Destinationreport Bali.
Contributed by feature reporter John Harris.
If you look for special destinations; Bali is always a great experience.
We landed in Ngurah Rai International Airport, from here it is just a 30 minutes drive to The Mulia Bali.
Embedded in the unique landscape you will find the Mulia resort, a property with lots of luxury and individualized services.
A place with a view, the beautiful Indian Ocean as its backdrop.
The resort is located in the tranquil beaches of Nusa Dua, in southeastern Bali.
The Mulia Bali is composed of three interconnected properties set amongst sprawling natural beauty.
It is a high-end all-suite hotel (featuring personal butler service), spiritual attention to detail and an sense of style and space.
The resort offers 526 elegant rooms, suites and lagoon suite, 108 exquisite villa accommodations that are amongst the largest on the island.
Set on a private stretch of Nusa Dua bay on the southeast coast of Bali, Mulia is a mega bells-and-whistles resort. At the lemongrass-scented spa, it’s about getting the full experience inside and out, using water for drinking, cleansing and healing.
Several pools give blood vessels a workout as oxygen rushes into every capillary, joyful is the high-pressure hydrotherapy which jets blast out toxins with the power of a great massage as you work your way through each stage of the wellness suite.
Healing is taken seriously here, take a cue from the world’s top athletes and visit the ice room after an intensive gym session, rub the ice crystals over legs to drain the blood, expelling lactic acid and aiding muscle recovery.
We enjoyed the healing session; before each treatment, therapists perform a detailed analysis, stresses are steamed away in the aromatherapy room and knots are rhythmically pushed out with traditional Balinese massage. Zingy lemongrass, peppermint and sea salt scrubs buff and brighten skin and stimulates.
Love it.
The full-day mix-and-match Spa Buffet package allows you to design your own programme with the help of the spa team. Choose a massage, facial, body scrub with sea salt, almond or jasmine, and a salon treatment.
Mulia is comprised of three hotels, of which the one to book is the smart, all-suite The Mulia, right on the beach. Decorative elephants and lotus flowers feature throughout and water-carrying Greek goddesses surround three swimming pools. Rooms are smart, in calming, creamy colours, with balconies overlooking the Indian Ocean or hotel gardens.
The four restos, Cantonese and Szechuan specialties; beach-side Soleil for Mediterranean food; Edogin for Japanese teppanyaki and sushi; and the buffet-style Café for just about anything from local coconut curries with sticky rice.
Every culinary delight will be available, we enjoyed the “Sky Bar” for fresh fruit cocktails with a sea view.
Bali may be small in size but the island is truly a vacation for the mind, body and soul.
Things to do on Bali:
You can drive along the coast in one long day—but as any luxury connoisseur can attest, good things often come in small turquoise packages.
Like any other tropical destination, visitors can still expect occasional rainfall, but it is usually intermittent and short lasting.
We spend a day with the toes in the porcelain white sand and hired the next day a bike and drove to Pura Luhur Uluwatu, one of Bali’s nine key directional temples.
Standing atop a rocky cliff 200 feet above the Indian Ocean, this ancient and sacred sanctuary constructed from black coral rock is dedicated to the spirits of the sea and is widely believed to guard
Bali from evil spirits in the southwest, namely, Bhatara Rudra, the God of the elements.
Tip #2: If you want to watch the sky turn fuchsia while getting a taste of the local culture, purchase tickets to the nightly Kecak performance, a dramatic fusion of fire-dancing and repetitive chanting derived from a Balinese ritual called sanghyang, in which spiritual entities enter and possess the bodies of the performers.
As you walk along the winding path to the entrance of the open-aired arena, be on the lookout for wild monkeys roaming the temple grounds. They will let you feed them bananas or cucumbers, but be sure to secure any valuables as they are known to steal sunglasses and cell phones! A word to the wise: visitors are advised to dress appropriately out of respect to Hindu tradition.
Ubud, a town in central Bali once frequented by backpackers and bohemians that is now celebrated for its numerous artist workshops and galleries.
Marvel at the 11th century structure embellished with intricate stone carvings, and check out the inscription on the rear of the temple that testifies to the date of the town’s founding in 1022 AD.
On the 1st and 15th of every month, an ancient form of Balinese dance-drama called gambuh is staged at the sacred site that is truly a spectacle worth seeing.
I am in love with Balinese people and farmers and their love and respect for the land.
