Chocolate Spa Bliss and Cacao Trees in Bali

In October my husband and I ventured overseas to the sublimely tropical Bali for a bit of rest and relaxation.  While I was at one of our deliciously gorgeous hotels I felt it was necessary to review the spa menu and was delighted to see a three hour chocolate spa experience.  Feeling that it was my duty to my work to participate I quickly booked myself in, quite unsure of what to expect.

The spa at the Puri Santrian is gorgeous. You are welcomed with a drink and then led to your spa room.  The first thing I noticed when we entered was the gentle smell of chocolate and bowls of bubbling chocolate and massage oils next to the bath.  The experience started with a massage with oils scented with chocolate.


 This was followed by a body scrub with sugar and ground cacao.  Once this was cleaned off the next step was a chocolate body mask, basically chocolate painted on, quite bizarre considering I'm used to seeing it becoming delicious treats.  The final step was a bath, in (da da da daaaahh) you guessed it chocolate scented bubbles and a chocolate fruity drink.  Yes you read that right a chocolate fruity drink clearly made with cocoa powder and some lime, it really was quite(surprisingly) delicious and refreshing.

This is definitely one of the more unusual spa experiences I have had, but incredibly decadent and I can highly recommend it to any chocoholics out there.  I have recently seen that a local nail spa offers a chocolate manicure and pedicure and think I need to check this out! (In the interests of the business and experiencing all things chocolate of course).






While we were in Bali I asked our driver Kadek to take us to a cacao
plantation.  A few things got lost in translation and we ended up at a tourism destination instead of a proper plantation.  Over looking the rice fields just out of Ubud we got the opportunity to walk through cacao trees, as well as see giant passion fruit trees, vanilla trees coffee bean plants, chilli plants and of course the Lemur like cats that like to consume coffee beans.

The best part of this destination was the opportunity to try a range of teas from lemon and ginger through to cocoa all made  from the plants in this particular garden including Balinese coffee, all while looking over a stunning vista.

While especially touristy and not normally something I would enjoy it was a great opportunity to see so many plants I haven't seen before in the one place, next time I will make it to a proper plantation though!