Nusa Dua, Bali (part 2 of our spring break trip)

As I mentioned in the previous post, we started our week-long vacation in Bali by checking out Ubud and touring the island.  When our tour guide brought us to the Ayodya Resort in Nusa Dua, where we would spend the next 5 nights, we couldn't believe our eyes.  We expected a nice hotel, but we had NO IDEA just how luxurious a place it was.  Nusa Dua is basically a gated community of fancy resorts.  Critics of the area call it "sterilized", and I can understand that, since you literally must go through a security gate to get there and because it is NOTHING like the rest of Bali.  If we hadn't toured Bali and had just come to Nusa Dua, we would have been missing out.  But having had a taste of the other parts of the island, we enjoyed every blissfully indulgent moment at our beach haven.


Ayodya Resort at suset, as seen from one of the terrace lounges



Ayodya Resort's front entrance

Sand sculptures by one of the resort's restaurants

Someone in the lobby played this tingklik when guests arrived and left.  The tingklik is an instrument made from bamboo.  The music echoed through the lobby and sounded so nice.

The Ayodya was a huge, sprawling resort with over 500 rooms, 6 restaurants, and 2 pools (one of which was an infinity pool overlooking the ocean).  It was the nicest resort/hotel we've stayed at (with the exception of where we went on our honeymoon).  As we wandered through the giant marble-floored lobby, we couldn't believe our eyes.  You see, we got a great deal on the hotel, and for the price expected something much simpler and less fancy.  I'm so glad we were wrong!  It really was a stunning resort.

Our room

Every day the breakfast was incredible -- I especially loved the Balinese coffee.  The white sands beach and turquoise ocean water were just gorgeous and relaxing.  

View from our breakfast table

One of the lagoon's inhabitants was this lizard.  He wanted to share our breakfast.

A groundskeeper grooms the lagoon.

Each day, Kris and I walked along the beach to eat at different warungs (or small, casual eateries).  Unfortunately, on our first day, I mistakenly put on insect repellent instead of sun screen, and I got burnt to a crisp!  Adjacent to the hotel was a beach massage hut, where I got an amazing one-hour 4-handed massages (that's right, 2 PAIRS of hands massaging me at the same time!) for about $15!  It was bliss!


In the evening, we enjoyed the hotel bar's happy hour and went out into nearby towns for delicious dinners.  Our favorite dinners were the slow roasted duck that cooked all-day (Bebek Bengil) and the Australian steaks.  The Balinese know how food's done; if only Japanese food were as good.

One evening while we were out, I decided to try Fish Foot Therapy.  It's a very popular spa treatment around the Bali resorts.  Inside a large aquarium are garra ruffa fish that eat the dead skin off your feet.  I tried it out just to see what it was like and say that I had done it, not because I believed in the cosmotological power of dead-skin-eating-fish.  I must say, it was worth doing.  As soon as I put my feet in the water, hundreds of little fish latched on to my feet and legs and started nibbling.  It tickled a lot and felt really, really weird.  I bet the people who run these foot therapies get a big kick out of how rediculous tourists look when they do it.

Getting fish foot therapy

Fish foot therapy

Fish foot therapy.  Are you grossed out, Jenna?

It was a wonderful, restful trip.  For the first time in several months, we were free to act as newlyweds and be as affectionate in public as we wanted, without having to worry about it.  This vacation was fresh air for our marriage, since we were free from stress, distractions, and watchful eyes (in Japan, we are often stared at for being foreigners and since PDA is so discouraged, we can't even kiss each other on the cheek without it being a big deal); our only priority was to just enjoy being together.  It was fantastic.  I think that, since returning from Bali, we've been able to bring some of that with us. However, we still can't wait to go back someday.

Nusa Dua beach at the Ayodya

Kris at the Ayodya's beach

Nusa Dua beach at the Ayodya

Not feeling too confident about these lifegaurds, lol
(Actually, I think they are just locals sitting in the shade of the lifegaurd station)

One of the peddlers on the beach

Infinity pool overlooking the beach at the Ayodya

Kris enjoying the sun...from the safety of the shade

This seaweed farmer was collecting seaweed from the beach (2 hotels down from our beach).

The other pool.  It extends beyond the bridge.

The ladies selling stuff on the beach were relentless.  When I approach one of them (just like the lady in the picture above), all the peddlers descended on me like vultures.  They all thrust their wares into my hands -- one after the other -- while saying, "Madam! Special price! Madam, you like!"  Kris laughed his head off at me the whole time.

Our hotel had grass and chairs just before the beach, which was really nice.  It kept the peddlers from coming right up to our beach chairs and it kept our things from getting sandy.  Also, the contrast of the four colors of the grass, sand, ocean, and sky is just beautiful.