Bali was intended as a relaxing, two-week family vacation. We also chose Bali because we hadn’t been to Indonesia and we heard we could stay in some lovely villas for less than most summer get-away locations. The somewhat difficult part was selecting where to visit and how long to stay there. There are hundreds of villas in most areas, so besides location, you need to consider what each has to offer.

Eventually we selected three locations in Bali: Seminyak, Ubud, and Jimbaran. Ubud was a no-brainer. It is inland and contains many popular, cultural sites. Jimbaran is a lovely beach area known for seafood and a quieter atmosphere. We started in Seminyak. It is a beach area and one friend advised to avoid it. I think mainly because it is known to be touristy and crowded. We did not heed that warning as we had read some other positive traits about the area and thought we’d give it a shot.

We just finished a five hour flight from Taiwan. We were on EVA Airlines again and we had another positive experience. It pretty much ended there. The airport in Bali was crowded. Our plane landed with several other planes at about the same time, so there was a mass exodus toward immigration. We had our forms completed, but needed to make a bathroom stop before entering the lines. However, there were lines in the women’s bathroom as well and that set us back in the immigration queue about 30 minutes. We had been in lengthy theme park-like lines before, some longer, but this one did not move quickly. I’d say it took about 45 minutes to get through it. We thought our luggage would be waiting for us, but it hadn’t even been unloaded off the plane. We waited another 20 minutes or so before we received all of it. The whole airport exit experience took us more than two hours .

SEMINYAK

Traffic in Bali is chaotic at best. One reason we chose Seminyak as our first stop was its proximity to the airport. We thought it would be 30 minutes, but it turned out to be an hour ride. In addition, we were in need of money and water. Our driver tried to get us to purchase food and sim cards for our phones. We just wanted to get to our villa.

Exhausted and hungry, we finally arrived at our villa around 6:30 pm. We dumped our bags and headed off to find something to eat. We knew there was a Chinese restaurant across the street and that it was expensive. We were told our other options were a 15 minute walk away. Chinese it was. Of course, the next day we found several closer and less expensive options.

Generally speaking, we like to relax the day following a travel day. We had a nice 2 bedroom villa with a small, private pool. Breakfast was included and delivered to our villa each morning, so we were set.

Later we ventured out to get our lay of the land and grab some groceries. Villas are scattered throughout this small town. Many villas are within a compound, set back further from the narrow, busy roads. We found it quite difficult to walk around and get to the main part of town. The whole area was packed with people, cars and motorbikes.

We did have a delicious, healthy lunch at a vegetarian restaurant that we recognized on a list as a good spot to eat. Afterwords, we wanted to head to the beach, but access to the beach was not obvious to us. Eventually, we found an entrance near a beach club called Ku De Ta. After walking on the beach and taking some pictures, we decided we would return for lunch there the next day. We discovered we could spend the day swimming and eating at the club as long as you spend a certain amount of money…which was an easily met requirement.

Lunch at the beach club was great. Liam and Michael had burgers and said they were the best burgers they had ever eaten. Afterwords, we managed to score some seats near the pool and enjoyed the rest of the afternoon.

Most of the remaining time in Seminyak was spent relaxing at our villa as we found the center of town a bit daunting. On our last night in Seminyak, we decided to head back to Ku De Ta for some appetizers and dinner. We had a lovely family meal and enjoyed one of Bali’s famous sunsets.

Relaxed and rejuvenated, the Collins crew was ready to head to Ubud.

A rare family photo with everyone smiling.