A Heavenly Trip to Bali (Day 1)

Pictured: Punch Passport Correspondent’s ‘wingwoman’ on left and Punch Passport Correspondent Loreana S. González Lazzarini on right

I’m always searching for something in my life and after reading Elizabeth Gilbert’s “Eat, Pray, Love,” and my continuous bad luck in relationships, it got into my head that I needed to go to Bali to break this love bad luck that doesn’t seem to go away, and maybe find my Javier Bardem for at least the weekend.

So after finding the best deal ever on Gilt in the Jetsetter travel section for a fabulous hotel in Seminyak, Bali, I said Let’s goooooo (in a very “Jersey Shore”- DJ Pauly D tone of voice)!

I departed from DCA, had a layover in Detroit, an 18 hour flight to Hong Kong to pick up my travel wingwoman, and seven hours later we landed in the Denpasar, Bali airport – Our 2010 indulge yourselves destination!

The airport was packed with tourists, so we decided to skip the long taxi line in the arrivals area, walked to the departures area and found a cheerful taxi driver willing to drive us to Seminyak for a mega deal of $20.  One hour later, after driving through some of the tiniest streets ever and passing a gazillion Balinitian furniture, stores we arrived at our hotel.

The Anantara hotel concierge, who could not stop smiling at us, provided us with some sugary drink that made my head spin and the world seem like a better place, and then introduced us to our personal, very happy, bellboy and we took off with him to see our room.

He opened the bedroom door and once I glanced inside, it took everything in my power not to jump up and down in front of the bellboy and scream- I’m a RockStar!!!!! … the room was INSANE. The first section of the room when you walked in was the walk-in closet with a dresser; then the bathroom, which had a toilet with a view to the beach, a shower, and a jetted bathtub; then the living room area with super chic and comfy furniture; the mega king bed with a mattress that made you believe you were sleeping in heaven; and finally, a balcony with our very own private Jacuzzi with view to the pool and the beach.

After the excitement settled down a bit we remembered our massage appointments.  We had done our homework prior to our trip and found this fantastic massage place called Jari Menari, which has an all male staff.  Since we had appointments and the place was very close by we decided to walk from our hotel passing by many shops, restaurants, and massage parlors.  Once we arrived at Jari Menari, a smiley Balinitian handed us a pamphlet with the names and descriptions of their massage offerings.  We selected their traditional Jari Menari massage.  The smiley little guy took us back to a massage paradise with waterfalls, plants, and a very relaxing music playing all around us.  We changed into robes and slippers that they provided and then went to our private massage cabanas, and the massage began.  When the 90-minute massage was over, the joyful massage therapist had to wake me up.  I’m telling you this “Dancing Fingers” massage made me feel more relaxed than how my mother looks when she lands in DC, after taking Xanax, to be able to fly from Puerto Rico to visit me.  I highly recommend this place to everyone.  It was an out of body experience and so affordable for the quality.  At this point, I understood why everyone in Bali was smiling and happy. The equation was easy Bali=Wonderland!

That night we had dinner at the SOS Rooftop Lounge & Bar, which is located in the one and only Anantara Bali Hotel.  Dinner was amazing.  We sat down at a table overlooking the Balinesian coastline.  Afterward, we moved on for drinks to one of the red comfy daybeds in front of the bar and listened to the mellow electronic music that Mr. DJ was playing and the sounds of the waves.  Yes, I was in Heaven!

Day 2 of this heavenly trip to Bali coming soon….

***Post and photos by Punch Passport Correspondent Loreana S. González Lazzarini, gonzalez.loreana@gmail.com, @lory_dc. By day Lori is a CPA at an international accounting firm and when she can, she continues to fill up her passport with her numerous globe trotting travels.***