A change of pace - Ubud, Bali

We landed in Bali, Indonesia a few days ago, after what seemed like endless travel (see blog on travelers Abyss) and made it through the visa process quickly and without incident.  We had pre-arranged to have a driver pick us up who is a good friend with my Aunt and Uncle. We met our driver and new friend Wayan out front, sign with our names in hand and big smile across his face. I don’t think we have met a person yet on our travels who smiles as much as Wayan. We made transport plans for the next couple days and chatted with him for the entire ride from Denspar airport to the town of Ubud, about a 1 hour journey.  

My Aunt had arranged for us to stay at friends of hers’ guesthouse, where she and my uncle stay every year.  They have been coming to Bali since the late ‘80’s after starting out as world travellers’ much like we are. Only they parlayed there trip around the world into about 10 years (maybe more) or travelling and working and then into a successful Balinese import and selling business in Canada. As part of this business they would make annual buying trips back to Bali for a few months during the low sales season in Canada.... aka winter. Rough business trip, I know……..not! Anyway, it was great to have our accommodations settled before we arrived. We are staying a Sadru’s guesthouse, a charming guesthouse nestled within a traditional Balinese family compound with amazing hospitality. The rooms are big, clean and comfortable; each with their own front patio and the attached restaurant has delicious and very affordable cuisine – a perfect place to relax and enjoy our new tropical surroundings.  Try the spinach dish and the chicken satay at the warung at the guest house….so delicious

Entrance to Sadru Guesthouse.... stay here!

Ubud is a peaceful town buried inland on Bali nestled amongst rice fields and luscious greenery.  Unlike South Bali, Ubud is considered the cultural hub of the tourist circuit where families, backpackers, honeymooners, etc. come to soak up Indonesian culture. If you look past the swanky villas, Starbucks and western style restaurants that dominate the streets of Ubud there is still some wonderful cultural experiences to be had, especially if you venture to the many artist villages within close range to Ubud.

Restaurant buried in the rice fields surrounding Ubud

Rice fields in the surrounding area

We spent our first few days in Ubud soaking up the scenery through various walks around the local area and a day trip with our new friend Wayan as well as taking in the culture. We caught 3 different types of local dance, Legong, Barong and Kecak, perused through the artist villages, took a walk through the local monkey sanctuary, and even stopped at a spice and coffee plantation to try some Luwak coffee; Luwak coffee is some of the world’s most expensive coffee and the lowest produced by volume. It is made almost exclusively made in Indonesia and has a very unique production method. The coffee berries are eaten by an Asian animal called a civet, the berries pass through the animal’s digestive tract where the berry exterior is broken down leaving only the coffee bean. The animal then excretes the beans and someone cleans them, boils them and then they are roasted and prepared for coffee. Soooooo yup it is poo coffee.

Monkey chilling in the sanctuary

Jonny trying the poo coffee

Barong dancing

Beginning of the Kecak dance

Kecak Dancing

We also indulged in some delicious meals at many of the great restaurants in Ubud, which are far too many to name.  Even though we absolutely loved all the Indian food while in India it was nice to have a little change….and to eat a salad for the first time in months.  While wandering the streets of Ubud after one of our delicious meals we actually ran into a friend of mine from back in Ottawa who was in Bali on his honeymoon with his gorgeous wife, who small world as it is knew Jonny! We chatted for a while and then made plans to grab dinner a few nights later and catch up more.

Our travel partners from earlier in the trip, Kait and J.J, where planning to meet us in Ubud on our fifth day there and we planned to spend another two days there together before heading town to the south where our best girlfriend from back home was going to join us for the rest of Indonesia. REUNIONNNNNN! We arranged for Kait and J.J to get picked up at the airport by Wayan and they arrived at the guesthouse around 9pm. They had just come from Kuala Lumpur, which is just an hour flight away so they were luckily not suffering from much traveller’s fatigue. We shared a few Bintang’s (local Indonesian beer) and caught up on the last few weeks of our respective trips. Kait and J.J, like us, are eager to jump into a place as soon as they arrive so we arranged to climb a nearby volcano, Mount Batur, for sunrise the very next morning. Since a the sunrise climb came with a 3am wake-up call we decided to keep our Bintang’s to just two rounds and hit the sack around 11:30am in order to get some sleep before the hike. At 3:01 we got a knock at the door from J.J saying our driver was here…..opps, guess we missed the alarm.

It was about an hour drive to the starting point and then another hour or so climb to the top of Mount Batur, but we made it all in time to catch an amazing fire-ry red sunrise come up over the villages and lake below Batur.  Unfortunately clouds obstructed some of our views of the crater but the amazing feeling of sunrise on top of a volcano more than made up for it. After a quick breakfast at the top of boiled eggs and croissants, provided by our man Wayan, we climbed back down and were back at the guesthouse napping by around 10am.  

Sun rising over Mount Batur

Coming down after the sunrise - sun shining on the lake

We made it!

That night was our dinner our honeymooning friends from Canada Matt and Becks, so the six of us feasted on a great dinner of Indonesia food and swamped stories over Bintang’s and Mojito’s until we literally closed the restaurant around 1230am, at which point we were all ready for bed.

We spent the last day in Ubud showing Kait and J.J around a little more until we split up – girls headed for shopping, boys headed for lunch at a crazy BBQ place Jonny and I had seen a few days before. We joined up back at the guesthouse around 3:30 where Jonny and I said goodbye to our amazing hosts at the guesthouse and our home for the past week. We arranged for Wayan to pick us up to take us down to Seminyak, in South Bali, where we plan to spend the next few nights, but more importantly to be reunited with Heather!!! On the way to Seminyak, Wayan took us to take in yet another incredible sunset (I am really not getting tired of these on this trip) over Tanah Lot, a beautiful temple perched on a rock in the ocean, only accessible at low tide. 

Crowds gathering for sunset at Tanah Lot 

Fun at Tanah Lot

Another gorgeous sunset

We spent the evening there watching the sunset and taking many photo’s with Indonesians visiting from other islands….. apparently photo’s with westerner’s is a big thing here too. Who knew? After sunset we headed down to Seminyak to find a place to stay for the night and eagerly await Heather’s late night arrival! 

OOO_Talia