I have just returned from 10 lovely days in Bali with my sister (both in our 30’s) and my parents.
My sister and I were in Bali in June this year, and stayed in Sanur for the first time, (as well as Ubud and Seminyak). I just loved Sanur and came home and raved about it to my parents. Within about a week, we found ourselves booking flight to Bali – less than 12 weeks after we returned – it would be my 5th trip.
We flew from Melbourne on Garuda and I have to say, yet again, Garuda really impressed me – especially the amount of leg room (we are all very tall). All went very smoothly, and we even scored a seat at the front of the plane for that all important dash to visa and immigration.
We got through immigration in about 20 minutes but then waiting about another 20 minutes for our bags. Dodged the porters (not hard at all, just a quick no thanks!) and went outside to find our transfer. At first our name was no where to be found but eventually all sorted out and we were on our way to Segara Village in Sanur.
I was slightly worried about staying at Segara Village as we previously stayed at the Hyatt, but were trying to keep costs down a little bit this time.
We were pleasantly surprised (although at first we were put in the old rooms, after a quick word to reception we moved to the newer renovated rooms). We only paid for standard rooms and they were clean with very very comfortable beds. Some of the cottages and other deluxe room types looked wonderful so maybe I’ll try them next time.
The staff here were great, the pool is simply fantastic – right on the beach with that wonderful Sanur breeze that you get - too many restaurants to count right on your doorstep for a quick lunch, between sunning and swimming. I didn’t keep track of everywhere we ate along the beach but we did try a lot of them and NEVER ate a bad meal.
Special dinners……we were away for both my birthday and my Mum’s birthday and I spent a lot of time on here researching on how to plan a really special night out for my Mum. I settled on cocktails at Ku De TA, and booked a table at Kuve on the roof – spectacular – great sunset – amazing cocktails, would go back again and again! For dinner I chose Sarong – what a HUGE disappointment. The service was THE WORST service I have ever experienced and the food was nothing special. The pork hock was so over done we could hardly nite it and my stir fry was worse than anything I tried at any beachfront restaurant in Sanur! To top it all off my Mum’s meal (the barramundi) arrived more than 25 minutes after all the others – not good! To top it all off some of us had to sit on a couch at dinner, with the other two on chairs, I have never been so uncomfortable in my life – please don’t choose Sarong!
For my birthday we went to La Lucciola as we have done many other times and it didn’t miss a beat – still my favourite restaurant in Bali!
Our driver Sila……..we booked Sila just for one day, as we mostly wanted to just site, shop, drink, eat and swim (RELAX) this holiday. Sila took us first to Ubud (my parents have never really been) so we spent some time at the market and walked down Monkey Forrest Rd (my father is well trained to follow 3 women down a road while we shop). After Ubud we went to the rice terraces which were stunning. The off to the volcano for lunch - view is great and we hadn’t been for over 10 years. After lunch we went to a coffee plantation and tired coffee lewak (or pea berry coffee I think they call it) – for obvious reasons we decided to call it “poo” berry coffee! It didn’t taste too different to any other strong coffee but I’m glad we tried it! Sila is just great and comes highly recommended.
Shopping was great- am pleased to say no excess baggage costs this time (there’s a first time for everything. I had two bags and two pairs of boots made in Legian – great job! And bought a bit of silver, some cheap dresses, freshwater pearl earrings, bits and pieces from Ubud market etc – I’m a shopaholic and Bali never disappoints.
Now were planning on renting a Villa in 2011 for the extended family (about 18 of us) for a “big” birthday and I think maybe I’ll need to go back a few time before then to “plan”…………..won’t I??
http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g294226-i7220-k3168823-JBR_Sanur_it_s_long-Bali.html
