (6), we chose to head south, away from the chaos of the city to the charming Bukit Peninsula for our very first Bali adventure.
Uluwatu is known for its spectacular cliffs overlooking endless ocean, and is home to fancy hotels with supreme views including the indulgent Anantara Uluwatu Bali Resort. Etched into a cliff overlooking one of Bali’s best surf breaks, it offers one of Bali’s most impressive infinity pools and has a choice of à la carte, teppanyaki or poolside dining. In addition, its spacious villas spill down into an all-encompassing view of blue. The fact that there is also a revolutionary surf-lift, designed to take surfers and their boards down to the beach below, sealed it for us. We’d already heard about these stairs that have claimed more surfers than the reef break out front.
Uluwatu itself has a laid-back, beach-town vibe. It is a place where surfers come to worship Bali’s most consistent wave, the health-conscious honour themselves at raw food cafes and thousands of others converge to worship at one of Bali’s famous sea temples, the Pura Uluwatu Temple.
Being “local” (for a week, anyway), we were able to visit the temple frequently to watch spectacular molten sunsets and enjoy the Kecak dancing. Marauding monkeys also call the temple home, so keep your children close and leave the designer sunnies and plans for a picnic for another place, unless you want a few flea-ridden guests to join your crew.
Art and culture in Ubud
Ubud was also high on our first-time-visit list and the best way to reach it is to hire a driver. The traffic everywhere is chaotic, so expect a few hours in the car, although we enjoyed the heat reprieve of its air-conditioning.
Ubud is beautiful, a buzzing, creative hub encapsulated in a lush jungle setting. We meandered cobbled streets, popped into art galleries and artisan stores and fortuitously found Clear Cafe, a cool oasis of raw food, dreamy decor and delightful inspirational messages made from marigold flowers.
We skipped the Monkey Forest after seeing more than a few primate attacks at Uluwatu temple. (To be frank, Bali’s wild monkeys aren’t a kid-friendly tourist option.) Instead, we opted for the equally touristy but absolutely beautiful Tegalalang rice terraces. The Balinese value rice as life and have developed ingenious ways to grow it, even on the steepest terrain. The irrigation system used at Tengalalang gives the landscape that Insta-worthy tiered effect, which is particularly breathtaking in the early
morning when the fog hangs low on the mountaintops or late in the afternoon.
A feast of food
Visiting Seminyak, I found the shopping a little dearer than Ubud but the cafes, particularly Revolver Espresso, served incredible affogato. We joined local friends for a delicious, well-priced lunch overlooking the rice paddies. Uluwatu itself has a great food reputation too, and while I have to admit tales of ‘Bali belly’ had made me paranoid, we quickly relaxed after trying some really great cafes and surviving. Bukit Café was our favourite, with its range of breakfast bowls, smoothies and raw treats. And the fact that they call themselves an “Australian Bohemian-contemporaryrestaurant-bistro” had me at hello!
Beetroot Café was another hit, just up from beautiful Padang Padang Beach. I always scope out the best places that serve fries
(can’t go wrong with chips and kids, right?) and we hit the fries jackpot at this one.
A bounty of beach clubs
We hung with the cool crowd at El Kabron one night, an opulent cliffside beach club. We had thought we were visiting a Spanish restaurant (which it is), but soon discovered it was also a party place. Expect to pay a cover charge but be rewarded with poolside tapas, Moët Imperial and lots of tanned people wearing big sunglasses. This is probably not a place for kids, but we didn’t realise at first and to be honest, Tiah joined the partypeople dancing and had the time of her life.
Sundays Beach Club was our favourite. Not far from Uluwatu, the beach boasted clear water and good waves, and we easily spent the day basking on sun loungers before kicking into the night with other families, sharing the bonfire and Bintangs by the beach. The kids all had a blast.
So, my first impression of Bali gets glowing reports from the family. We relaxed completely and would go back again in a heartbeat. The real question is, why did we wait so long to visit?
Bali Report Card
Getting there Direct flights to Bali are available from most major Australian cities. Stay anantara.com Information balitourismboard.org