Ubud and around

So as mentioned in the last blog, one of the reasons we based ourselves in Ubud was due to its close proximity to various other areas of interest on the island. We organised with Koming, the owner of our guesthouse, to go on two full day tours.

The first was a trip to the north-west of Ubud, including a number of stop-offs on the way: the area of Bedugul including Lake Bratan; Mengwi with the Royal Temple, Tamun Ayun; and the Botanical Gardens. Before we set off on our long drive North, we were given sustenance in the form of one of Papa's homemade breakfasts including Jack Fruit which we hadn't previously tried. We started off our trip in Koming's brand new, family-sized Toyota along the busy roads heading outwards from Ubud. In order to reach Mengwi, we passed through loads of rice paddies and some very scenic countryside. 

When we arrived at the temple we passed through an archway over a moat to reach the temple perimeter. This was surrounded by a woodland garden which we walked around to see within the temple as we were not permitted entry due to a ceremony that day. After walking around and witnessing the beginnings of the ceremonial gathering with hundreds of people in white robes, we headed back to the car to seek refuge from the 30degree heat. Koming looked most alarmed at our red faces.

We drove a while further towards the botanical gardens briefly stopping at a roadside viewpoint of the rice paddies, strawberry fields and mountains surrounding the area. One of the less attractive features of the region became apparent when we noticed the two black monkeys chained to a railing with a local man standing guard. We found out that these were here as a tourist attraction for taking pictures with: who would want a photo with these? A huge contrast to the free-ranging monkeys we have encountered in other areas of Bali.

Strawberries are obviously big business in Bali and the salespeople have no boundaries literally trying to thrust their punnets inside car windows as a marketing strategy. We dodged them however and made our way to the Botanical Gardens, which Koming drove us through due to the vast size of it. This isn't really a tourist attraction and there weren't many fellow foreigners here as it mostly an area of relaxation for locals. 

Driving through, Koming didn't really seem to know where he was going and it was almost as if he were the tourist and we the guides as we were given a map in Balinese we couldn't read and had to direct him. He took us to a number of interesting places. Firstly a temple we weren't supposed to go into housing extremely wild and aggressive monkeys, a landfill site and a tree complete with bees nest (he then shrieked hysterically when they came near us). After being ushered back into the car we decided to take the lead although this little detour was enjoyable all the same. The main things we visited were the cactus garden, the orchid garden, greenhouses, fountains and sculptures depicting the story of Rama and Sita. It was really well-maintained and we wish we'd had the foresight to take a picnic! 

After a little snack and refreshments, we continued to Bedugul where we wanted to see another one of Balis diverse temples, Pura Ulun Danu. Set at the side of Lake Bratan, the temple again has a highly scenic backdrop. This perhaps explains why there was a wedding photo shoot going on whilst we were there. 

A few other points of interest around the temple were some very strange animal statues, an iguana, some very over-excited Chinese tourists who kept trying to sneakily take photos of us and a kid who kindly threw a rock at us. Walking around the grounds, we took in the beautiful view and took another countless amount of photos before heading back to the car as the rain started. A long drive back to Ubud and a chilled night of pizzas and fruit shakes and we called it a day. 

The following day, continuing with the relaxing theme, we didn't do much besides take advantage of the pool in a neighbouring guesthouse which we were allowed to use for free. We lounged about enjoying the good weather and the lovely gardens surrounding the pool. After some local indonesian specialities in the evening we prepared for a much busier time the following day. 

We had organised for Koming to take us for another full day trip, but as he had worked a night shift the previous night and was running on less than 3 hours sleep, he organised for a friend to drive and he came along for the ride. We drove first to a cave on the outskirts of Ubud called Goa Gajah or 'Elephant Cave' most notable for its demonic carvings at the entrance. Surrounding this area there is also a small waterfall and a forest which you can walk through. Walking towards to the car we were greeted by a crazy guy covered in tattoos brandishing a snake at us so we had to do a sprint back to Koming. 

Once back in the safety of the car, we drove further through some more rice paddies (a running theme in Bali). We had to take a brief stop off because the winding roads were inciting my travel sickness but after a quick vomit into the rice paddies (sorry if that's too much information), we continued onwards to Besakih, the Mother Temple of Bali. Upon arrival we paid for our tickets thinking that was the only expense. What actually transpired however was that we would have to also pay for the services of a guide as you aren't allowed to enter alone (complete unavoidable tourist racket). 

The guide did however give us a lift up the steep hill to the temple at its summit and approaching from this angle you could appreciate the vast size of the monument. When we walked in there was a huge grassy courtyard and the guide informed us that this had always been used as a sight for ritualistic animal sacrifices (tigers and lions among many others) with the most recent having occurred in the late 1970s. Something tells me the likelihood of this happening is very slim thankfully.

Within the huge complex there were a number of different temples which would be used by different classes of people- one for the educated scholars, one for the workers, one for the monks, one for the foreigners etc. There were hundreds and walking to the very top you could see them all clearly from a different vantage point. The guide pointed them all out to us along with grabbing my camera at every opportunity to take photos of us and showed us a cool plant which moved when you touched it, Mimosa.

We walked back down towards the car (the downhill walk being a lot easier than the uphill one). After this we headed to the Kintamani area which is most notable for its proximity to Mount Batur, one of the most active volcanoes on Bali, along with the volcanic lake at its base. We had to pay to get into the village (Bali really knows how to make money from tourists) and had a coffee in the restaurant to shelter from the rain. Thankfully this had an excellent view of the mountain and was a great place from which to take photos. The volcano is so active we could actually see plumes of volcanic steam above its crater. We could also see a higher yet less active neighbouring volcano- Mount Agung.

On the way back we stopped in another small village in order to view some more of the beautiful scenery of Bali. Yes, you guessed it, we also had to pay to get in this village to see yet more rice paddies but it was one of the nicest views so far and we're only talking about 20p each. A couple of things in this area made us laugh including this guy...

And these...

With this being our last full day in Bali, it meant that another flight was on the horizon, this time towards Thailand. Saying goodbye to Papa and Lucky, enjoying a pancake breakfast and after a quick farewell phonecall from Koming, we made our way to the airport. Shelling out the Indonesian departure tax (another way to make money from tourists) we embarked the plane bound for Bangkok...

Ubud, You're good!

After leaving Kuta, we spent a week in an inland town named Ubud, which is possibly most famous for it's appearance in the book and film Eat, Pray, Love (haven't read or seen it but I'm told this is the case). In keeping with this theme, it's very relaxing with a bar curfew of 10.30pm, a location in the centre of sprawling rice paddies, numerous yoga retreats and vegetarian restaurants and a very strong Hindu presence which is even more apparent than in other parts of Bali. We used Ubud as a base to explore other areas of a Bali and also to see the local attractions and it's great for this as it is so close to a lot of different villages.

Getting from Kuta up to Ubud proved to be something of a challenge. There are no public bus services on Bali so we had to organise transport with one of the numerous local tour operators. For the grand price of 60,000rupiah (about £3.50) we could hop on one of their shuttle buses- sounds good yes? Well for a start it was an hour late which was already irritating seeing as we had to sit with our stuff in the heat of Bali. When it eventually turned up it was some dude with his minivan which seated 9 with 7 people in it. There was no boot, no roof rack and people's luggage was already on our seats and in their laps. Basically we ended up with our legs sandwiched between a suitcase on the floor and Rob's two rucksacks and my holdall piled on top of us completely obstructing the entire back window. At one point our feet were touching the gear stick and safe to say it wasn't a great day to wear a dress. 

We arrived in Ubud and headed to our guesthouse, Bale Bali House. Possibly the nicest place we have stayed so far, this is a homestay where for £6 each a night we got- a private double room with ensuite, air conditioning and fan, free breakfast, free tea and coffee on tap, free access to a pool and daily room cleaning. Basically it was a palace for us. On top of this, it was run by the loveliest family who lived next door to the two rooms which they rent and could not have been more friendly and welcoming (including their dog, Lucky). A notable member of the family was the father of the owner (call me Papa) who was the most multi-talented individual we have ever encountered- chef/artist/plumber/builder/dog-walker and all-round good guy!

The next day, our first full day in Ubud, we decided to stay local and head to some nearby attractions. We walked the 10 minutes to the Sacred Monkey Forest which is one of the key tourist hotspots of Ubud centre. The forest is really cool with a huge troop of macaque monkeys (our favourites) living within it. They are still wild but seem to be somewhat accustomed to humans wandering through their habitats although if you get too close they aren't happy. One of the guys who worked there got them on our heads with crackers which was funny although I was slightly concerned it would poo on me. 

Even without the monkeys, the forest is definitely worth a visit. It's green and airy with a number of small shrines and the sacred monkey temple within it along with natural attractions such as a small stream and waterfall. There are numerous trails to walk along and when in its depths, it seems hard to imagine that a bustling town is right outside. 

Heading out of the forest, we walked along Monkey Forest Road which is one of the major streets in Ubud and passed by the various art shops which litter the street along with small stalls selling batik print clothing, pottery and other souvenirs (most of it less tacky than Kuta). It's apparent that one of the things Ubud is famous for is its art with a wide range of stores including those selling lower quality prints and artists workshops where you can commission one of the numerous local artists to create a custom piece for you. The road also has hundreds of statues of monkeys (obviously pointing towards to forest) ranging from whole monkey families to monkeys randomly riding turtles.

We stopped briefly for a drink to replenish us after walking around the hot and humid forest, it's crazy that we walked into a cafe and on one side of it was the main road filled with cars, motorbikes and shops and on the other side of it was the most perfect view of sprawling rice paddies. Nature is never far away in Ubud and most of the art we saw takes inspiration from this. We spied a turtle playing in a nearby pond (a source of great amusement to watch the effort he took getting out of the pond only to jump back in). We headed back to the house and after a quick dinner had the first of many quiet evenings (Ubud isn't the place to come for partying).

The next day, we again stayed local. After a bit of a lie-in our first stop was lunch and we visited a local Warung which we had read about online which is ran by the not-for-profit organisation, The Fair Future Foundation. This is aiming to provide free, basic healthcare for all of Bali and runs a free clinic which was opposite our homestay. As well as helping a good cause (all profits from the warung go to the foundation) we had a great meal of red curry for me and a giant chicken sandwich for Rob. Definitely worth checking out.

We headed to the market, Pasar Ubud, after this which again is focused mainly on art and homeware, in order to get some more Christmas shopping done (I'm up to 23kg already). I now think we're more prepared than we would be at home! Can't tell you what we bought because of various people reading this blog. We did do some extreme haggling however making our money stretch a bit further. The women are really persistent here and clearly are seasoned veterans at this game. At one point, people just started thrusting things at us and shouting out random numbers e.g. a camel box which we had expressed no interest in! The sellers of sarongs are perhaps the most frequent (mostly due to the huge amount of competition) but you need them to go into a lot of temples so the $1 they cost is probably worth it.

The following day, we ventured slightly further afield on foot heading to a nearby restaurant we had heard rave reviews about, Sari Organik. Housed next to a farm and with all home grown and organic produce we thought we'd give it a go. It also provided us with an excuse to take the lovely, scenic walk through the rice fields to get there. Passing by farmers with scary scythes wielding them with intent, women carrying hay bales on their heads and some very archaic looking farm machinery, this felt much more like authentic Bali. Sari Organik was good but not exceptional but the view from our table alone probably made the trek worth it. Our visit was made slightly more eventful by an incredibly obnoxious and loud group of tourists who seemed intent on discovering if every drink on the menu was a 'shake' or a 'smoothie' (not sure on the difference myself). 

We walked back to the guesthouse and after a relaxing day headed out for a quick bite in the evening. At nighttime in Ubud, we got accustomed to seeing two things- a large number of stray dogs who are unfortunately not very friendly (as my hand discovered when one tried to take a chunk out of it- thankfully not breaking the skin or I'd probably be having rabies jabs still) and also taxi drivers jumping out from the shadows (nearly giving you a heart attack in the process) trying to get you into their vehicles. Don't think this is the best marketing strategy!

Arriving back at the house, we were ready for an early night in preparation for a few full days outside of Ubud being welcomed by Papa painting one of his many portraits at 10pm on a Saturday night. More to follow...

A Trip to Tanah Lot and Uluwatu

We're currently sat at Bali airport waiting to board our flight to Thailand but we have a fairly long day of travelling so I'm going to attempt to get caught up on documenting our last (much busier week) in Bali. I've been a bit neglectful this week so apologies. First things first, I mentioned in the last blog that we did manage one day during our week in Kuta, to see some of the more cultural and spiritual aspects of Bali so I'll tell you about that. 

The majority of Balinese people are Hindu, despite the rest of Indonesia being a Muslim country, and it is this which makes Bali such a unique island. Everywhere you go there are signs that religion is embedded into the islands psyche, from the women making offerings on the sides of the streets, to the parades which take place down main roads most days and most obviously from the huge number of temples (practically one on every street corner). Under Balinese law, each village is requires to maintain at least 3 temples so obviously there is a fairly significant number across the island.

We decided during our week in Kuta to take a trip out to see some of the more notable (and scenic temples) and subsequently during our time in Bali we have seen a few more (wait for the next blog...) We hired a driver for the day called Made to take us around the island to see Tanah Lot, which is famous for being on land which is only accessible at low tide (a little bit like the shrine we saw at Miyajima in Japan) and Uluwatu, which is famous for being balanced precariously on a cliff edge over the ocean. We picked these two, as along with learning more about the religion and culture of Bali, it would also offer us the opportunity to see some of Balis scenery, probably it's second most notable attraction. 

The first stop on our day trip was to Tanah Lot which is about an hours drive away from Kuta. Avoiding the vast number of hawkers clamouring for business from the passing tourists, we walked through the fairly unassuming archway and down the steep stairs to the sea. 

About 30 metres out to sea is the temple which sits on the surface of the water looking like a huge ship. Unfortunately, the waves weren't as high that day as usual as in famous photographs of the temple the waves are crashing against it's rocky base creating a stunning picture. It was high tide though and it did look like the temple was completely inaccessible (a theory disproved by the group of German tourists we saw wading through the water in order to get their photo taken at the temple). 

Walking along the rocks to get a better view, we also spotted the holy snake cave which supposedly houses the venomous snakes who 'guard' the site. After posing for a quick photo with a VERY excitable Asian girl, our first since Vietnam, we walked away from the mass of tourists along the cliff top to see what else was around. We walked uphill for a while and found a much better vantage point from which to appreciate the coastal scenery and also saw a large number of Balinese women preparing for a ceremony later that day. Most of them were carrying large amounts of supplies on their heads (something which I can't fathom seeing as my balance isn't great at the best of times). 

After a quick lunch at a nearby warung of Nasi Campur (a bit like an Indonesian tasting plate) and Nasi Goreng (Balinese fried rice) we headed back to the car and to our next stop. Made offered to take us to Padang Padang beach on the way to Uluwatu, which is supposedly much more scenic than Kuta so we thought we'd check it out. The main road is a fair way above the beach so you have to descend about 100 stairs which snake through the rocky cliffs which provide the backdrop to the beach. Walking down we were expecting big things but it was a bit of a disappointment. While I'm sure it was once a beautiful beach, every tour group on the island now seems to take a detour there so it was very like Kuta in that it was busy with a vast number of touts. The cliff face is still beautiful and the monkeys who live on the beach are cute but apart from that it is decidedly average.

After a brief stop and a sweaty walk back to the car in the 35degree heat, we headed along to Uluwatu. We wanted to see the sunset here which we'd heard was spectacular and potentially check out the Kecak fire dance which takes place behind the temple each night. I'd sensibly worn trousers that day but still had to tie a purple belt around my waist as a mark of respect, but Rob had worn shorts so had to wear the sarong he was handed.

Living at Uluwatu is a troop of wild macaque monkeys who have obviously become very used to humans invading their territory. We were warned to remove any sunglasses and not take in any water bottles or carrier bags at risk of getting them stolen and we were glad we followed this advice. Within a few minutes of arriving we must have seen 30-40 monkeys of varying sizes and temperaments and whilst none seemed overly vicious we saw a number of people losing glasses, bottles and even a child's cuddly animal. 

After observing the monkeys for a short while, we walked first to the east of the temple along the cliff edge in order to find a good view point. The temple in itself is somewhat unremarkable but it's location on the precipice of a cliff does make for an excellent view. 

Beyond the temple itself, the scenery surrounding it is amazing with white cliffs ascending from a turquoise sea and green forests everywhere. Walking along the cliff face (taking our time due to the sheer drop and lack of barriers) we took loads of photos of the views and witnessed a whole Chinese family taking some risks balancing on the cliff edge for a photo opportunity.

There were more monkeys and after buying some rip-off fruit to feed them (dodging the huge fat one that kept trying to steal the melon) we headed back along to descend the steep stairs up to the temple. Unfortunately, blocking our way was the most gigantic tour group we have ever seen of about 100 people all posing for photos in the most inconvenient places possible. 

We were planning on watching the fire dance that takes place each evening, but the £8.00 admission fee and the fact it takes place during sunset but facing the wrong way put us off. We found the best view point to watch the sun go down instead and despite it initially seeming promising, before it actually went down the clouds came from nowhere blocking it from being anything special. This cued us to leave so after a sweaty walk back up the hill to the car park we headed back to Kuta. 

Kuta Capers

So after our flight from Kuala Lumpur, we arrived in Bali and took a pre-paid taxi to our guesthouse in Kuta. Just to warn you Kuta isn't the most interesting or cultural place we've visited. It is essentially the Costa del Sol of Asia where thousands of Australians descend upon the beaches every year. After so many days spent sightseeing over the last few months, with only a day at a time to relax, we felt we'd earnt some down time to chill on the beach, enjoy the amazing waves and watch the sunsets off Kuta's shores (saving some money in our last weeks). 

Arriving at our home for the next week, Nakula Guesthouse, we were pleasantly surprised. Despite it's location just off the main strip, it was incredibly traditional and exactly how you would expect a Balinese house to look. Archways covered in flowers, ceremonial offerings in the centre of the courtyard and small sculptures dotted around the surrounding streets. We were greeted by the lovely owners at the outdoor reception to then be taken up to our private room complete with balcony (so far, so good). Apart from a minor glitch with some malfunctioning air conditioning (not great in the 35degree heat of Kuta- far too hot for us Brits), it was pretty much a perfect place to base ourselves for a week of relaxation. 

I'm not going to write this blog as a narrative because to be honest, a lot of what we did was the same each day. That's not to say we didn't have a great time, but for readers it might not be the most interesting. Here are our Kuta highlights and some memorable things we saw and did:

Ate and Drank too Much

Kuta has a surprisingly wide culinary selection, although be warned, for the budget backpacker it definitely doesn't cost the same as Indochina. With the heavy tourist influence, prices have risen accordingly and the 10-20% tax and service charges add up quickly! Saying that, we did manage to eat very well during our time here, with both Indonesian and Western food being of a consistently high standard, some particular favourites were:

Chatime- an amazing Asian chain of drinks including smoothies, fresh iced teas and coffees with a range of toppings including delicious jelly! Think we made a stop pretty much every day at the stall outside discovery mall

Beer Bintang which is a surprisingly good local beer. We had to limit our consumption due to the relatively high pricing but managed to treat ourselves to a few from a guy selling them out of a cooler on the beach. Best enjoyed while watching the sunset. 

Seafood is understandably good and not too expensive- we managed some good snapper and mahi mahi at a beachfront restaurant (with an additional bonus of traditional Balinese dance), tuna steak burgers, king prawn noodles and tuna steaks with garlic and fries. 

Local dishes including Nasi Goreng, Satay and Mie Goreng are definitely cheaper than western fare and widely available. Thought we'd tried rice and noodles in every way possible but apparently there's still new cooking methods to sample. Head to the warungs for the cheapest and best food (mostly around Poppies Lane), don't be put off by the stray cats in the restaurants begging for food.

The odd few indulgences including Wendy's serving surprisingly good fast food (tried it in America but Rob hadn't so we couldn't resist), Oreo doughnuts from the local bakery and copious amounts of lemon iced tea (don't know how I'll cope at home where this isn't so widely available)! 

Splashed around in the huge waves on Kuta Beach

Despite not rising until noon most days (catching up on missed sleep from the last 3 months), we still managed to fit in a fair amount of beach time. After a few minutes spent on Kuta Beach, you understand why the surfers head here. The waves are ginormous and it's far too much fun to jump around in them. When we weren't doing this we were basking in the beautiful weather, avoiding the hawkers selling tat on the beach (although Rob was tempted by a Buddha head bigger than his own) and watching the hundreds of surfers and secretly laughing when they fell off. Normally the beach days were capped off by watching the sunset over the ocean and taking a leisurely stroll along the boardwalk.

Surprisingly, the cultural elements of Bali still reach the beach and we saw several processions walking along it, normally headed by people in traditional Balinese masks with hundreds of people in white carrying incense.

Spent too much time walking up and down the Kuta Strip

Kuta Strip is huge and with us based at one end we tended to spend a lot of time walking up and down it. Not only is it huge, but it's incredibly difficult to navigate with never-ending building work on the pavements and an army of hawkers scouting tourists. 

The most persevering of these are perhaps the ladies offering massages (who also seem to be keeping an eye out for men to be their new western boyfriends) who greet you with a chorus of 'hello darling' whenever you walk past.

 Next up are the market traders selling some amazingly hilarious t-shirts, wooden carved penises, novelty stickers and the usual tourist tat. Everyone assumed we were Australian so greeted us with 'g'day mate' or 'crikey'....stereotypes at large. First quoted souvenir prices are insane so start off at 10% and work from there. They pretend to be angry but won't sell if you go too low. Normally we just got shouted at that we 'don't understand Bali prices'. 

Apart from these, we got various other offers including taxis, day tours, shuttles, surveys to fill in, competitions to enter; when these don't work you get the more stealthy offers of magic mushrooms and cannabis- not your run of the mill travel services.

All up the strip there are more restaurants than you can count, ranging from ultra-budget dives to the poshest of establishments. They all have people outside trying to bring the tourists in, sometimes doubling up as security guards. Live music is also everywhere with some questionable tribute acts including the Rolling Stones and the Bali Beatles. A lot of them also have pools, something of a hazard when a lot of people have indulged in too many Bali Moon cocktails. 

Apart from this, we took one day tour out, not being able to help ourselves or waste a whole week on pure relaxation (see next blog for the return to sightseeing) but for the most part we enjoyed a week of 'tourist hell' in Kuta although don't go for anything other than fun.