Oh my goodness! Firstly apologies to anyone who has been waiting on this blog I promised 2 months ago now! But I'm finally getting to it mid term and it has been so nice to remember and re-live one of the best family trips ever!
My husband and I had been to Bali a couple of times when we lived over in Western Australia (such a short and cheap trip from over there!) and we knew we wanted to take the kids when they were old enough to appreciate it. Weinitially had it bookedfor 2020 and then along came covid...so to finally get there as a family 4 years later was like a dream come true. We travelled in the June school holidays which I think for me temperature wise is the perfect time to visit Bali as in the Winter the humidity isn't as bad as days average around 30 degrees with nights at around 20 degrees.
I think some Aussies have a perception of Bali that is a place to go get drunk and surf and just lay by a pool (and look, you can do all that if you want!) but it depends where you decide to stay as there are so many amazing and different parts of Bali and some destinations truly make it the most amazing family holiday destination.
And the reason why I love Bali so much are the people. They are honestly the most beautiful, spiritual, friendly, happy and content people I have ever been around and that makes the energy of the whole place something really unique and special.
This particular trip we had 4 nights in Ubud (forests, rice paddies, culture, art, cooking, markets, shopping, getting to know local Bali life) and 6 nights in Nusa Dua (beaches, nearby temples, water sports, relaxing by the pool, bike riding along the beaches)
We also had a day trip into Denpasar as I had booked a healing for the whole family. I had always wanted to see a healer in Bali since reading Elizabeth Gilberts' famous novel Eat, Pray, Love and after a recommendation we went along and saw a 5th generation Balinese healer named Mangku Nyoman.
This was an incredible experience as our family had been through quite a lot in the first half of the year and this trip was like a restorative re-set for us all and was the perfect time for a healing. The healing cost $75 AUD per person which included the driver coming to pick you up from your hotel and also drive you back again. Around an hour per person so we were there for a good 4 hours and the healing consisted of a reading (it was scarily accurate) a physical healing and then a blessing at the end.
He knew things about all of us (it was sooo weird!) and gave instructions on what we needed to do to have more peace, health and balance in our lives. The physical healing was really beneficial (best described as a massage withtrigger pointtension relief that was often at times quite painful!) and the blessing was done with coconut water, incense and prayers as well as some cotton tied around all our wrists to bind us, protect us and remind us.
We all left quite dazed and amazed and feeling a lot lighter and happier. If interested in this kind of thing you can book him in via whatsapp and find his FB page HERE.
The things I really loved about the Ubud part of our trip:
Where we stayed - Kamandalu ResortIt was very luxe and incredibly private and we luckily stayed in a villa with our own pool. They had so many curated experiences we could choose to do while we were there like:
Cooking and Drinks Making Class - This was amazing as it was a privaqte class just for the family. Started out with just myself and daughter and then Hubby and son joined in after their morning swims! We learnt to cook local dishes (entree, main and dessert!) and then we got to eat them of course!
We also learnt how to make co*cktails behind one of the pool bars and my son made his very first mocktail! Was so much fun.
Morning Yoga classes overlooking the rainforest.
Locals food market - this was incredible as we were driven to the locals food markets and given a tour and explanationofall the fresh local produce that forms the Balinese diet and how amazing Indonesian food is made! Highlights were tasting fried banana and looking at all the incredible herbs and spices sold by the truck load!
Coffee and Tea Plantation Tour - there are many to pick from in Ubud but we went to Kumulilir. The tour is free and also all the coffee and tea tasting is free! You can purchase any that you love and we went home with the turmeric and rosella teas as well as the ginseng coffee and vanilla coffee. And yes, you can learn about and purchase the famous Cat-Poo coffee (or Luwak coffee) and even see a Luwak catand how the coffee is made.
We also loved visiting the markets and palace which was just a free shuttle bus drive away in Ubud city centre and we hired a driver to do a day trip to the Monkey Forest (so fun and the monkeys are cheeky but fun!) and the Rice Paddies (spectacular) where I swung on a big swing in a flowing dress (that you hire for the photo experience!) and hubby and the kids did the ziplining! Also tonnes of fun! And it was just lovely to walk around the rice paddies and take in the incredible views of the rainforest behind them. There are so many Bali Swing places in Ubud now (as it's like soooo instagrammable dahling!) but we chose U Fun Field (terrible name) as it had the zip lining and the sky bikes (like a combo of zip lining and riding a bike!) which appealed to my family.
What I loved about the Nusa Dua part of the trip:
Where we stayed - Melia Bali which was a massive resort with 7 restaurants,huge pool, spa, was right on the beach and lots of activities for the kids to do during the day and night. We had chosen an all inclusive package which meant insane buffet breakfasts, lunch and dinner from any of the restaurants and poolside food and drinks. Very dangerous! My son became addicted to playing pool and the chocolate croissants and my daughter convinced me to get quite a few massages...😁
Visiting nearby the cliffside temple of Uluwatuto watch the sunset and seeingthe monkeys who live there! They are much craftier than the Ubud monkeys who are more well fed...these ones have learnt to grab your possessions to barter them back to you for food! I had a sneaky monkey come up behind me and grab my phone out of my hand and run up a tree with it! It took throwing him 2 bags of ladyfinger bananas for him to drop my phone! I was so grateful to get it back!
Traditional Balinese dancing. I love Balinese dances even though I never know what is happening but they are always dancing out a story or fable! The predominant religion in Bali is Hinduism and their culture and religion are heavily entwined. Our resort hosted different dancing every night and provided me with the story that was being danced typed out in English so I knew what was happening. That is very important for a story teller like me! I just love stories and seeing them danced in the magical way that the Balinese people dance is pretty special.
Bike rides along the beach - was fun riding past all the other beachside resorts (there are so many!) and stopping off at little beachside stalls.
Lazing by the pool eating and reading!
Moon gazing by open fires on the beach at night
Massages!! I had one every day at the resort spa. Was absolute bliss.
So Yep, I'm a big fan of Bali with the kids now and might have had just as much fun there as we did pre-kids (actually I think we had more fun this time as we did a lot more!)
Previous visits without kids was a lot of lazing by the pool and snorkeling and diving. We have stayed in Seminyak and Sanur (both lovely areas of Bali that are on the beaches with many resorts to choose from) and my fave pre-kids Bali trip was when we stayed in Amed which is a sleepy little fishing village up in the Northern part of Bali and is very quiet with hardly any tourists but incredible snorkelling. I've also heard Canggu is a hot spot now where all the cool kids hang so tonnes of amazing cafes, restaurants and spas etc.
While we were over there I posted a fair bit of what we were up to in my Insta stories andI noticed many people asking the same two questions so I will answer them here as well...
Q: How do you get around Bali Belly?
A: In the lead up to leaving I had all of us on a probiotic called SB Flora. We continued to take that while we were there. This bacteria helps with travellers diarrhoea and doesn't need refrigeration.The food is pretty safe to eat in most resorts but if we ever ate while we were out and about, I also had some Travelan for us all to take with food. It is anatural colostrum supplementthat supports gastrointestinal function Immune Support and in clinical trials,it shows protection of up90%against against infection from E.coli (1).so if nothing else, take these tablets on holidays with you and they are available from your local chemist.
And of course, don't drink the local water supply! It will need to be a bottled water kind of trip (including brushing your teeth with bottled water) and always check if the ice cubes in your drink have been made with bottled or bought water.
Q. Is it safe for kids?
A. I always feel completely safe when travelling in Bali and the kids did too. It's honestly one of the places where I feel extremely safeamong the locals. There were times for me in Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia where I felt a little unsafe but Bali feels very different to me and that does add to my relaxed holiday mode! Of course, we are always with the kids when we travel so their safety was always assured. Apart from the odd thieving monkey, you are generally pretty good!
There are so many great blogs on Baliso always google the places you are thinking of staying and see what comes up...and if you love Instagram like me and you want to follow some peeps on there for some hot Bali tips, check out -
So whether you have read this blog because you have a Bali trip already planned or have a Bali holiday idea floating around in your head or heart somewhere, I hope there has been something useful in here...and if you need a little nudge...BALI IS MAGICAL!
Alisha x
