UPDATE: This place has now closed. It’s been taken over by Sandy Bay Beach Club and been converted into a Glo spa. We’ve done cheap and we’ve done pricey on Nusa Lembongan; but often you do want something a bit better than average that won’t have you whipping out plastic. Seaweed Lounge, next to the … read the full post

As someone who usually avoids zoos in Southeast Asia, my expectations of Bali Zoo were not high. But the verdict: it makes for a good half-day out with 3- and 4-year-old kids in tow. For the most part, conditions for the animals seemed decent by (non-Singaporean) regional standards, and the experience was quite hands on. … read the full post

Having had a splurge dinner on Nusa Lembongan, what better way to follow up than a splurge spa visit? Batu Karang Lembongan Resort and Day Spa is one of the island’s higher-end spots to stay or to go for a massage, so expectations for a visit here were high. I called in advance and couldn’t … read the full post

Maybe I’m just getting older, but while I used to find Thai and Cambodian traditional dance dull when I lived in the countries that produced the style, I find myself these days enjoying the slightly less staid Balinese dance. While Balinese dances can be incredibly intricate and slow moving, there’s an element of almost slapstick … read the full post

The Ubud Writers Festival takes place at an array of venues across Ubud, several of them overseen by Festival organiser Janet De Neefe: Indus, Casa Luna and Bar Luna, for instance. Being restaurants, however, these are venues that you can visit even when an author isn’t holding court. And at Bar Luna on Tuesdays and … read the full post

Nusa Lembongan is a beautiful little patch of an island just off the east coast of southern Bali. It’s famous for its surfing, sunsets and snorkelling, and is growing in popularity among those looking for a less crowded, unadulterated flavour of Bali. But the big question: how to get there? It’s an island, there’s no … read the full post

I’ll be honest: I’m a sucker for expensive cocktails, even when I know cheaper places are nearby. So on Nusa Lembongan, after a visit to the spa at Batu Karang, I couldn’t go past a stop at The Deck, its attached gleaming panini and cocktail place. Located right next to the path running along the … read the full post

You’re thinking jewellery, ka-ching, can’t afford to buy jewellery in Bali, bananas, are you crazy? But this isn’t really about buying, necessarily. John Hardy jewellery is probably Bali’s most famous jewellery export, which isn’t a bad achievement considering how many silversmiths the island plays host to. You won’t however actually find John Hardy jewellery retailing … read the full post

You can certainly eat well on a tight budget on Nusa Lembongan, but you can also successfully indulge in haute cuisine — you know, fancy food — at prices that are very good value by Western standards. The top spot to head on the island, we heard, is Ylang Ylang at Indiana Kenanga, which boasts … read the full post

The Bukit peninsula at the southernmost tip of Bali is home to some of the most stunning beaches on the entire island. We’ve already written at length about some of the best beaches on the west coast of the Bukit, from Dreamland down to Nyang Nyang, but the Bukit is a big place and there’s … read the full post