Bali breaks: Honeymoon heaven on Indonesia's most charming island

Add to My Stories Prince William is not like the rest of us. He would have had his honeymoon sorted long ago - and properly sorted. For the rest of us, its a worry - not the honeymoon itself, of course, but the planning, the decisions.July seems to be the most popular month of the year for weddings in Britain, but, what we July weddingers tend to forget is that its the worst month of the year to go anywhere outside Europe.

Tropical paradise: Indonesia's Lombok island is picturesque honeymoon paradiseThats what I came to realise this time last year, when making my own honeymoon arrangements.According to my now-wifes Debretts wedding guidebook - which barely left her side after we got engaged - obvious honeymoon destinations like The Maldives, Thailand, India, Mexico and the Caribbean were off limits because it would be the rainy season. And anything heading towards to Tropic of Capricorn would be in the middle of winter. I was floundering.Then I started thinking about Lawrence Blairs brilliant account of his ten year travels around the Indonesian islands in Ring of Fire, and it occurred to me that this archipelago, with its vibrant mixture of cultures and history, would be perfect. For me, at least.Unfortunately, my wife was not quite as enthused by the idea of spending our honeymoon with an Asmat tribe of canibal headhunters in West Papua, or those men who eat Komodo dragons just off the island of Flores, which feature prominently in Blairs story.So, we compromised and chose Bali and its Muslim neighbour, Lombok - on the condition that we paid a visit to the Bali reptile park, which boasts more venomous snakes under one roof than anywhere else in Indonesia.

More...

• More on Bali in our Indonesia section
• Eat, Pray, Love on enchanting Bali
• Bouncing back on beautiful Bali

Our first stop was the Hanging Gardens hotel just outside the town ! of Ubud, up in the mountains. Surrounded by scenic rice fields, ancient temples and rainforest, Ubud was once regarded as a haven for cosmic seekers and pot-growing hippies. Now, without losing its holistic edge, it is Balis preeminent centre for arts and crafts.The streets are lined with galleries, craft shops and stone carvings.Last week, I sell painting to Robert De Niro one gallery owner told me while trying to make me buy a canvas of an upside-down dead cow. To my surprise, the story was later confirmed by our hotel shuttle van driver.Although we did end up buying a painting from one of the galleries, it might in hindsight have been better to have waited until the end of the trip, rather than lugging the 4ft canvas around with us.If youre not an artist in Ubud, the chances are that youre a masseuse. The Balinese are renowned for their massages and I did not take much persuading to join my wife for a traditional Balinese full-body job in a local spa.But while my other half was greeted by a dainty young Balinese woman, who whisked her off to one of the bamboo-lined rooms, I was welcomed by a stocky, shaven-headed, tattooed fellow with body piecing and heavy scaring over his face. I was even more surprised when he demanded that I remove my underwear, before spending the next two hours effectively beating me up. This was why local spas were so much cheaper than the hotel ones, I thought to myself during the pummelling.Our hotel sat on the side of a valley, with monkeys swinging in the branches above us, tumbling waters of the Ayung river beneath us, and the distant sound of temple chanting from the nearby hills all around.Its unsurprising that the hotel is favoured by honeymooners. Most of our guests are just married the young Balinese lift operator told us as, on arrival, we descended the rickety funicular down the ravine to our hillside bungalow.This was most evident following the daily breakfast, in the queue for the couples computer. Each morning there would be a line of self-conscious newlyweds eagerly che! cking th eir emails and Facebook for wedding photo updates.The Qantas check-in girl had been right when, after we mentioned that we were on our honeymoon, she responded: So is everyone else!After fours days in Ubud, all the stress of the months of planning had evaporated. We became almost instantly enveloped by the holistic powers of the area - and we hadnt even visited Harry the Rastas reggae bar.For a tropical Indonesian ocean island, Balis beaches are surprisingly average, but Jimbaran Bay is one of the better ones and, unlike some its neighbours, there are few waves so you can swim properly in the sea.

Love and marriage: The newlyweds get used to their honeymoon surroundingsThe bay boasts a collection of smart international hotels, though it is the discreet Jimabaran Puri hotel, with its private villas and gargantuan pool, that stands out for its unpretentious ease.The highlight of Jimbaran is its beachside fish restaurants, with fresh lobster costing no more than 5. As our taxi driver explained, the local fishermen realised some years ago that they were no longer able to make a sustainable income through just fishing. Noticing it was the hoteliers and restauranteurs who were making the profit on their catches, they attempted to open beachside restaurants.As most guests request the table closest to the sea, the owners seat their customers, before bringing down a new table and arranging a further row just in front. The result is that guests get a brief period at being the closest table to the sea and, by the end of the evening, the final plastic table is literally in the ocean.Just around the coastline from Jimbarin is Ulawutu, Balis surfing mecca. Here, people flock to ride some of the largest waves I have ever seen and then hang out in the perilously positioned cliff-edge bamboo-built bars which, given the fresh remnants of wood scattered around the bottom of the cliff, must collapse every cou! ple of m onths.Are they not concerned? my wife asked me, looking out at one of the more precarious shacks.Darling, when youre happy to throw yourself into 30ft waves, I think the stability of the bar's foundations are the least of your worries, I told her, with what I thought was a nice mix of authority and irony.It is more one of our commercially-orientated dances rather than religious. For the tourists, rather than the Gods, our guide assured us.Bali has bounced back from the terrorist attacks of 2002 and 2005. Seminyak and Legian, two of the liveliest and most popular areas of the islands, are once again a buzz of activity in an almost Miami sense, with beachfront clubs opening wellinto the early hours and midnight bungy jumping possible before the crawl home.Lying on the beachfront lounger of the stylish and chic Legian Hotel, I grew frustrated at not being able to swim in the sea due to the absurdly large waves and shallow water, while watching the teenage Australians surf them effortlessly.How hard can it be? I asked my wife, before borrowing a hotel board and running into the surf.Five minutes later, I was upside downhaving my head crushed into the seabed with ten tons of water pounding down on me. I even endured the indignity of losing my swimming trunks, after which I thought it best to return to our sun bed and leave the surfing to the professionals.Just 20 or so miles away a two hour boat ride is Balis sister island, Lombok.Running between the two islands is the Wallace Line, the geological, meteorological, biological boundary between Asia and Australasia, created by British naturalist Alfred Russell Wallace in 1859.Far less developed than Bali, Lombok is set in dramatic mountainous rainforest with isolated desert island beaches and the clear blue sea we had missed in Bali. Although smaller hotels and guesthouses are scattered intermittently around the island, it is only The Oberoi, located on Medana beach, which is internationallyrecognised.It could not be better postioned - onits own coral reef! bay, ov erlooking the Gillie Islands - three very small but idyllic atolls with one of the largest populations of turtles.In his book, Lawrence Blair spent 10 years visiting Indonesia, and still only visited a few of the 17,508 or so islands that made up the archipelago. No amount of time would ever beenough to do justice to all of Indonesia - but I can vouch that this isa glorious spot, whether on honeymoon or not.

Significantly sandy: Jimbaran Bay is Bali's best beachUnlike the rest of Indonesia the most heavily populated Muslim majority nation on earth Bali remains Hindu, and follows a particularly harmonious strand of the religion, with hundreds of thousands of deities.We were advised to visit the nearby Ula Watu temple for the evening Ketjak monkey dance. This is better known as 30 well-fed men chanting, while wearing traditional knickerbockers, and actors dressed in pantomime masks, kicking fireballs of hay towards each other.

Travel Facts

Scott Dunn (020 8682 5060, www.scottdunn.com) offers a 16-night tailor-made Indonesian honeymoon itinerary, from 3,995pp, based on four nights B&B at Ubud Hanging Gardens, Jimbaran Puri, Oberoi Lombok and The Legian - including return flights and private transfers.