A month in Bali
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| A food selfie.... |
Ada and I had almost month in Bali. Canguu, Medewi, Ubud and for me, Nusa Lembongan. It was in short; great food, excellent yoga teachers and studios, weather and places to visit.
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| ....another food selfie.... |
The accommodation varied though and I will only mention those places worth mentioning and ignore the few that were overpriced, mouldy, and littered with naphthalene flakes. At times the food fell short too and in the main that comes down to three little letters that pack a horrid punch - MSG.
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| did they spend the whole month eating? |
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On food, Canguu has it all. So many wonderful day time cafes, plenty of night time options and if I was to choose a theme it would be colour and presentation. Loads of raw, vegan, vegetarian and even plenty of meat options for hungry surfer types.
My faves were, hands down, the new Shady Shack, Peloton and Milk and Madu. Honourable mentions to for communal fun dining and a great menu, Avocado, again an inspiring menu and low key vibe and Veda for their coffee:) and the French Artisanal bakery for their wonderful selection of gluten free deserts.
It is a little like 'guy heaven' at times in Canguu. Great little surf scene (not that hundreds of the gorgeous girls do not surf - they really do) but places like DEUS Ex Machina really are clever places blending boy retail into a little Mecca. A barber, surfboards, laid back threads, caps, bespoke motorbikes and a great wifi work/ bar area. An arts space and some accommodation top off the place perfectly. Nicely done.
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| Bambuu House, a great place to stay. The walls were made from woven bamboo, the food was a great and WeWin was a wonderful hostess. |
Chris loved the place when he came to visit Bali for a short week. I had already ordered his new, bespoke, surfboard from Redz surfboards and prepared myself for not seeing him much when the waves where good. We had a little time in Canguu but the main part of his visit was Medewi on the west coast of Bali. We stayed at the fabulous Bambuu House (http://www.medewibambuhouse.com/) and will recommend that and the house manager and worlds best cook WiWin to anyone who will listen.
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| A liitle big for Chris |
Medewi is a slightly out of the way surf spot so do not expect bells and whistles but with the longest left hander in Bali and some great board riders to watch we really enjoyed the place.
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| That is more like it! |
Medewi is a few hours drive from Canguu so that kind of filters out the hard drinking Kuta crowd. There are no bars to speak of and a non existent nightlife but the left hand point break is famous in Bali. It breaks on a rocky point made up of rounded boulders which are not as savage as the reefs but you still don't want to be pounded onto them!
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| The not so easy riders |
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| Kate showing her tree pose. Her balance here is better than on the scooter |
Kate had a little crash on her scooter (which was only a little funny) but fortunately only her pride was hurt. I think crashing scooters in Bali is some kind of rite of passage! That said she spent weeks zipping in and out of traffic in Canguu, Ubud and Seminyak, dodging cranky dogs and negotiating rough roads with Ada on the back so she was probably due for a little bingle
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| Chris carving it up (actually his better looking stunt double) |
There are plenty of places to hire boards and there is an expectation that you will buy a T-shirt from the local board riders club. The T shirts are well designed and cheap by Australian standards so I had no reservations in buying a couple. There are locals who give lessons and they took Ada out on the beach break. She had a great time.
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| Our drive from Bambuu House to Medewi point break. It is beautiful and runs parallel to the main highway. Importantly, you are less likely to end up as road kill |
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| Chris trying to work out if he has his mask on upside down |
We had day trip to Menjangan Island for snorkelling when the surf became a little big for Chris. It was a few hours in the car and you pay a fee for park entry, a boat and a guide. Kate was a little concerned that we were being conned but like many things in this part of the world, it turned out to be great value. We went to two locations and had two half hour snorkeling sessions. It was a wonderful adventure and the snorkelling was truly excellent.
Another highlight of Chris's short stay was a night out to bali's MoVida. An amazing night with Jose Padilla playing tunes from his Vinyl Collection (most famous for the tunes he played at Cafe Del Mar on Ibizza) and a seven course tapas meal with each course paired to a cocktail. Stunning. Tables were mixed and we were blessed to meet a photographer and a life coach from Ubud, a train controller from Melbourne, two lecturers from the US who had just finished their regular three month stint in Papua New Guinea studying ceremonial masks from a specific tribe and the lovely restauranteur who owned my fave place in Canguu.
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| Ada enjoying the boat ride |
The whole reason d'être for Bali was that Ada wanted to go to Green Camp. Her dream school is The Green School - she will tell that to anyone who will listen! So a week long surf and jungle camp at the bamboo village tied in perfectly with our summer break so that's it. She surfed, learnt a lot about the Balinese culture, co living with nature, made raw chocolate from scratch at their very own chocolate factory and created a whole new perspective on herself and others from the experience. She will go again and again given the chance and is planning at least a semester there in her future.
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| Popping up.... |
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| Ada collecting coconuts. I have seen tethered monkeys do this in India. They are cheaper, not as smelly and don't answer back! |
The school is all constructed from bamboo and has composting toilets and renewable energy as you would expect from a place called The Green School (as opposed to the Industrial Revolution School). Some times you worry when your kids build things up in their minds. Unlike the book, great expectations can often lead to disappointment, then with a feeling of being underwhelmed. Fortunately that was not the case with Green School and Ada and some of her friends are plotting a return next year.
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| As you can see she had a great time. |
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| Ada was happy to be back in Canguu with the smoothie and cappuccino crowd after Green Camp |
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| The Felafel Plate from Peloton |
My life long friend Maree made the rather wonderful decision to come join me for the week that Ada was on camp so we made plans for yoga and gorgeous food in Ubud but one look at our accommodation and those had to change. Ubud was really heavily booked so plan B ended up being two nights in different places in Ubud and then a few days back in Canguu. Maree got her scooter driving skills in play and we had a great time talking 24/7, trying all the yoga studios we possibly could and eating from my menu of fave haunts in Canguu.
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| Shady Shack Smoothie - Yum and h so pretty |
Yoga is Bali for some Yoginis and many wonderful teachers from around the world have found the energies of Bali, the weather and the foods to hard to resist. If you are not sure about doing a retreat but want to deepen your practice, eat a detox diet and get some sun then Canguu is the place. The yoga at Desa Seni (http://www.desaseni.com/) and The Practice (http://www.thepracticebali.com/) was excellent - Bernd at Desa Sani and Octavio and Jyoti from The Practice my personal favourites. Maree enjoyed Serenity for the teacher but old stinky mats and a place in need of some TLC reduced the rating by a few points. The Practice itself is the most amazing studio. A stunning bamboo structure set back in the rice paddy fields but sadly for them mindfulness is needed as the construction below their space is evident.
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| Nusa Lembongan, very laid back. Snorkelling, Reef break Surfing, Stand Up Paddle boards and plenty of Yoga. |
I took a great Iyengar Class at the huge Yoga Barn in Ubud also. A seriously strict teacher had the 60 plus students falling in to line very quickly. My teachers from India prefer Radiantly Alive in Ubud and after visiting there I can understand why. Early classes would be a general rule of thumb if you want some peace and quiet.
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| Mims enjoying the view. |
Nusa Lembongan has white sand and is surrounded by coral reefs, seaweed farms, diving and mangroves. Plenty to do and plenty not to do too. We stayed in a five star place for this part of the trip as I had screwed up on some previous accommodation and mistakenly thought it would be easy to find something at the last minute- well it was sort of but just expensive. Beautiful though!! Also had the three best massages of my life; one a day for three days, each costing the equivalent of $9.50AUD:)
Ada's 19 second summer
