This week David and I are celebrating four years of marriage!  We stayed local this year but I can’t help but think back to our epic 3 year anni trip to Singapore and Bali last year.  It was our first time to southeast Asia – I had spent one month in Japan before but had not made it down to the southeast!  And WOW, it blew us away.  As you may know the prices in SE Asia are extremely reasonable and the natural beauty is astounding.

Bali is a tiny island in Indonesia but has SO MUCH to offer.  I am finally getting around to sharing our amazing trip.  Hopefully this will let you enjoy as much as we did!  I would love to hear if you have ever been or would want to go!

We spent 8 days in Bali with an evening in Singapore on the front end and broke our Bali stay into 3 phases: Canggu beach in the East at the phenomenal Hotel Tugu Bali, Ubud Shimha Jungle Retreat airbnb, and then Ubud Kayon Resort for the last few nights.  This gave us both the gorgeous beach scene and the tropical jungle vibes while checking out all of the excellent hospitality Bali has to offer.

Overall, the trip was better than I could have dreamed of!

Canggu

I did a lot of research on Bali and chose Canggu as our beach stay over Uluwatu and Seminyak for a few reasons.  Seminyak was already very established while Canggu seemed to be the more up-and-coming area which I generally appreciate.  I was afraid Uluwatu would be too isolated – I think it’d be better to go for a day trip.  The number one push to Canggu was finding Hotel Tugu Bali on an Agoda flash sale.

Canggu beach is known for surfers, black sand, and amazing sunsets each night.  There are beach clubs (more on that later), but for now here are a few pictures of the stunnning beach!

One amazing part about Bali and SE Asia is it offers a world class destination at a fraction of the price Westerners are used to paying, so it’s possible to travel for very cheap and why SE Asia is so popular with backpackers.  Alternatively, you can stay at 5-star resorts that I (personally) would never be able to afford in Europe or the States.  This was an anniversary trip so we went the 5-star hotel at affordable prices route!

Hotel Tugu Bali

A half block back from the beach, Hotel Tugu Bali was hands down my favorite location we stayed at, which is saying a lot because all three places were exceptional.  The staff was the most welcoming, calming, and gracious you could dream of.  The grounds were insanely gorgeous with flora and fauna everywhere.  And we were only one street back from the beach!

Our Room

I could not believe my eyes when we got to our hut.  We had our own private pool, indoor/outdoor shower and our own koi pond.  Our room was huge with multiple lounge areas and I just loved all of it!  We stayed at the Dedari Suite.

The private pool was our favorite part.  Plus look at all these gorgeous plants! <3

The Grounds

The hotel grounds were stunning.  Every pathway was lined with the most beautiful gardens, and the main lounge area was next to the main pool.

The Rooftop Terrace

Breakfast, afternoon tea, and dinner are served up on the rooftop terrace overlooking the beach and surfers.  It is such a gorgeous and peaceful spot!  In the evening the sun sets over the water and it is so wonderful.  It’s worth mentioning that the Tugu restaurant is one of the best in Canggu and we had an exceptional dinner here one evening!

Breakfast was included for guests and it was explained to us that we order a la carte, but can order as much as we wanted – no limits for hotel guests, and no set time duration either.  If we wanted our ‘breakfast’ at 4pm, we could do that because this place is meant to relax!  As the two most laziest morning people, this was music to our ears.  For the first time in our lives we didn’t have to rush down and throw on clothes to make breakfast 5 minutes before closing. 🙂

The food itself was delicious.  Every morning (or maybe mid-day 😉 ) I had a cappuccino, fresh pressed fruit juice, and a dragonfruit smoothie bowl.  It was perfection!  They had egg dishes and Indonesian options as well.

Hotel Tugu Bali was the perfect start to our anniversary trip!  It let us melt all the stresses and hustle of work away.

More on Canggu coming soon – like our favorite beach club hang outs and an incredible day trip on the East coast!

xx