and then there was Bali. i had never been before, actually i had never even considered going there until HB said she thought i should check it out. well, we all know it doesn’t take much for me to book a trip, all i needed was the suggestion and i was in.
i had hoped to use miles for my airfare since it wasn’t a planned trip and i didn’t want to spend a lot. sadly using miles would have made the trip impossibly long with less than pleasant layovers. i decided that my time was worth the money and booked a flight on Cathay. the flight times worked out well, and my layovers weren’t too long, although i’m fairly certain if i had stayed in the Hong Kong airport any longer i would have frozen in the waiting area. the AC was out of control!
i usually plan a trip to death, but this time i decided to let fate take the reigns, and i didn’t book anything except the hotel and a car to get me there. i think it’s always nice after a long flight to just grab your bag from the carousel and find a person standing there with a little card with your name on it. the drivers name was Dewa and he was one of six drivers employed by the hotel. Dewa and i became fast friends, and he ended up taking on all of my sightseeing adventures.
since i only had one week in Bali, i decided i’d stay in one hotel and make day trips, instead of staying in 2-3 different places. i opted to stay at the La Taverna Hotel in Sanur. Sanur was the perfect place for me to call home for the week. it’s on the beach and there is a walkway that runs between the hotels & shops and the beach for miles. each evening i’d adventure out for a walk and find a new place for dinner.
i’m a vegetarian and i never once had a lack of food choice. one of my favorite lunches was at a place called the Porch Cafe on the main street of Sanur, they had a unique and most tasty veggie burger. La Taverna was very pleasant, and i’d stay there again if i went back. actually a fair amount of the people i met there were return guests. it’s a nice location, right on the beach. plus it has a restaurant and a pool, wi-fi in the common areas, and live music twice a week. the staff were incredibly gracious, and the grounds immaculate.
as i mentioned, i didn’t have anything planned for my trip, although i had a couple of places i wanted to see that were recommended by some friends. i let Dewa know what i wanted to check out while i was there, and then i asked him if he could plan the rest. i guess most people have everything all planned out in advance, because Dewa was pretty excited that he got to plan out my visit to Bali. i figure it worked to my advantage, because who knows what to see better than the people that live there right? one of the places i went to on his recommendation was the Botanic Garden.
although not so different than a US garden, it was one of the few places i went to without being in the middle of a crowd. it was quite large, and you drove through, almost like you would in a US national park. it was really lovely with it’s ponds, statues, hothouses and a variety of flowers. if you’re looking to get out of the hustle and bustle, be sure to stop by the garden.
