Jet lag and the humidity hit us like someone had trapped us inside a hot bao bun!
Luckily the first villa we had booked - Villa Verde was glorious so the kids each had their own room with full icy air con and a swimming pool edged with exotic electric green tropical plants. Villa Verde was an amazing find on Airbnb and we had our own security guard who sat outside and helped with any issues we had.
We floated around for two days getting into the time zone and absorbing the mayhem of the bikes on the road. I had been pre-warned that since Covid Bali’s roads were insane and they are surely that. There are no road markings, no roundabouts, no traffic lights. The few cars being taxis double beep to let the bikes know they’re overtaking then crossroads are a web of people edging closer waiting for eye contact and their turn to move. You see the Westerners all either wear boots to protect their feet or have bandages around their toes and feet where they learnt the hard way. That’s how close the bikes drive and stop next to each other, I had to stop watching as my stomach flipped every time I saw a close shave and then there are the locals with their toddlers standing up sandwiched between them wearing tiny little Hello Kitty gobstopper sized helmets. Please don't squat your kids!!! Luckily where we were staying between North Seminyak and Canggu we had pavements to walk on, however the bikes drive up on them to overtake the traffic so lots of shops and restaurants put concrete blocks to stop this. We all managed to trip over these concrete blocks in-between avoiding the little green flower offerings too. Bali is the island of the gods and demons, there are small offerings hidden in front of entrances all over the ground, on walls and in shrines. It is called Canang Sari and usually is a small quadratic basket woven from palm or banana leaves and includes flowers, oils, salt, money, rice and cookies. Along the road next to our villa we had a mix of stunning temples, original Balinese small restaurants then some very funky new modern places too. UniBowl - delicious Poke Bowls and also smoothie bowls and fresh juices. Watercress - All whitewashed wood with simple brunch and fresh juices, coffees and clean salads. Sobat - Traditional cheap food with a large Bingtang beer. Chicken satay on a mini coal lion grill and nasi goreng and a free desert of toffee banana! We also stumbled across the most stunning beach club with incredible Bamboo architecture. Mari Beach Club - You enter at The Dome, a towering, swirling bamboo structure symbolising Mt.Agung, which starts the journey down the terraced landscape (mimicking the island’s rice fields and subak), past the free form swimming pools (representing the island’s Ayung River) and finally to the sea, the Batu Belig beachfront. In structure, the beach club thus encapsulates the Balinese directional philosophy of kaja (north, to the mountain) to kelod (south, to the sea), creating a ‘Little Bali’ experience within its walls. Adding to that, the buildings that surround the central pools are equally unique and Bali-inspired: engineered by Ibuku, a Bali-based company who master in sustainable bamboo architecture and design, the main structures of Mari take on eclectic, wave-like shapes defined by the natural bends of its main building material, i.e. bamboo. Traditionanl alang-alang (elephant grass) roofs and the shading Balinese parasol umbrellas, or tedung, emphasise the island’s aesthetic influence. We luckily have friends here in Bali who gave us the lowdown of the best transport, similar to Uber they have Grab, both motorbikes and cars. You download the app and pre-book journies just like Uber.
Cheap but not overly reliable the wait time can start at 4mins then suddenly change to 20mins because of bike traffic. When I went to the local salon to attempt the Bali Botox hair treatment - (yes I forgot how in this humidity my hair turns into Gene Wilder’s from Willy Wonker - at least he had the purple top hat to hide it under!) I got a Grab bike back for the first time. Now this was a real eye opener, firstly because I was slightly traumatised by the fact this botox hair treatment had left me with grey (think storm from X Men) solid straight hair and I was told I couldn’t get it wet or wash it for 3 days, so imagine my surprise when I placed the passenger’s motorbike helmet on my head to find the inside drenched with either sweat or salt water. RETCH! I gritted my teeth as surely this was still better than my brains being scattered all over the red hot tarmac. The Grab driver was the size of Jake he must have been in his twenties but so slight I feared my weight on the bike behind him may mean we were doing wheelies all the way home wee wee wee all the way home little Piggy! Then came the Grab Etiquette, do I hold him round his tiny little waist? Do I put one hand on his shoulder and the other behind me on the seat clasp? He swooped in and out, honked, revved, I could feel the sweat/salt water dripping down from the helmet into my newly de-frizzed blue tinged hair and I think I held my breath for the whole 14minute journey!
The school run was certainly going to be interesting….
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