Sanur: Some Plans Are Better Unplanned

Sometimes in life it’s better to make no plans for your day. Just get up and go…. See where it takes you…

So this is what we found today…

Today we woke up and decided to just get on our scooter and see where the day took us. I was keen to check out a little place called Sanur after hearing good things so we took off in that direction.

First of all, I just wanted to mention a little incident that happened to us the previous evening…

On our way back to the apartment we were pulled over by the police for one of their spontaneous ‘checks’ (we had read about these checks online and heard that without the correct paperwork your best bet is to provide the policeman with a monetary incentive to let you on your way or face the consequences).

Two Aussies in-front of us had been subjected to the same check and were being forced to pay a fine for not having an International Drivers Permit (IDP). Thankfully, I am ridiculously organised and had planned for this to happen (I must still credit  Gary’s genius idea of keeping our permits locked away under our seat so that they were with the bike at all times and therefore couldn’t be forgotten).

To my delight as the scary Balinese police officer smugly strolled towards us with money in his eyes, I took great satisfaction at whipping out our permits and won the battle with ease! We drove off happily knowing our little £5 purchase back home was worth it (relieved that we weren’t in the territory of bribing police officers). It’s so quick and easy to do! I highly recommend one to anyone thinking of renting a bike while your here.

Back to our day however…

We arrived at Sanur beach eager to find some food and chill out as we had been driving for what felt like years (maybe I was just extra hungry)! After parking up, we started off on foot and were then blown away by the glorious beach that confronted us.

 

 

 

This place was just so cool and yet so quiet… Completely the opposite to the hustle and bustle of Kuta & Seminyak. The beach was incredibly relaxing and we struggled to actually find anyone around us. Very peaceful, yet not so great for our stomachs (yeah I guess I was hungry) and we were concerned maybe places to eat might be hard to come by…

Thankfully a wonderful little Australian family pointed us in the right direction where we could find some more action. You would be absolutely spoiled staying here as the beach is lined with some of the most luxurious and unique hotels. There are plenty of privately owned villa areas here too and as we walked further up the beach, we were beginning to think we were definitely stepping on to privately owned territories.

The hotel areas offer beautiful venues for weddings or special events and the beach is so picturesque, you could easily have the most incredible day. You could even get married in a giant diamond!!

Finally we made it to the heart of Sanur where smells of delicious foods being prepared welcomed our ravenous states! We found a great little place in our budget (Sanur is more pricey than Canggu) right on the beach, ironically called the Beach Cafe. I ordered a pasta salad after eyeing up a neighbouring table’s choice. The atmosphere of the cafe was wonderful and with their huge range of cocktail choices, I easily could of sat there all day!

There are in-fact hundreds of places to choose from to eat here so you should pretty much plan an entire day’s activities here just to sample what Sanur has to offer.

  

They even had a place for me to leave Gary! Although he would be lucky if he thinks i’m paying for his dinner haha…

The beach is fantastic if you are into your water-sports and they pretty much offer any sort that takes your fancy. As the area is far less crowded, it makes a great area to challenge yourself to some jet skiing or kite surfing. Surfing is not really an option however as the waves are very calm here and you are much better off on the other side of the island. 

Sanur also seems to be the hub of all boat trips to surrounding islands with trips to Lembongan, or Gili’s islands at your disposal. Boats line themselves up for departures across the tide and you can stock up on any necessities to bring with you as the ports offer all convenience stores that you may need.

 

There really is just so much here that can keep you entertained for the day. The more we walked, more surprises came our way. Sanur offers great little market areas and what’s best is that you definitely are far less hassled to shop unlike other touristy areas. We had a look around the area for a while as I admired all the quirky little nik-naks and clothing to buy as Gary attempted to seem enthused.

Shopping can get very hectic and tiring so it was obvious we needed to take yet another break and sample some of Bali’s answer to Gelato. Choosing one flavour is just too difficult. It was amazing!!

We eventually found a quiet little beach spot to sprawl out and chill for the afternoon. I finished off reading another book, Into the Darkest Corner by Elizabeth Haynes. This book is a must read and I was hooked from the start finishing it within two days. The story surrounds the life of a girl named Cathy who is battling a horrendous case of OCD and you are instantly drawn in to her life and the unforgivable torture she endured during her relationship with Lee, a sophisticated yet secretive man whom she falls for when they first meet. The book jumps between two stories, between different years and you are gripped throughout. I highly recommend!!

We made it back to the apartment after another long drive and wanted to find somewhere new for dinner yet somewhere super close to our pad (you do get slightly numb after sitting on that scooter for too long)

After a quick search online to see if we had missed any local hidden gems we were off just down the road to a new restaurant called Red Salt.

The restaurant was in-fact right behind where we were staying along a little quiet road (an undiscovered area) set right amongst the rice fields. The place constructed out of a converted barn style bulding with lanterns lining the ceilings and also had a cute little gift shop attached selling all sorts of hand-made goods. You can sit right up on the higher deck and look out over fields and watch the gorgeous sunset. The food was equally as amazing and very Indonesian (Which surprisingly we’ve still had very little of). I choose a chicken and vegetable wok dish and Gary opted for the kura ayam (Indonesian curry). A great little find!

 

 

 

 

If every day could be spent this way… I would be one happy little soul.

Thanks for reading, please remember all comments and suggestions are very welcomed…

Have a great night!

Lots of Love

Xx

 

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