Fairmont, Sanur beach

We only had a short stop in Sanur to go to the beach, so we decided to spend it in style so went for lunch at Fairmont Sanur Beach a beautiful hotel which backs onto the beach. 

A short walk through the tropical gardens and past the beautiful pools lead us to the pool restaurant, we were immediately greeted by a wonderfully friendly waitress who took us to our table.

 After deliberating for ages I went for the pesto linguine and mum for the snapper. 

Both were absolutely divine (sorry for the bad photos, I was starved!). 

After we'd settled our rumbling tummies we spent some time chatting to our waitress, who ever to eloquently told us about how much Bali has changed over recent years with the once sleepy villages turning into tourist hot spots, which teamed with the increase in tourism, has led to a lot of villagers giving up more traditional jobs to make money in tourism. 

Baked chocolate

Double chocolate cheesecake

Our desserts were out of this world, fantastic presentation and rich mouthwatering flavours, worth every cent. 

For our mains, drinks and dessert we spent around $60 / £30 which is incredible value.

After we were finished we head down to the beach to look at all the wonderful fishing boats, before heading back in the car for our next mini adventure.

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Bali's mother temple

Pura Besakih, or the mother temple, is Bali's biggest temple. Nestled way up in the clouds on Mount Agung it is an extensive complex of temples and on a clear, sunny day has incredible views of Bali. Sadly we had a really crap taxi driver so we didn't arrive until 3pm, moral of the story book a taxi driver based on recommendations. We paid our entry and parking fees and then begun the long, steep walk up towards the temple. 

After about 100m mum gave up and hopped on the back of a moped for 10,000 RP ($1 / 50p) which zipped her, without a helmet -eek, to the top of the hill. In hindsight it was probably worth paying the dollar, as the whole street is lined with tourist shops who relentlessly try to drag you in. 

We arrived at the top and were told to pay more money to every man, wife and dog in the place. 'Temple Guardians' insisted that you required a guide by donation only but then gave suggested prices varying up to $50. They said no entrance to the temple unless you were worshipping, unless you paid a guide extra money and then you could go in. We decided to just walk around the outside and have a look, on mum's last trip to Bali they paid for a guide and she said at every door he demanded more money. A sad example of how tourism has affected Bali.

Every few metres another stall was set up trying to sell postcards, umbrellas, key rings and so on..and the sellers were relentless following us up pathways shouting prices, and when we politely declined a small child would pop up and in perfect english ask for ' one dollar' for something or rather. Without sounding ungrateful, it ruined the whole experience. One would expect a temple, especially such an important one, to be a peaceful, honest place but it felt like everyone wanted to rip you off and get money for anything and everything. 

To top it off just as we got to the top the heavens opened and the umbrella our driver had given us fell to pieces, brilliant. 

The whole day was a lesson is looking on trip advisor and paying attention to reviews, because if you look a hell of a lot of people are saying it's not worth the trip. I'm not saying don't go but I'm not saying you'll regret it for the rest of your life if you don't.

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Tanah Lot, Bali

Tanah lot is one of the most famous landmarks in Bali, a 16th century temple built on a small rock formation in the sea, around 20km north of Kuta, Tanah Lot is best visited first thing in the morning or in the evening for sunset.  After paying and parking the car there's a short walk through hoards of shops and down a hill before you meet the entrance to the temple grounds. 

Stories say that a high priest visiting from Java fell in love with the area, and thought it was the perfect place to worship the sea god Baruna. He told all the local people but they disagreed with his ideas so tried to banish him from Bali. The high priest resisted their efforts and forced the spot where he'd been meditating out to sea, throwing a sash into the water which formed a giant sea snake to guard it. The locals saw the high priests immense power and decided to follow his teachings after all. 

We visited at high tide, when the temple is an island with no access. However, at low tide a small path way is revealed which allows visitors to walk to the base of the temple (you can't go inside). 

Entry for tourists is 30,000 RP ($3 / £1.50) and car parking is 5,000RP. 

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