Continuing our Bali adventure, we traveled to Seminyak from Ubud. Which Ubud is in the center of the island, with jungle and rice patty terrain, Seminyak is a surfer town on the southwest side. Ubud to Seminyak is about an hour long drive.
In Seminyak we stayed in a great studio condo, run by Wanto and Sara. It was extremely reasonably priced, close to everything, had A/C, just bring some earplugs for the barking dogs. The hosts were very helpful in recommendations leading up to the trip and Sara helped us arrange everything when we were there.
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| Outside of studio |
Sara recommended a great local place for so we headed there immediately. Warung Murah was a 15 minute walk from the condo. There you can walk up to a buffet style counter, point at a bunch of things, and they make you a delicious plate of food. The giant plate of food, plus a mango lassi still came out to under $5.
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| Warung Murah platter of deliciousness |
From there, it's another 5 minute walk to the beach. You have to pay for a chair and umbrella but it's worth it because the sand is piping hot! The water is surprisingly warm and easy to go in. We stayed out there for a couple hours. There are beach vendors who will try to sell you things but they go away when you decline (it was substantially less aggressive than Mexico).
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| Beach in Seminyak |
For dinner we got dressed up and decided to splurge a little. Grabbing a metered cab (metered is key!), we headed to Potato Head. It's a gorgeous open air restaurant. If you go early enough you can rent a bed by the infinity pool overlooking the ocean.
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| Infinity pool at Potato Head during sunset |
The restaurant seating is right behind that so you still get a gorgeous view. They have an amazing cocktail list. I got the kokkabura, which is possibly one of the best drinks I've ever had.
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| I am obsessed with this drink! |
We enjoyed some smaller tapas plates and split the grilled prawn entree. With all that food and a couple drinks each, the bill converted to ~$80. While upscale for Bali, this is on par with a nice dinner in the states but has way better views of the sunset. The manger came over, so we inquired about the original name. The owners thought it would be funny when they were starting out, not knowing it would become such a popular destination. She also told us that the walls made of window shutters were all reclaimed from houses around the island and each had their own spirit. Overall, a gorgeous experience and worth the splurge!
The next day we walked one of the popular shopping streets in Seminyak and got massages again (90 minutes for under $10!). We ate at a noodle house, which was good but nothing to write home about. After that, sarah arranged for a driver to take us to Uluwata, an hour from Seminyak on the Kuta peninsula. First we went to tour the Uluwatu Temple, which has scenic cliff views overlooking the ocean. They give you a sari to wear after paying for a ticket, but other than that it's not a very strict dress code.
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| Uluwata Temple - Right on the tip |
There's also a ton of scrabby monkeys around, so remove your jewelry and glasses. They like sparkles, so I'd recommend leaving those at home too (who knew I had some much in common with monkeys??). Rabies shots are recommended, per my travel clinic.
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| This boss monkey gives no fucks about rowdy monkey fights. |
After that, the driver took us to the nearby Single Fin restaurant. It has multiple levels overlooking the ocean and it a great place to watch all the surfers. It is also an amazing place to watch the sunset.
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| You can't tell, but all the waves are speckled with surfers. |
The food is not spectacular but is reasonably priced. The drink pitchers are tasty and they have a live band. We met a Dutch surfer who said they throw crazy dance parties with DJs on Sunday nights.
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| Seafood curry overlooking the sea #fresh |
I'm happy we saw both Ubud and Seminyak in Bali. They're both great cities with totally different terrains and vibes. I would recommend hitting both, as they aren't that far apart. But even together it's only a small snapshot of everything Bali has to offer. I wish we could have stayed longer but it was time to fly to Thailand!
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