Real Postcards

Reason for choosing this destination:

It is close enough to not be a strained journey, jetlag wise, for a two-week trip, and you can live like a king for a lot less than in Australia, Europe, or almost anywhere else in the world for that matter. We wanted luxury to a point but not a "perfect" resort-style trip during which we wouldn't get a feel of the local cultures and true heart of the place. As "people-people", we go to places to meet the locals and experience their culture - that's what we love, but we did also want the typical honeymoon experience too, so we got our own private pool villas in both Balinese resorts and spent a lot of time lazing by our pools and snuggling up and having our every need (massages, cocktails, food) catered for by the numerous - and genuinely lovely - staff at each place. We were quite unsociable!!!

Accommodation:

Uma Sapna in Seminyak www.coconuthomes.com

The Royal Pita Maha in Ubud www.royalpitamaha-bali.com.

Favourite activities:

Lazing by the pool under the hibiscus trees, and listening to the birds of the forest! Oh, and we kayaked down the river in Ubud - lots of fun; visited the Tanah Lot temple at sunset; went to the Monkey forest (the monkeys are very cute but don't get too close to the baby monkeys as their parents get vicious - one ended up hanging off my sarong with his claws!). We also had a seafood dinner on a table in the sand at Jimbaran Bay - there was a little band of guitar, violin, bongos and singer and I requested a Beatles song and they played "And I Love Her" really well, it was one of the most romantic moments and I get teary thinking about it!

Best thing about your accommodation:

We were treated like royalty - genuine staff, so warm... Royal Pita was like staying at a palace in the rainforests and rice paddies of ancient Bali... and drinking cocktails in the infinity pool looking over "our kingdom" was that happy place we will always return to in our imagination when anything gets us down!

Tips or advice for others:

We visited a different amazing restaurant every night, our favourite being a fine-dining meal at Ku De Ta - an amazing, swish cocktail bar and restaurant right on the beach. One place you may not hear about but which we went to on our last night in Ubud was Warung Enak. They heard it was our honeymoon so drew our names in gold on a banana leaf and were so sweet. The rijstaffel - like a tapas of Indonesian and Balinese dishes on a lazy Susan - was amazing! Café Bali is another great venue - the vibe is cool, and the décor adorable. Another night we did a bar crawl drinking $2 cocktails and ended up on stage with a band at a pub along the main strip in Seminyak for some high-end karaoke; I had backing singers doing dance moves and everything!

Make the most of the bargain prices and go one step more luxurious than you would normally consider with the accommodation and restaurants. On the other hand, look outside your resort for spa treatments - especially in Ubud. This area is known for its amazing choice of spa treatments for ridiculous prices, but resorts will charge you similar rates to Australian spas (expensive!). You can spa-it-up every day quite happily if you find a spa in the village - and it will still be wonderful, probably with rice paddy views. Once we had a "spice spa" with spicy massage and scrub then shared a big bath full of spices - it was so invigorating. And it only cost us $15 each!