Adventures with Jack and Julia

Canggu

Ahh, Bali. Everything you’ve heard about this place is true. We landed at Denpasar airport after a quick flight from Sarabaya, and quickly made our way to the beach. As we approached, some kind of gravitational pull activated and we were dragged into a beautiful bohemian nautical-themed beach club called La Brisa. Some things that became immediately clear right off the bat and remained constants during our 5 days in Canggu were that everything is themed and the food and health culture is huge here. Not themed in a Las Vegas way, though. More in an aesthetically pleasing mix of earth tones and greens and a really laid back kind of vibe. Everyone is dressed to match in flowing outfits and yoga attire while also being focused on healthy living and eating nutritious and nourishing food and this was true at La Brisa. They’re playing chilled out Tulum-style house music and everyone is drinking coconuts. It set the tone right from the start that we were in for a real treat.

Because everyone is so healthy and environmentally conscious, there’s a never ending plethora of amazing vegan and health food restaurants. The ones that we tried in Canggu and can highly recommend were: I am Vegan Babe (the best vegan nachos we have ever tried), Secret Spot (amazing pasta and healthy desserts/smoothies), Shady Shack (also great vegan nachos), Cafe Vida (amazing avocado toast), Mexicola (delicious tacos and margs!), and Times Beach Warung (Julia had the most amazing ahi tuna tostada she has ever tasted). Everything is made with locally sourced foods often made from scratch in-house and you can’t help but feel healthy everywhere you go.

As is probably becoming more than clear we have a bit of an addiction to cute cafes and arabica coffees. A couple of spots we loved were Kynd Cafe where they make gorgeous smoothie bowls with fruit cut into letters on the top, Revolver coffee which has won many awards for their outstanding roasts, and Two Face. Every street has multiple cafes to check out and they all have unique varieties and blends to try out. It’s going to take us multiple more trips here to try them all.

We really engrossed ourselves in the vibe here by going to some really funky jungle themed gyms, our first Bali yoga class, walking along the beach watching surfers hit some waves, trying the amazing food and browsing all the cute shops & cafes. Because we already had Seminyak planned next, we stuck around our zone mostly since we didn’t want to rent a scooter and the traffic in Canggu is notorious for being terrible. So many roads turn into one ways at rush hour so you end up taking a 45 minute car ride when you could have walked somewhere in 20 minutes. We were fine with hanging in our zone, though, as we saw some of the most incredible sunsets on days when it wasn’t raining.

Canggu really hit all the check boxes for us in Bali and is somewhere we would seriously consider moving to. Sure, it’s insanely busy and we didn’t even go during the dry season, but it just has this feel to it that’s hard to put into words. There is a huge digital nomad culture here and we loved the laid back feel of people just going about their day. People seemed to spend their mornings catching waves and then bringing their laptops to the cafes and working for a few hours before hitting the gym. Everyone is healthy, happy, motivated, and social. And as much as we love a good cocktail now and again, it was cool to see so many people opting for healthy juices, smoothies, and coconuts when sitting on the beach. We didn’t want to leave here and know we will be back for sure. The one thing we will say is Canggu doesn’t have the nicest beaches, though. They’re this dark volcanic rock and so many people are on the same stretches of sand that it can be a bit much. Luckily, our next destination was less than an hour by car down the coast and promised some stunning white sandy beaches.

Seminyak

Unfortunately, although Bali is truly beautiful, the island doesn’t have a proper waste management system, which means the beaches are constantly covered with garbage. So, even though the beaches themselves were white and sandy, they weren’t the most pleasant to sit on due to all the plastic garbage that washed up on shore. Local volunteers do come around and help clean up, but there is just too much garbage that continuously washes up on shore that they aren’t able to keep up with it. Of course the impact of all the tourists also contributes to the pile up of garbage and the problem is further compounded by the time of year it is. We visited during December, which is the rainy season in Bali, and so much more junk washes up on shore due to the weather. It’s generally not as busy as the drier months, though, so we often found ourselves with our own area on the beach to enjoy despite the trash. This honestly made us really sad to see and also encouraged us to want to reduce our impact and help in any way that we can. We are trying to use less plastic, make less waste, and reuse what we have whenever possible. It can be so tempting to buy souvenirs and shirts and stuff from all of these places that we’re going but after seeing the impact our mindless consumption is having on these natural landscapes is just devastating. We plan on bringing these practices home with us and being really aware of our impact on the planet.

Truthfully, we enjoyed our time in Canggu more than Seminyak. Seminyak felt busier on the streets and more touristy to us despite it being filled with huge resorts all along the beaches that were mostly empty because of the time of year. There was a significant decrease in the health culture and much fewer vegan restaurants. It’s also one of those places where you’re constantly being asked if you need a scooter ride from a Grab driver (they are off duty drivers trying to make cash without having to use the app, or just drivers who aren’t registered at all), asked if we wanted to buy junk from someone’s random store, or offered random tours from scammers who try to over charge you. They also have the people on the beaches trying to get you to buy sarongs, sunglasses, and fans. Just a bit much when you’re trying to relax.

Despite all of this, we did manage to find some delicious food after a bit of searching. Some highlights for us were: Milos Warung Souvlaki (Greek food), Neon Palms (Asian fusion tacos), Sea Circus (more yummy tacos), Bernadette’s Warung (amazing authentic Indonesian food) and Dough Darlings (amazing gluten free and vegan donuts). We also found a coffee shop called Niki Seminyak that had a 50% off coffee special in the morning, so we found ourselves there quite often!

Some of our favourite memories of the trip are when unexpected things just happen organically. One example of this came after dinner at the Greek Warung when we were in the mood for a sweet treat. On our walk home, we stopped a couple of doors down from the restaurant at a chocolate store called Krakakoa to grab an Indonesian bar of chocolate. As our luck would have it, we happened to into their store on a Sunday which happens to be the day that they offer two for one experiences at a chocolate bar making station! We of course each had to make some and got to choose from a variety of ingredients to include such as nuts, dried fruits, coconut flakes, etc. The chocolate we have tried in Bali has been amazing and often they don’t add a bunch of sugar or extra preservatives. The authentic dark chocolate doesn’t have any milk products either so Jack has been very happy about that!

Besides making chocolate, we spent our time in Seminyak checking out the beaches, trying new gyms and visiting the world famous Potato Head Beach Club! Potato Head Beach Club is world renowned due to both the incredible facility they’ve built and their promotion of sustainability through recycled materials and eco-friendly initiatives. They collect plastic recycling from the beach, melt it down and then create new things from it such as coasters, chairs and clothing and you can watch the whole process being done on your way into the club. We went in the morning when it was less busy, so we had a seat right near the pool overlooking the beach. We each enjoyed a freshly squeezed juice and read our books before continuing to La Plancha for an afternoon snack.

La Plancha was a place that popped up in our research a few times so we knew we had to check it out. It’s located along long boardwalk ob Seminyak Beach and known for their extensive area of colourful bean bags and umbrellas set out on the beach for people to relax, enjoy some food and drinks while listening to music and watching the sun go down. We arrived around 2:30pm so they hadn’t quite set up all the bean bags yet, but we got a front row view as they started to put everything out around 3pm. The chips and guac as well as the green pea hummus with toasted mix spices, seeds, and smoked paprika on top were both delicious!

We wanted to take a second to say that although we preferred Canggu over Seminyak, we both agreed that they’re still incredible places to visit. It may be unfair to compare two different places at the end of the day when in reality, that’s exactly what they are – two different things and it really depends what you’re looking for in a trip. For us, we felt much more comfortable in Canggu with our diets and lifestyles, but could absolutely see staying at a lovely beach resort right on the water in Seminyak to be an incredible experience as well. Regardless, after 10 days of relaxing and exploring these two beach towns, we excitedly headed North to spend our time exploring the rice fields and jungle nature in Ubud. This was also our first Christmas away from home and it was certainly one we’ll never forget!

Lots of love,

Julia and Jack

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