Being Australian I had no real desire to go to Bali. I had the image of it being full of (bogan) Australian tourists. Then I realised that I was judging Bali like many people judge Phuket. Sure there might be some really tacky touristy places, but not all the island would be like that. I was determined to treat Bali as I would like someone to treat Phuket. Plus, I was seeing MY MUM!
Staying in Seminyak the first thing I noticed was the insane traffic. At one point it took the cab over an hour to go one block. One block! Seminyak is a more la-di-da area of Bali, north of famous Kuta Beach (site of bogan Australians). Full of boutiques, upscale restaurants and spas, Seminyak was the place to be for some R&R with mum.
(Our hotel)
After being the only Westerner in Burma it was a shock to see SO MANY AUSTRALIANS. Walking the streets all you could hear was the Australian accent. And everywhere played all the Australian football games.
I needed to escape so we hit the beach. After living in Thailand I didn’t have the highest expectations of the beaches. The sand was fine almost black volcanic sand and the waves were pounding. But it was so rough you couldn’t swim. Not that I would have wanted to – the sea was churning brown from all the seaweed that had been brought up. I know this makes it sound terrible – it really wasn’t that bad. I have just been spoilt with beaches I guess.
If we couldn’t sit on the beach the next best thing was a hotel. We found an acceptable looking pool overlooking the beach & swanned in. ‘Room 211’ we stated as we walked in and claimed our sun loungers. We were given pool towels the size of a bed sheet, water, frangipani face spritzer & sunscreen. Not a bad way to spend an afternoon. I can only hope the real people staying in Room 211 at $250/night never find out!
(Looking like we belong)
My 4 days in Seminyak was a blur of swimming, eating, drinking, massages and shopping…or window shopping. Oh, I did have to visit a dentist. The cap off my tooth fell off in Bagkok the night before I flew over. No problems, for $30 the lovely Balinese dentist lady just glued it back on for me. Painlessly!
(La-di-da mojitos)
(Massage time!)
