After a lovely stopover in Singapore, we travelled 2 hours to Bali and landed in Denpasar around 9pm. We had booked to stay at Bliss Sanctuary in Seminyak, about 20 minutes drive from the airport.
Before I go any further I just want to say that the Sanctuary was absolutely beautiful and the staff were absolutely amazing – there are no adjectives good enough to describe our experience with Bliss, truly Blissful!
They can be found on Intsagram: https://www.instagram.com/blisssanctuaryforwomen/
Website here: https://www.blisssanctuaryforwomen.com/
Because we arrived late at night the hostesses and other staff had gone home for the day, and we were shown around our room by our driver and the security guard. We were also given a welcome smoothie and some spring rolls, which were nice with a satay dip. The staff had decorated our room to welcome us, which was a lovely touch. We unpacked and went straight to bed ready for tomorrow.
On our first day we met our hostesses, Winda and Eka. They organised everything we did during our stay, and were always there for a chat, to advise you on any trips, or to talk about their culture. We found out so much about Balinese culture by talking to our hostesses, and they were always so helpful and kind. We chose two treatments for our first day – Traditional Balinese massage and reflexology.
Bliss Sanctuary is a women’s only retreat, with 3 locations in Bali. We chose to stay in Seminyak, because it was close to the beach and not too busy. The other Sanctuary’s in Ubud and Canggu are in busier destinations, but further from the airport. It is an all inclusive resort, where the price includes all food and drinks (non alcoholic), unlimited massages and other treatments including manicures/pedicures, facials and cream baths, unlimited yoga and meditation sessions with an instructor, and a personal chauffeur to take you anywhere on the island. You can also upgrade your package to include other activities such as personal trainer classes at a local gym, and sessions with Traditional Healers.
On the second day, we headed out with our driver Putu. Our first stop was Tirta Empul water temple. We got there quite early, before 9am and there was not many people there. You have to wear a sarong to cover your knees when inside the temple, and obviously you need to have swimwear with you if you want to do the blessing in the water. There is a small fee to enter and a further charge to use a locker. The changing rooms are basic, but clean and managed by a security guard.
Our driver bought us an offering, ‘Canang Sari’, to place at the temple entrance. This is very important in Balinese culture. Every household makes an offering from palm leaves and flowers every day to place outside their house or place of work, as a form of gratitude to the Hindu gods. They can also leave food or water to show their devotion – you can see the many offerings and bottles of water below left by worshipers.
The blessing is done in 3 parts. The first pool is for physical health, the second for spiritual health, and the third was for the main blessing. You stand in front of the spout and say a prayer for health, and then lower your head into the water to be blessed. This is repeated in all 3 pools. Even though I am not religious, I found the ritual very moving and revitalising.
After the blessing, we walked round the rest of the temple. It was very peaceful, and Putu explained how the water used in the blessing pools is spring water that comes up from the ground and into the pond in the temple.
After visiting Tirta Empul, we headed to the Monkey Forest near Ubud. This large forest contains 3 temples and a variety of plants and trees. The monkeys are encouraged to roam around and it is their home. The monkeys definitely see the forest as their territory, there are signs to tell you to keep your belongings in bags etc and away from the monkeys but they will go into bags and snatch cameras out of your hands. Quite scary at times, but if you stay a safe distance away there is nothing to worry about.
We were ready for lunch after this and Putu recommended a restaurant called Indus in Ubud. It has a lovely view of the valley and jungle below. I had a margarita, which was really strong, and seafood linguine and mum had a pizza. Then we shared a lime tart, which was really nice. The staff were really friendly and quickly closed the binds when it started to rain!
We then drove over to Tegenungan Waterfall for an after lunch swim. Putu warned us about the steep steps going down, and they were hard work in both directions with the heat. The waterfall changing facilities were severely lacking, and there were about 5 lockers which were taken. We took our bags down to the water and left them on the side and kept an eye out for them. The waterfall was lovely and refreshing, and surprisingly busy. There are some restaurants and shops around if you wanted to stop for longer, but we just wanted to enjoy the scenery. As you can tell, mums photography skills leave a lot to be desired!
That was it for the day, and we went back to the Sanctuary for our treatments (hot stone massage and pedicure) and dinner. The next day we relaxed at the Sanctuary. We did a yoga class in the morning with some of the other guests, followed by meditation. I enjoyed it – I haven’t really done yoga before and I found it quite hard, and felt like I had worked out afterwards! It was nice to relax by the pool and talk to the other guests and hostesses. I had a herbal ball massage followed by a facial today, which was amazing. I think I fell asleep!
In the afternoon, we went to Potato Head in Seminyak, which is a beach club. I was recommended this place by another guest at the hotel. As we got there late in the day, there were no beds left as everyone was staying to watch the sunset, so we went down to the beach and swam in the sea to experience it.
The waves were quite strong and we didn’t want to get our hair wet, so we came out and had a dip in the pool instead. I wanted a cocktail, as everyone else seemed to have one, so I ordered a Volcano Agung, and it was actually like a volcano! It was really delicious, and I annoyed mum for a bit by getting her to take loads of photos of me with it bubbling, none of which were very good. I need to hire a new photographer!
We got out of the pool to watch the sunset as it got quite crowded. It was a lovely sunset. We decided to eat at the Beach Club in the restaurant upstairs. We ordered a combination of dishes, which were all lovely, but quite small. I would recommend Potato Head for a day of relaxation and nice food/drinks, but it is quite expensive and ‘trendy’ – sometimes it was a bit pretentious.
The next day was an busy day – we tried to do alternate days of relaxation and sightseeing/activities. We were up early to be picked for an Eco bike tour. It was a downhill bike tour of the local area, including a rice paddy. It was an hours drive to the first stop – a Coffee Plantation. Our guide took us round and explained about a local type of coffee called Luwak. It is made using the droppings of the Asian Palm Civet, and since returning I have learnt that these animals are basically ‘farmed’ to produce this coffee. Obviously this was not explained to us by the guide. We tasted various teas and coffees at the plantation, and I actually didn’t like the taste of the Luwak coffee, the normal was much stronger and richer taste.
After the coffee plantation, we went for a lovely breakfast at a local restaurant. The breakfast was a buffet, and I didn’t want to eat too much because we were going on the bikes straight after, but everything was so nice! There was a selection of Balinese foods and western items, and fresh coffee. It also has a lovely view of the jungle and mountains in the distance.
After that it was off on the bikes. We were fitted up with helmets, and set off. We knew the bike ride was mostly downhill (mostly why we chose it), but at the start it was actually quite steep and you had to break really hard all the time to not fly down and break your neck! We had a van with us at all times to help us if we couldn’t carry on, but the views for amazing and it was really nice to get out in the countryside.
We made a few stops for pictures and for our guide to explain things; my favourite stop was at a ‘compound’ – a local family’s house. The whole family lives here, grandparents, parents and children. All houses in Bali have their own small shrine or temple for the family to place their offerings and say prayers. In Bali, the girls in the family move out to their husbands parents home after marriage. The boys are more valuable, and the youngest boy must stay in the compound and takes it over from the parents. The other sons may move out and pursue their own careers, however, if the youngest boy dies, they must come back home and stay at the compound. It was a very interesting stop, and it made us reevaluate the life we have at home.
We also stopped for some coconut water, and then continued on through the rice paddies, which were amazing, but as we were riding bikes, we couldn’t take many pictures. We arrived at a restaurant in the middle of the rice paddies for lunch, and then drove back to Seminyak. The journey back seemed really long and it was quite uncomfortable after being on the bikes for hours. I really enjoyed the day, but not as much as I enjoyed the massage and reflexology I had when I got back to Bliss!
There was a thunderstorm overnight, which we got up to watch. The next day was my mums 60th birthday, but unfortunately it was raining all day! The ladies made up a lovely message on her bed when they cleaned the room. We had a relaxing day, had a body scrub followed by a milk bath, which made my skin so soft. The staff made mum a cake and we watched some traditional Balinese dancing, which was very interesting.
I had planned to take mum to a restaurant on the beachfront, La Lucciolia, to see the sunset. However the weather was absolutely atrocious, raining and cloudy, and the large patio at the front of the restaurant was totally flooded. The service and food was great though. I had a passion fruit mojito, then antipasti starter, gnocchi for main and chocolate fondant for dessert. Everything was delicious!
We got back to the Sanctuary and had a chat with the other ladies before bed. The next day was our last full day, and we took a ride out with our driver to Tanah Lot temple, which was about 20 minutes away. It is a small temple just off the coast, and when the tide is in, visitors must wade out into the sea to get blessed if they wished. We didn’t do this, as we were happy to view it from the beach, but the views from the shore were great too.
After visiting the temple, we were dropped off in Seminyak to do some shopping. We visited a coffee shop called Kim Soo for a coffee and pastry. There is also a home wear shop, and I got a nice bowl for holding keys or to put on my coffee table. We walked round some of the stalls, as we were looking for some souvenirs, but ended up in the mall because the prices we actually cheaper than what the stalls were asking for. We could have haggled but we were just not cut out for it!
We returned to the Sanctuary for some food and a smoothie, and then we all went to Double 6 Hotel with our hostess Winda for some sunset cocktails. I had a Pina Colada type one first, which I wasn’t too keen on, but then I had a really nice Strawberry Daiquiri. We also shared some pizza, and watched the sunset, which was the best one so far. (I don’t think the photos do it justice really).
We then came home and had a wonderful seafood buffet, as it was most of the guests last night.
On our last day, we lounged by the pool, and did some mediation and yoga after breakfast. We had lots of treatments including, herbal ball massage, facial and mani/pedi. On the way to the airport it started to rain hard, and the roads became rivers. It was quite scary actually as the traffic was tyre-deep in water, but our driver was great and got us to the airport safely. The flight was long, but good. We used face masks on the plane, which was really uncomfortable, but now we know was necessary.
Stay tuned for more blogs!
From Warwickshire to the World 