What haven’t I told so far about Bali?-Part 2, Nusa Dua.
In the first part of this travelogue for the Indonesian island of Bali, I told you where you could go in Ubud, located in the central part of the island.
Now we will go to the south to Nusa Dua.
This final itinerary for the enchanting island of Bali in Indonesia is dedicated to the KANDY team (Y-youngsters), with whom we shared this wonderful journey! 😊 Thank you people-you rock! 🤘
Cultural Program
If you have time, you can opt to vist Garuda Wishnu Kencana Cultural Park. You will see there the construction of almost ready huge statue of Vishnu, astride his eagle called Garuda. It is noticeable even from long distance – as we traveled to Nusa Dua, I was wondering what this thing on the horizon was. You can see it from a plane too. In the park there were amphitheaters hosting cultural programs, festival areas, exhibitions, and other attractions, but we had no time for everything. We ate ice cream with the most amazing and exotic flavors. I even ordered Durian ice cream, which was handed to me with a slightly suspicious look by the sales girl, and after she asked me if I was sure I wanted it. She made me taste and smell it first, then took it from a pot that was the only one covered with a lid.
In case you still don’t know, Durian is an interesting local fruit, which to a certain point of maturing is sweet, with a slight scent, but then it starts to smell brutally bad. Some people say it’s so yummy that they forget about the nasty smell of vomit, duct, sulfur, and rotten pipes. In some places it is forbidden to be carried in public transport or to be imported into a hotel.
Be sure to try every possible local fruit. You can buy them at the supermarket, even Durian.
The ice cream was mindcracking stinking, sweet and yummy-super cool experience!
I recommend somewhere to watch Barong and Kechak dance. These are traditional local dances that are performed by actors, disguised like dragons, birds, monkeys, princes, princesses. They tell stories from Ramayana, the actors make interactive jokes with the public, there are acappella performances, bonfires and lessons learned. 😊
I recommend that you also visit the new theatre at Nusa Dua, in the 5-star hotels area, right next to Bali Collection shopping centre, where you will watch a great musical, luminous, dance performance- Devdan Show.
In Devdan Show you will see dances and songs from all ethnic regions of Indonesia. It is very beautiful, the music is melodic, the dancers are exceptional and all this is driven through the plot of an adventure story. There’s a real rain on the stage, fires spinning, big action going on! Kids love it!
Book your tickets in advance at their site.
Shopping
Hang out for a few hours at Bali Collection Shopping Centre, which is right next to the theatre. For the convenience of the visitors, the municipal administration has organized free shuttles from different points of Nusa Dua. The shopping center is very pleasant, with great restaurants, just keep in mind that souvenirs and clothes there can be found at lower prices in Ubud or elsewhere at Nusa Dua. Also, it turned out that the clothes Polo Ralph Lauren, are not original. I was talking with an American designer at the cooking class of Chef Heinz von Holzen who worked for them and she shared this detail, and that even the logo is different. But the quality is good, the replica is successful and for the low prices they sell them, you can buy your children loads of bright blouses with a polo neck.
You can visit one of the SPA parlors there and get yourself a natural fish pedicure. There are some PROs and CONS about the hygiene and humanity of the procedure. I read about them on the internet, over the phone, while I was soaking my feet in the aquarium, and the fish nipped and tickled my feet. It was too late to give up. There was nothing wrong with me, the fishes seemed healthy, and no one fainted. 😜
Incredible but True…
The pharmacy in Bali Collection is the only in Nusa Dua where you can buy teeth floss.
This turned out to be some kind of extra. I’ve toured all sorts of drugstores and all sales people were shaking heads that they don’t know what it was. Some of them recommended to check up at Bali Collection pharmacy and bingo–that’s where it was.
You may notice that some words in the Balinese language sound like westerneuropean. This is so, because Bali was a Dutch colony. For example the word Kopi, which means coffee, in fact is coffee but since they do not pronounce F and it sounds like P it became Kopi. If you hear the word PIPE, make sure they don’t mean FIVE, since V is pronouncet like P too. 😆😉
The Beach in Nusa Dua
At Nusa Dua you can safely go to the ocean beach, but bear in mind that there are no life guards. It is windy and there are high tides. We found interesting areas with shallow water and sandbars far from the shore in front of Nikko Hotel, in Benoa.You walk hundreds of feet in water to your knees and you come to this sand hair, where you can lay your towel and bask. But be careful when the tide comes, you may fail to swim safely to the shore, because it’s a long way to it.
Riding jest or speed boats through them is very dangerous, because as you ride in the deep, suddenly your machine hits the sand and you fall directly. This happened to some tourists in front of our eyes.
If you stay at Laguna Luxury Collection, or just visit it for brunch or beach day, for which you can read in my article Lavish and tasty, 2 in 1, Arwana and Banyubiru, the best of Laguna Luxury Collection, Nusa Dua, Bali the coast is cultivated, the water is shallow and very pleasant. However, the competition from the many pools is also very attractive. There was one that was made with natural sand- something like a little, calm and shallow sea. Some have waterfalls. Others are splashing at the first floors of the hotel. These rooms, which are there, have ladder from the balcony to help guests immerse directly in the pool. Nice, huh! 😊
Other Recommendations and Hints, and a Little More about the SPA Salons
You can spend your vacation on Bali with reasonable expenses, because besides expensive hotels, there are wonderful comfortable and spacious villas for lower prices than in Greece. You can read where we stayed in my posts STAY IN JUNGLE PARADISE UBUD RAYA RESORT, BALI, INDONESIA and Do you want to go to Bali Island with the whole family in comfortable villas with private pool? I know a place like this!
There are many nice small massage studios that are not so luxurious, but apart from being cheaper, the service is not inferior to the quality and professional skills of the masseurs of those in the SPA studios at the expensive hotels.
You can read about this topic in my article Is the Balinese massage a ritual or therapy?
You may say it’s cheap there, but the travel is long and expensive. I will give you a hint: subscribe to the newsletters of airlines flying to Bali and keep an eye upon the offers around Christmas and New Year for discounted tickets. It is preferable to visit Bali in the summer because it is the dry season, but in January is also very nice. I recommend after Bali or before, it doesn’t matter, to travel to Singapore. It’s not cheap at all there, but it’s an extra terestrial place and definitely you will like it a lot. Use low cost airline for the transfer, the ticket is from EUR 80 to EUR 150. Make sure you take the time to explore Changi-the legendary Singapore airport, no matter on which terminal you arrive or depert- all are super, mega COOOOL!
Electrical contacts both in Bali and in Singapore are the shuko standard, put an adaptor in your luggage if your country has a different one.
Drink only bottled water. The same is valid for alcohol- I heard the one sold as draft on the street is fake and sometimes toxic. In Bali, the alcohol has a high excise duty and especially the imported one. If you don’t want to spend EUR 80 for a simple bottle of wine, the solution is to drink from the local one, made from Australian grapes and bottled in Bali.
Try the local beer. Not bad at all.
I recommend you to buy anti-mosquito products from the local drugstores. You will find there great natural products which are quite effective. If you’re a fan, buy some facial masks, body lotions and other beauty indulgencies from their natural series.
WiFi on Bali is unreliable everywhere. Better get yourself a pre-paid data card by a local operator. It’s not expensive and it provides 4G speed. Watch out for dealers ‘ prices that are unreasonably expensive. Look up the operators’ internet pages to see what package of gigabites you need with your card. There is danger to get one with a lot of voice, and a package for TV data only instead of normal internet. We bought Loop first, then we tried the network of a competor. Both were ok. We put the SIM card in a wireless router, so we had internet on our phones everywhere. Just make sure the router battery is fully charged.
About Hazards
If a volcano erupts, it’s not the end of the world. There is a danger that the airport will be closed for several days to dispel the ash cloud, but then everything is back to normal. Otherwise, almost twice per month, some volcano puffs a little ash, as like for prestige. The population is not very impressed, only those at the mountain foot are looking to evacuate just in case.
The Movie about Bali and its Soundtrack
More about all these details you can see in the second part of the film dedicated to Bali. Its soundtrack is composed by a young and talented composer, Martin Alexandrov, with whom I have the pleasure to partner for some time for the melodies in my videos. He spent some time exploring local folk music and created a piece that could safely pass as local Balinese music and reap success. He enriched it with Western sound elements and made a great hit! See the movie and put the sound to ON so to listen to the soundtrack.
You can hear more from Martin’s music on his YouTube channel and his profile at SoundCloud, where he ventures with the alias Melegoth.
Ah, Bali!
Balinese people are very nice – smiling, polite, honest and calm. Almost everyone is Hindu. Almost all are vegetarians, some are vegetarians, eating fish and chicken. 😊
The life of Bali is lazy, pleasant and easygoing…. for us tourists. It seems that Europeans and Americans like it there a lot because more and more of them chose to move there, as did one of the owners of Locavore and Chef Heinz von Holzen owner of restaurant Bumbu Bali.
I personally recommend to anyone who can afford the prices of airline tickets (again I say, follow the airlines for discounts) to go there. Once you get there, you want to come back soon, then you consider buying a house, to spend a few months per year, and then you may decide to stay for good. 😊
How to Book Accommodation?
If you already feel eager to book a place to stay in Bali, I have added for your convenience a booking.com search box, where you just have to enter the dates of your trip, click Search and you will explore all options, fitting your criteria and book, retaining all genius discounts and privileges. 😊
How to get there?
Check-up for promotions of Qatar Airways with the QR code below. This is how we booked our tickets at very affordable prices.
Once on the island, to make it easier for you to find the places I’m telling you about, view the map and hit the pins if you want to get directions.
Menanga, Rendang, Karangasem Regency, Bali 80863, Индонезия
Jl. Karna, Ubud, Kabupaten Gianyar, Bali 80571, Индонезия
Ubud, Kecamatan Gianyar, Gianyar, Bali 80571, Индонезия
Jl. Karna, Ubud, Kabupaten Gianyar, Bali 80571, Индонезия
Jl. Jaga Raga No.40, Celuk, Sukawati, Kabupaten Gianyar, Bali 80582, Индонезия
Besakih, Rendang, Karangasem Regency, Bali 80863, Индонезия
Lodtunduh, Ubud, Gianyar, Bali 80571, Индонезия
bangun lemah kawan, Apuan, Susut, Kabupaten Bangli, Bali 80661, Индонезия
Jl. Raya Ubud No.8, Ubud, Kabupaten Gianyar, Bali 80571, Индонезия
Jalan Monkey Forest, Ubud, Kabupaten Gianyar, Bali 80571, Индонезия
Jl. Monkey Forest, Ubud, Kabupaten Gianyar, Bali 80571, Индонезия
For more reviews about restaurants, hotels, and other places in Sofia, Bulgaria and the world, check out all categories of placescases.com
If you are interested in the theory of Experience Economy, read my sequel of articles about places proving it in practice, in category Experience Economy.
