Hi guys, I hope you enjoy this nice chilly weather. It’s just such a nice sleeping weather, isn’t it?

We just got back from our recent trip to Bali and we surely had some fun time there. This is the first time that I spent most of the trip in the resort instead of wandering suburbs on our own, and I had to say I love it too. (Especially when you have a baby.) So below are some of the highlights during this family getaway.

Luxury Escape – Ritz Carlton

We purchased this getaway package from Luxury Escapes before I got pregnant. Thankfully their booking period was quite generously long, so we booked in with Ritz Carlton Nusa Dua after we found out Indigo was on the way. Now she’s 7 months and there were definitely some challenging moments travelling with a baby. But it’s all worth it and I treasure these moments with my family. Seriously, we could stay in the resort the whole time because this place have already got things sorted out. SPA, pool, surfing course, cooking class, and even perfume making workshop! I truly felt pampered until the red eye flight back to Sydney…. 

Travel With A Baby In Bali 

I will post about what I really feel about travelling with a baby under one sometime in the sooner future(I hope) so I can definitely give you a proper review. Now, I just want to share with you about my tips for travelling with a baby in Bali this time.  And the answer is one and only : GET A NANNY/ BABYSITTER, repeat. It was the first time I gave away my baby to a stranger, and the feelings were just complicated! I wrote down the note of her routine at home but by time we arrived in Bali, her sleep pattern was sort of goneski, I was nervous and sentimental but gosh, this baby doesn’t care. She liked the kids club, she liked all the attentions from strangers. It’s a relief that our babysitter was quite professional, and really loves kids, just a bit sad that my baby didn’t seem miss us…Also, the beauty of the hiring a babysitter in the resort is we can still do lots things without going out of resort, if we really want to see her, we can. Such as going to the gym, me and Andrew haven’t gone to the gym together since Indigo’s born. This may sound very petty but once you have kids, these petty things matter. 

We also didn’t want to participate some tightly packed day tours because we rather come back to Indigo before her bed time. So the only tours/activities we have done were: Spa, shopping(actually we just needed ATM), cooking class, cultural cycling around rice patties. Cooking class was great with some Balinese cooking, really well fed ourselves hahah and cycling alongside the local village compounds really won my heart and I wished I could stop and take some photos. (it was raining badly so I left the camera in the van). But riding in a steamy warm rain in Bali, this is a true local experience I would say. But next time, we would like Indigo joined us for some wholesome Balinese shenanigans.

Balinese Culture Encounter – Nyepi Day

I don’t want to scare you with full on details so I will make it short. Nyepi Day is also called Silent Day which everything would be shut down and stay low key from 6pm till 6am next day. The whole city is sitting in the darkness and silence but fulfilled with family connections and reunions instead. Family gathering plays an important role through out this tradition ceremonies, you can see 3-4 villages walking the parade carrying with the temples, and the statue they made just for this celebration. 

Among all the cultural stories that Balinese people told us, our favourite one will be the scary statues. They said Balinese believes that spirits is everywhere. And sometimes they are not sure if these spirits are good or bad, so you can see those gingham like clothes and flags, crossing back and white stripes. It’s because these spirits aren’t just as black and white as we think. So to ensure every one can have a nice Nyepi Day, then will provide the offerings for the bad spirits (scary statues) to tame/bribe them and hopefully they won’t bother on that day. There’s even competition for the statue designs, and there would be a dance telling the story of the certain statue. I found it really fascinating that this tradition stays really strong and people still make great efforts to accomplish it. Love it. 

Lastly, as my own tradition I will of course bombard you with tons photos of our escape in Bali. Please, please, please click on one to see enlarged version and comments, and I hope you will like them. (If you didn’t see the comment, try hover to the images.)

Stay cultural,

xxx Aka 

And more….

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