What 11003 DialAFlight clients thought of Asia

Fantastic service from Elliott from start to finish. Would definitely book with you again in the future

The staff at DialAFlight are always helpful and supportive

Excellent customer support and great recommendations for restaurants at my resort

Good service all the way

Brilliant trip - superbly organised. Great value for money. Ticked all our boxes. Highly recommend.

Excellent service from start to finish and the aftersales is second to none. I have used them for a number of years and can't find a better service and value for money provider

Thanks for providing up to date information

Very good professional service.

Your service with Warren is simply fantastic. Just a shame that Heathrow is a disgrace. Thank you for your great service. We had an awesome holiday.

Excellent service - great app and all backed with the security and comfort of a direct number to call in case of any emergency while away

We would like to thank Stacey - a big thank you again for another great holiday

Jonathan never lets us down with our trips, excellent service, thanks again

Shelley Dimes is a superstar. My trip was organised to perfection and could not be more pleased with her help, advice and planning

Marshall as always was fantastic dealing with my family's booking. On this occasion the Emirates flight from Bangkok to Dubai was less than satisfactory but that is no reflection on DialAFlight's masterful booking admin

Spencer Ormerod was brilliant and kept us informed throughout the booking process.

Marshall is always on the ball. Looks after his customers very well.

Alan is brilliant. I have been booking through him for over 5 years and I love having someone to talk to at the other end of the phone.

Zoe delivers as always!

Fabulous company - efficient and highly professional

Will use DialAFlight again.

Tristan Chatburn was extremely helpful and professional. Highly recommended

This was the best holiday ever - thank you for everyone who helped us.

Calvin is always there for my travel plans, he is great!

Oliver and the other members of the team were really helpful and accommodating. They were very informative about the country we were travelling to. If I was unable to speak to Oliver someone else was ready to step in and deal with me

Callum was extremely helpful and efficient in every way. I will definitely be booking future holidays with him

Everyone very helpful, can’t wait for my next flight

Excellent trip both ways. We were worried about having to wait until a day later for our connecting flights but The Novotel Hotel at Bangkok Airport was a super experience. The free shuttle on both occasions took us directly to the booking hall for the airline we had to book with, so no problems at all.

Thanks for your all your support. Your service is the best.

Good service all round.

Will definitely use again and recommend. Excellent dialogue with Charlie Miles - it wasn't just a case of taking the money and that was it. He kept me informed throughout, well done..5 star service

Blissful Bali

Lift your spirits in beautiful Bali

From seaside yoga to holy water ceremonies and charming culture - this tropical island makes the spirits soar, as Alice Hart-Davis found out

We had only just set off white-water rafting through the jungle gorges of the Ayung River when our guide began flinging water over us with his paddle.

The water was too calm for his liking – this was his way of livening up the trip.

We retaliated in kind until we were all soaked, but then, just to make sure we were fully drenched, he beached the raft under a pipe ditching a small stream into the river and made us stand beneath it for photographs. They like a giggle in Bali.

Snorkelling and swimming with turtles on a trip to the Gili Islands

SETTLING IN

By then, we'd been in and around Bali for a week and had acclimatised to the warmth, the drifting scents of incense sticks, the greeting of everyone with a hands-in-prayer Namaste gesture, and the gaiety of the little temples that peek over the walls of family compounds, their pillars decked out in bright fabrics.

And we were getting hooked on sambal, the tangy, spicy tomato dip that comes with crackers wherever you order drinks. We had also learned that not taking things too seriously is a way of life here, even in the tranquil, opulent surroundings of the Four Seasons at Sayan, set in the jungle just outside Ubud in the middle of Bali.

Aerial yoga at Four Seasons Jimbaran Bay

SO MUCH TO LEARN

I thought our cycle tour guide, Agus, was joking when he suggested we stop for a cat-poo coffee. We had been deluging him with questions as we pedalled through open countryside north of Ubud. How many rice crops did this green and fertile island yield each year? Four.

What were the tall, frondy bamboo decorations going up outside every house? Penjors, to celebrate the national festival of Galungan.

The cat-poo-cino turned out to be for real. It's made with coffee beans that have been eaten, and excreted, by a sad, fierce-looking creature called a Luwak, which makes the beans milder in flavour, once they have been washed, roasted and ground. Oh, yes.

A TOUCH OF LUXURY

The Four Seasons at Sayan is an extraordinary building that clings to the steep side of a river valley, like some retro James Bond baddie's lair.

You sashay across a treetop-height walkway towards a large lily pond that appears suspended in mid-air. The hotel is beneath said pond, with a stupendous view across the river valley. The Obamas stayed here last year.

I knew from friends who honeymooned here in style that Bali is not just for backpackers, though even in the luxurious hotels lining the Ayung, the vibe is relaxed. Everyone is friendly and laidback.

Take a tour of Ubud and take in the beautiful scenery

WHERE TO VISIT

Most people hang out on the pale-sand beaches at its southern tip. They might get as far inland as the hippyish town of Ubud but, with its yoga centres and art studios.

We started on the beach. Steering clear of Kuta – the Magaluf of Bali – we stayed in the beachy, more upmarket Seminyak district.

Then, in search of an island paradise of the sort that brought the first hippies here in the Sixties, we ventured across the Lombok Strait to the Gili Islands. Gili Gede, off the south coast of Lombok (the next Indonesian island to Bali), boasts the super-chic hotel Kokomo Gili Gede

Back on Bali, my husband Matthew had a massage using milk and honey scrubs at Sayan. Then he agreed to spend our final afternoon enjoying a three-hour 'Blessings of Bali' ceremony.

The Four Seasons Jimbaran Bay resort offers a stunning and peaceful setting

A BIT OF PAMPERING

By now we had moved on to another Four Seasons hotel, at Jimbaran Bay on Bali's southernmost tip, where the blessings take place in the seafront pavilion. We did aerial yoga, we meditated. We 'bathed' in the reverberating din drummed up by the massage ladies on 3ft gongs.

After a muscle-probing massage, we donned sarongs and sat, eyes closed, as the priest chanted prayers – and concluded the ceremony by tipping a litre of blessed water over our heads. It was my turn to giggle – respectfully, of course.

First published in the Daily Mail - April 2018

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