Part Two of our Balinese adventure, pure relaxation at the Tembok Spa Village on the Northern side of the island. {I know it's not a Tuesday when most of my usual travel posts are but didn't want to stretch out this trip over three weeks}

When I explained to travel agents that we wanted to visit Bali and have a week relaxing near the beach {but crucially avoiding the overdeveloped, party towns like Kuta that have become super popular with young Australians} I was recommended the Spa Village at Tembok a couple of times. It's an all-inclusive retreat on the North Coast that features in Tatler's 101 Best Spas in the World and their emphasis is on pure relaxation. I think one of the things that sold it to us was the daily 50 minute spa treatment each included in our stay which would make it super luxurious. 

The hotel arranged a transfer for us from Ubud and after about a couple of hour's scenic journey across the middle of the island, through the mountains and past traditional villages, we were greeted with cold towels, drinks, a neck massage and foot rub. Such a relaxing way to begin our stay.

We checked in and went to our room, apart from two suites for honeymooners, the rooms are all standard at the Tembok Spa Village with a balcony overlooking the grassy area. Normally we would try and arrange a slightly more special room with at least a sea view or private terrace etc, price depending, but here there is no option for that. It's not a negative on the resort, just something to bear in mind. To fit in with the relaxation, there are no TVs in the room either. Although we did use the hotel wifi to download the latest Breaking Bad episode onto Ben's laptop while we were out there!! 

We hardly spent any time in our room as the weather was so beautiful every day, it was seriously hot and the sky was without clouds. The whole resort was beautiful with plumeria trees and palm trees everywhere. 

The pool area was h e a v e n l y. We spent nearly all of our day, apart from when we had a spa treatment, lounging by the pool. Our favourite place to chill out was in one of the poolside cabanas with curtains that provided shade once we'd had enough sun. The infinity pool looked over the black sand volcanic beach and you could watch the fisherman's boats sailing past on the sea.

When we first arrived we were given a schedule of all of the available activities available, nearly all of which were complimentary. If you're seeking a particular goal such as a detox, relax or fitness, you can choose a pathway in which the hotel will put together a series of treatments and activities for you to achieve this. We were just there to chill out so booked our daily spa treatment, mostly having the full body massages which were amazing and meant we could have them side by side in a treatment room. We were tempted by some of the activities, like a cooking class, stargazing on floating beds in the pool or a beach walk, but each day just came and went with us reading by the pool. It was nice to have the option of activities but we were quite happy to do nothing for once!

At sunset, the sky turned pink and we would walk along the beach. Being near a volcano, the sand is volcanic and black compared to your typical white sand. It didn't matter though, we just loved being by the sea and listening to the waves. 

I loved the rocks on some sections of the beach, they almost didn't look real against the palm trees. 

The staff were all amazing and left us little gifts and sweet notes in our room each day.

All of our food was included {excluding drinks}. As the resort is quite secluded, there are no towns to walk out to. We had four nights at the Spa Village which was a perfect amount of time to unwind and enjoy it without going stir crazy. Combining it with our stay in Ubud and the rest of the South East Asia trip was ideal. I think any longer and you'd get bored of the same restaurants and nowhere else to go. Although some people were there for two weeks! 

We had our treatments in the afternoon each day, I prefer later in the day to early morning for a massage. Afterwards we were careful to stay out of the sun being covered in essential oils.

To counteract the laziness and to not let my fitness slip a few weeks before my first half marathon, I did use the gym most mornings. It was nice then to not feel guilty when I had a snoozy afternoon just lounging around being pampered.

The food at the restaurant was really delicious and usually involved lots of fresh seafood which I love and some traditional Balinese food. 

On our last night we watched the traditional Balinese dance and theatrical performance with a big BBQ dinner which was good fun.

We were sad to leave Bali but have never been so relaxed in all of our lives. But equally we were ready to go home and excited to finish our kitchen extension off! 

We watched the sunrise on our last morning, it was so beautiful.