After three gorgeous days in the forests of Ubud, it was time for us to head to the beach. However, no trip to Ubud would be complete without a proper tour of the rice terraces, and Ketut was ready to deliver.

Jatiluwih Rice Paddies

After our final delicious breakfast at Bisma Eight, we met Ketut downstairs. Our agenda for the day included a tour of the rice terraces, a stop at the Tanah Lot temple and a transfer to our hotel in Seminyak. But Ketut had some surprises in store for us.

We had heard that we should see the Tegalalang rice terraces, but Ketut insisted on taking us to the Jatiluwih paddies instead. Okay, fine.

First stop? Ketut’s home so we could switch from our SUV to scooters for the rice terrace tour. His house was actually more like a concrete compound (complete with a temple), where his entire extended family of 60 people resided. We met several of his very welcoming family members, enjoyed coffee and Balinese treats and heard the story about how Ketut and his wife met.

Next, Ketut told us that his nephew would meet us shortly, so he could drive one of the scooters. The plan was for Gina to ride on the back of the scooter with the nephew and Nina and I to ride on the scooter with Ketut (Nina in the front, Ketut in the middle, me in the back). We had previously laughed when we saw entire families of four squished on to a tiny scooter and were now about to have our own authentic Southeast Asia scooter experience. Finally, Ketut’s nephew showed up. We took one look at him and realized that he was not the young adult we were expecting, but a literal child.

“How old is he?!” we asked Ketut. “Oh, he’s nine,” Ketut responded nonchalantly. Gulp. Oh, and this was going to be a helmet-less scooter ride. Gina’s eyes widened, but she wasn’t about to chicken out. When in Bali…

We jumped on the scooters and headed for the rice terraces. The ride was about 10 minutes through Ketut’s village, up and down hills and over a bridge. So. Much. Fun.

The rice terraces did not disappoint and the scooters were definitely the right call. Ketut was the perfect tour guide, knowing exactly where to stop for the best photo opps. We waved to other tourists on foot or on bicycles (known as push bikes in the land of motorized scooters) as we streamed past them. We rode around the magical, lush, green hills, trying to savor every moment. I knew instantly that I’d remember this experience as one of the highlights of the trip.

After riding to the top of the hill and back down, it was time to head back to Ketut’s home and get in our SUV. I’m happy to report that Ketut’s nephew was a great driver and that Gina made it through the ride unscathed.

Tanah Lot

Next up was the Tanah Lot temple. This place is consistently rated as one of the top sights to see when visiting Bali and it was unsurprisingly densely crowded with tourists when we arrived. We had heard that the view at sunset is incredible, but Ketut advised us to avoid the crowds and go earlier. Well, we still saw plenty of crowds. It was worth the visit, but we made it a quick stop as there wasn’t much more to do than walk around a bit and take some pictures.

Arriving at the W Bali in Seminyak

Final stop was our hotel, the W Bali in Seminyak. I had used a couple Suite Night Awards and our upgrade to a Marvelous Suite had already been confirmed. Woohoo! We checked in to our suite on the top floor and took in the ocean view from our balcony, complete with its own hammock. I am still kicking myself for not taking a picture of the giant walk-in shower in our humongous bathroom. It was essentially a glass cube in the middle of the room, with a retractable skylight that flooded the space with sun. Oh, the bathtub was also located in the cube, adjacent to the rain shower. Not too shabby.

Being in Seminyak and at the W was a bit of an adjustment after our time at a boutique hotel in Ubud. People had told us that Seminyak was larger and busier, so this wasn’t unexpected, just a very different vibe.

After spending the last few days inland, it was time to get to the beach. We snagged a few chairs overlooking the ocean and were pleased to learn that we had arrived just in time for happy hour and more two-for-one cocktails. Perfect!

A couple margaritas later, it was time to get ready for dinner. We had learned from our experience in Ubud and made reservations in advance for Seminyak. The first night we opted for Italian at Settimo Cielo. We walked in and were a little nervous to see that we had the entire restaurant to ourselves. Okay, guess that reservation wasn’t necessary after all. I joked that I had arranged a private dinner for the three of us. It remains a mystery why the restaurant was so empty because everything about it was great. Well-crafted cocktails, extensive wine list, creamy burrata with peppers and one of my favorite dishes in the world: cacio e pepe, cooked to al dente perfection. We were eventually joined by some fellow diners, but the restaurant never got close to full.

Seminyak is known for being a party town, but we all wanted to get a good night’s sleep and make the most of our only full day in town the following day, so we headed back to the W, completely satisfied.

Exploring Seminyak

Agenda for the day: work out, breakfast at the W (included in our rate), shopping and exploring the town, more beach time, dinner, bed. The gym was decent and breakfast at Starfish Bloo, one of two main restaurants at the hotel, was great. One general comment about Bali: the hospitality was excellent overall. The people always had huge smiles on their faces and were seemingly ready to do anything to ensure that we had a wonderful time. I left Bali with a terrific impression of the people, which always adds to the overall experience when being a visitor anywhere. I appreciated that at breakfast the servers made a point to ask our names and then called us by name every time they stopped by the table. Such a nice, warm touch.

Next, exploring the town. Seminyak itself is a lot more commercialized than Ubud. While both towns had a lot of tourists, it was interesting to see a larger concentration of European tourists in Ubud, whereas Seminyak was seemingly mostly Australians. There were of course Chinese tourists in both places. Shopping was a mixed bag; there were a lot of cheap shops that were not really my scene. However, we did find a couple gems. In particular, Namu carried a great assortment of breezy yet sophisticated caftans, dresses and accessories. This was the first store that we visited and I snatched up four pieces, excited about the potential for Seminyak’s shops and nervous for my wallet. I was both disappointed and relieved when I realized that our shopping experience had peaked very early.

We made our way to Seminyak Village, for some reason thinking it was going to be a cute square full of local cafes with outdoor seating, but it turned out to be run over by cheesy shops and corporate businesses. Never mind.

Time to turn around and head back toward the W. My brother had highly recommended Potato Head Beach Club, so the plan was to attempt to snag a few sun beds there. We had also heard that it was very popular and quickly developed a long waiting list if you didn’t get there early. It was already around 1pm, but we figured that we may as well try our luck. After walking through an entrance decorated with art installations reminiscent of what I’d imagine to see at Burning Man (never actually been), we were told that we’d be #42 on the waiting list. I asked if they could estimate how long the wait would be. “Well, there are 41 people ahead of you.” Really? So helpful. Fortunately, the W was right next door and they had plenty of space for us, so we decided to just walk down the beach and treat ourselves to more two-for-one margaritas (light on the simple syrup, please).

On to our final night in Seminyak. I had made reservations at a restaurant called Bikini. The place described its concept as “serious food, but not taken too seriously” and featured a large neon sign reading “U Look Hot in Bikini” in its front window. Seemed like it could be fun. We shared a number of small plates that were all good, but nothing exemplary. The crowd was a lot of Australians that were a bit older than we were and very ready for a good time. Service was great, as I was beginning to expect. Once again, we opted to call it a night after dinner. Ketut was picking us up in the morning to bring us to our final stop, Nusa Dua (after seeing a couple sights along the way, of course).

Overall, I will say I was slightly disappointed by Seminyak. It certainly wasn’t awful, but it was my least favorite place that we stayed in Bali. The W was great, the sunsets were spectacular, we had some solid meals and I found a wonderful local shop. However, I wasn’t really feeling the party scene and the other tourists bordered on annoying. I had initially been worried that two nights would feel rushed, but found myself satisfied with the time we had. Onward and upward.