We’re starting our trip around Bali from Sanur just because that is where we happen to live, and we’re aiming for Candi Dasa, a somewhat aging resort town to the northeast of Sanur. It’s an easy 90-minute drive if you take the direct route, but we’re not going to do that. The most direct route … read the full post

“So it’s legal then?” I ask, as the grinning Indonesian fellow smiled across the table from me. He was going to injure himself if his smile stretched further. “Oh yes, Pak!” he assured me. I glanced down at the bottles of Swedish vodka, Scottish whiskey and American bourbon in front of me. The bottles were … read the full post

Bali is big, beautiful, round(ish) and dotted with interesting places to visit — perfect for a road trip. You can circumnavigate Bali in as little as a couple of days or as long as a couple of months, by car or by motorbike. We thought we’d zoom around the island and put together a suggested … read the full post

Sanur’s night market recently underwent a refurbishment of sorts, and the outcome is a much more spacious and even organised affair. But the same old warungs in the food section continue to plate their specialties from around the Indonesian archipelago. This is a good market to eat at as a tourist. Firstly, it’s “authentic” (freshly … read the full post

It’s a difficult pursuit, finding a flaky, fresh croissant in Bali. It makes sense: croissants are not exactly indigenous cuisine and the foreign influence in Indonesia, where there’s any at all, is Dutch, not French. Yet some of us, usually with futile results, persist in trying… And I succeeded at Cafe Moka. The island is … read the full post

Jari Menari, with two branches in Seminyak and Nusa Dua, is one of our top picks for massage in Bali. The all-male therapists are truly well trained, so you actually feel like you’re getting a massage for your particular knots and aches and pains and anatomy, not just a one-size-fits-all rubdown; the style of their … read the full post

Hands up if you stuffed up your new year’s resolutions? Did you try again at lunar new year and still kind of not stay true? Never fear! This Saturday, the day following the dark moon of the spring equinox, is the first day of the Balinese New Year — so you can give it another … read the full post

Hardy’s supermarket in Sanur is one of the few places in Bali I despise. I am driven crazy by how often the prices on their shelves are not actually for the products in front of them, their unapologetic staff, their habit of giving lollies instead of proper change and… Well, I digress. One place is … read the full post

I think the bit where Julia Roberts gets stuck in a traffic jam must have ended up on the cutting room floor, but here’s a nice little video to illustrate the traffic situation in Bali’s cultural heartland, Ubud. No easy solutions, but banning tour buses would be a good start.

In my experience as a six-foot-tall woman, shopping in the enticing-looking boutiques along Jalan Laksmana in Seminyak can be rather disappointing, with not too much available in my size. Shopping for kids, however, is another question entirely. Quite a few lovely shops selling children’s clothes have sprung up in this area over the past few … read the full post