Travel Diary Bali Part 1 – Seminyak and Nusa Dua

As an introduction, let me tell you that this travel diary is Part 1 of 2. I decided to split my experience in Seminyak/Nusa Dua and the second part will be about Ubud. For me personally, I felt a huge difference between these places and for someone who hasn’t been to Bali it might be helpful so he or she can decide what places he or she fancies. Further, you will find a lot of cafes and restaurant tips below. Enjoy!

First Days in Seminyak

It was a sunny and hot afternoon when we safely landed in Denpasar and I could not wait to change my long black leggings for a short skirt and sunglasses! Although I already have been to Bali as a kid, I could not remember a lot beside the geckos in the hotel room. HAHA.

Well, this time should be different as I was determined to face my fear and I also had a human superhero on my side. Our first hotel was located close to the airport (I recommend a hotel close to the airport after a long flight) in Seminyak. We arrived at Blue Karma, Seminyak just for dinner time.While sipping on our refreshing welcome drinks and cooling ourselves down with a cold towel, we got escorted to our lovely 1 bed Pool Villa.  The Pool Villa is designed with love for details and has, as the name says a private pool in front of it. You could literally jump in the pool from the sofa lounge. We ended the day with a wonderful Balinese meal called Gado Gado and a late night dip in our pool (maybe naked, maybe not, you’ll never know)

The next day, started at early, as we both were still a little jetlagged. One big asset of the place of our hotel was the close approximation to all the fancy western cafes. So, if you are into that, Seminyak definitely is your place to go! I checked all the cool places on Google maps and I was amazed how close everything is in Seminyak. Just within a 30 minutes walk you can see half of the popular cafes. (I tell you about my favorites in a minute).We headed to the heart of Seminyak to do some shopping and having a healthy breakfast at Sea Circus. (don’t miss out on their wonderful fruit bowls and the sourdough bread with Nutella. You can take a Taxi to the main street from Blue Karma but we usually walked when it was not too hot. It is a 25 minutes walk.

Other cafes I recommend are: (Pictures are in the same order as the names of the cafes below)

Revolver // Cafe Organic // Experience Shearlock // Batik // Strawberryfields //Sayuri healing food // Nalu Bowls // Sea Circus // Elgin Avenue

One of the highlights of my travels through Bali, was the Raw Vegan Cooking class, I could join at Blue Karma. The chefs showed us how to do three different raw vegan courses. In just 1 hour we did an Avocado, Cucumber soup, a dehydrated nut bread, avocado and tomato sandwich and a delicious, really great looking Lasagna made with Cashew spread and Pesto. What a feast!

It is also possible to do a Detox healing at Blue Karma, which helps to clean the system and kicking off every vacation in the best way possible.

Wrap up

Seminyak is a great place for shopping and hanging around in all these cafes indulging on the yummi food. Cultural wise I though there is not a lot to see and to be honest the mains street is quite busy and you have to take care that you don’t get overrun by a car or a motorcycle. I recommend staying 2 days in Seminyak.

Nusa Dua my love

When traveling from Seminyak to Nusa Dua it is a major change of scenery. At least this is how I experienced it. From the busy streets of Seminyak to the more „beach“ chill life in Nusa Dua. We stayed 2 days at Sofitel which is located right at the beach and you can even have dinner at the beach! (How cool is that? Try the tempeh when you are there!)

We spent most of our free time in the pool, riding around with our bikes, exploring nature (make sure you go and see „The High Cliff at Melasti Beach“ (Ungasan), most tourists don’t know it so it is pretty cool!))

Another thing I really appreciated about Nusa Dua, is that it is easier to get a little movement in your days. While it is almost impossible to go for a nice run in Seminyak, you can run along the whole beach in Nusa Dua. Besides running, I did my first class of floating Yoga, a lesson that you can book at the SOFIT at Sofitel. I thought this would be an easy session but never underestimate gravitation and the climate in Bali 😉 The experience for me was very special and I would love to do this again somewhere. (just not in Switzerland, because it is freaking expensive)

If it happens that you are in Nusa Dua on the weekend, make sure you go and check out the Weekend Chic Brunch at Sofitel. I think I’ve never seen a breakfast spread like this. There was a chocolate fountain, a marshmallow roasting station, a build your own donut place and so much more. I guess it is safe to say that I wasn’t hungry anymore after this brunch.

I really hope you liked this small insights written by me. I am aware that Bali is so much more than this but maybe you get a little idea. Have you also been to Bali? What place did you like the most?

Part 2 will be about Ubud, so keep your eyes peeled!

XOXO

I got to experience these amazing places thanks to the great taste and excellent organization from the team at The Asia Collective – head to www.theasiacollective.com to get inspired for your next vacation.