Bali Redux

With a bare minimum of days left in the warm confines of Bali, the three of us rented a private villa for two nights on the southern tip of Bali, near the five star resorts of Nusa Dua. While the villa’s décor left something to be desired, its service level did not, and we thoroughly enjoyed having a private staff at our beck and call. We especially appreciated seeing our clothes magically laundered, pressed with the scent of baby powder and left neatly folded on the bedside by day’s end.

We used the time in Bali much in the same way as before, allocating the hours between shopping excursions, massages and indulgent meals. On our last night at the villa, we dined at the highly-touted Spice restaurant housed in the minimalist chic Conrad hotel nearby. By the time we began our seven-course chef’s tasting menu on a terrace overlooking lush, manicured walkways and lounge pools, Kaberi had already decided where she and Vik would spend their final night in Bali. The 5-minute ride home turned into a 30-minute misadventure where poorly-chosen landmarks and questionable navigation conspired to disorient us before Kaberi finally found the way back.

The next morning, after squeezing in three ludicrously-inexpensive sessions with the villa’s private masseuse, we bid Jason farewell after ten tropical days together. Jason didn’t leave empty-handed on his return to Chicago, however, as Kaberi enlisted him to be her personal courier for everything from local purchases to journals and location-obsolete guidebooks.

An hour or so later, we collected our things and hitched a quick ride to the Conrad for the final night in Bali. Much to our surprise and delight, the Conrad’s nonsmoking king-bed rooms were sold out and we were upgraded to a beachfront suite with two private terraces. After luxuriating in our palatial environs, we used the remainder of the day to actively lounge by the pool, grab sunset cocktails at the Legian Hotel and have a waterfront Italian dinner in Seminyak.

The precious few hours before the next day’s early afternoon flight to Cairo elapsed at lightning speed, leaving us time only to share a morning champagne toast on the balcony before packing our things and checking out. On the cab ride to the airport, we both agreed that Bali would be one tough act to follow.