Beautiful Bali - part 3 - the beach

In this part of the world, night comes very quickly after day. The evenings don't stretch on for hours: it's light, then dusk, then dark, usually within the space of about half an hour. In Bali this was even more pronounced than in Hong Kong. You could literally see the red sun sinking into the water. I'll let the photos do the rest of the work! 

Beautiful Bali - part 2 - the food

Only being in Bali for four days, we rarely ventured off the hotel resort. Bad tourists, I know, but we had purposely booked a beach/pool holiday at the end of a busy summer school, before the busy September school term began. If you saw my post last week (Beautiful Bali - part 1 - the hotel) you'll know that the resort was superb. The food was no exception. 

Our regular table close to the beach!

Every evening we ate in the restaurant looking out over the beach and the sunset. More on that next week! The first night for a starter we had 'east meets west': bruchetta and vegetable spring rolls. Both were delicious, but the spring rolls in particular were the right mixture of crunchy outside, soft inside served with a tangy sweet chili dip. Following that we both chose stonegrilled fish, one mahi-mahi and one swordfish. You could feel healthier just looking at it, let along eating it. 

Mahi-mahi with potato wedges, courgette and aubergines

The following day we started with the breakfast buffet where you could fill in a paper slip of how you wanted your eggs cooked and accompanied by beans, sausages or bacon. It was noticeable that we were in a Muslim area as there were symbols indicating which dishes contained pork. For lunch we ate in the other onsite restaurant and I opted for a boring chicken and advocado pita bread, but Nick went for the more exciting option! It was spicy, but delicious. 

Local cuisine served on beautiful crockery!

The following day we did have lunch at a little restaurant along the beach. I was still relatively full from breakfast, so opted for Balinese coffee and a banana jaffle which sounded rather exciting. It turned out to be a toasted banana sandwich! For once I wasn't keen on the coffee; it was a little powdery and very strong. Nick had a 'just on the right side of spicy' chicken curry. 

The banana jaffle with Balinese coffee

 On my last evening I had nasi goreng. This is a dish that my mum has cooked for me for years and I really wanted to try it in Balie. Initially they brought over a dish that looked like an Italian pasta dish and I felt cheated. The waitress snatched it away before I could touch it, saying there'd been a mistake. When I finally got the correct dish, it was superb and exactly how my mum cooks it! 

Nick & I drank Balinese beer and Balinese wine. Bintang, the local brew, is unfortunately flavourless and the rose, whilst a little light in flavour, is extremely quaffable! 

Beautiful Bali - part 1 - the hotel

Bali smells like incense. At least, the airport near Denpasar (Ngurah Rai) does. In a modern world where everything looks the same, smells the same and has all the same features, it's fabulous to find something unique. Walking from the plane through customs, the walls are adorned, and not just with the usual HSBC adverts, but with stone and wooden carvings. 

View from the lobby of the beach

After collecting our bags we walk out to an utter chaos. There are people, bags, trolleys, taxis and drivers everywhere. Of course there is a Starbucks, but at least people are sitting outside in the sunshine instead of huddling inside in the frigid air-conditioning that seems ubiquitous in Hong Kong. Having previously looked up how much we should be paying for a taxi, we buy our journey and then get into a taxi with a friendly-looking guy. The taksi also smells of incense. 

Stone carvings on the wall of the hotel

The hotel (Holiday Inn Bali) is just a short journey from the airport. On the way we saw a few small shops, quite a few mopeds (some travelling in the opposite direction to the rest of the traffic!), and lots of people out on the streets. We drew up to the hotel and the car was searched by armed guards, who looked very friendly, but were still carrying massive guns. The lobby was like that of the hotel we stayed in in Fiji: completely open with seemingly no outer walls. We arrived in the depths of winter and apparently 28oC is about as cold as it gets in Bali. 

Part of the hotel with one of the restaurants on the left

The hotel was also beautifully decorated. The open lobby looks out onto the pool in the resort grounds and the beach a mere minute or two walk away. We had arrived just in time for sunset accompanied by the evening entertainment of a local jazz band. We quickly admired the room, dumped our bags and went downstairs for drinks and dinner looking out over the beach. 

The pool with a swim-up bar. It didn't rain - honest! 

When I wasn't reading Anna Karenina I could be found
reading the Bali Daily!

We were only in Bali for four days/three nights and the reason we chose it was because there is a direct 4-hour flight from Hong Kong and it's cooler than Hong Kong, so our aim wasn't to see much of Bali, but to have a few relaxing days. We definitely achieved that! We spent our days by the pool, we had a massage, we walked along the beach, but basically we did nothing but relax! 

Wednesday evening's entertainment was fire dancing!

Bali is extremely colourful - demonstrated by these beautiful plant pots!