Ubud, Bali, Indonesia
February 14, 2014
Seven days ago we were in Kuala Lumpur getting ready to fly out to Bali. It was a tiring flight. Only 3 hours long but we had to be up at 5am in order to catch the monorail to KL Sentral and then the KLIA express to the airport to get there in time for check in. I didn’t get a lot of sleep really but hey who cares when your landing in Bali at the end of your flight
Bali is my favorite place in the world. At least so far from the places I have been lucky enough to visit. Yes it’s a stunningly beautiful Island but for me it’s the amazingly happy and welcoming people here that add that extra bit in making it somewhere truly special.
You walk down a street and random people smile and say hello. You ride past children in tiny villages and they rush out with big grins on their faces to wave at you and shout hello as you go by. You pull up at traffic lights and the person next to you strikes up a conversation, genuinely interested in where you are from and where you are headed to and they wish you a pleasant day as they wave goodbye, it really is a brilliant culture that exists here. I was a very happy man when we finally touched down and stepped out into the tropical heat.
The forecast for the coming week was thunderstorms and rain every single day but it was a beautiful day when we arrived. Originally we had planned on spending two or three nights in Kuta when we first arrived but that changed at the last minute as we decided that Kuta was accessible enough by a cheap short taxi ride and plumped instead to stay at the quieter town of Sanur on the East coast of the Island instead.
After haggling and having a laugh with the many Taxi drivers that were desperate for our money we were on our way to a little guest house tucked away from the main street that runs the length of the beach. The guest house was nice for the money. I paid no more than I have been paying for hostels in other countries and it came with a pool as well, which in this heat is a very welcome bonus.
The first few days were nice and lazy settling in. A couple of trips to the beach, which is lovely and quiet compared to the masses of people that occupy the beach at Kuta and some good local food and beer were also had. The best food around is on an evening at the night market and it is exceptionally good and cheap. We must have tried 7-8 different tastes and dishes between us each night and spent no more than £2.50 a time for the gastronomic pleasure. Everything from the standard Mie Goreng to Spiced eggs and sweet potatoes fritters.
After a couple of days we started to plot the rest of our travels and adventure through Bali. We were going to head to Ubud after Sanur anyway and had originally planned to go to a homestay there where we could rent a Scooter to explore the rest of the Island but after thinking about it a little more we realised it was more cost effective and more of an adventure to hire the Scooter in Sanur and make our way up to Ubud ourselves as opposed to paying for transport to Ubud and renting the Scooter later.
The roads and traffic skills in Bali are a little daunting to say the least as well as the fact you are likely to get stopped by the Police at any point. To ride a scooter or motorbike in Bali requires you to obtain a local license from the Police Station in Denpasar at a cost, plus whatever additional commission the Police decide to add. However that said it is the norm that you head off on your hog and accept the risk that Mr Policeman can pull you in and expect to see his pockets lined a little in order for you to continue on your merry way.
Thankfully I haven’t been pulled over yet despite cruising past many an officer of the law. So we headed off and to be honest I was very nervous as the road leading out of Sanur and up to Denpasar before turning off for Ubud is the biggest and busiest highway they have here on the island with bikes, cars and trucks all jostling for position. Once settled in though I was fine and flowed along nicely with the rest of the traffic around me. Stopping at some lights just outside Denpasar we got chatting to a guy who worked at a coffee and tea plantation in Ubud so he acted as our guide for the rest of the trip (he was rewarded with a small fee once we arived). Sure enough we ended up at the plantation which was a very welcome detour before heading on to our Homestay as the various teas and coffees we sampled were amazing. Saffron tea, coconut coffee, Civet coffee, it was all beautiful. We politely declined buying any at the ‘Exit through the gift shop’ and went in search of where we were staying. It took a while to find the place after asking several locals but eventually we pulled up outside after spotting the smallest of signs over the top of a fence.
The homestay was lovely, set in beautiful grounds with our own little semi-detached bungalow among it all and the family that were our hosts were so friendly and welcoming. Ubud is a beautiful little town with so much character. It is the arts hub of the Island and has a very distinct hippy laid back feel about the place. Little cafes sit next to new age style restaurants and bars and art galleries. You wander around the maze of streets passing artists doing there colourful paintings and intricate wooden sculptures to the background tune of the age old Balinese bamboo xylophone and the smells of amazing food being cooked. We wiled away the night after some lovely local food by chilling out in the local sheesha bar and enjoying a few drinks.
The next morning we headed off in search of a Warung called Ibu Ocha which is renowned for its famous succulent pig. It was deathly hot and we wandered to where I though it was a couple of miles away from the homestay only to find out that the maps were wrong and it was at the opposite end of town. With the bike parked up we walked past what looked like some sort of ceremony that was going to be happening so we decided to stay and watch what was going on and leave the tasty pig for another day. It turned out the ceremony was a Funeral cremation and as we ventured further in it was awash with hundreds of people marching up the street and a deafening sound of drums and cymbals. The procession was a good three hundred yards long and in the distance at the front you could see a massive paper mache bull being carried aloft by many locals. We were just behind a colourful float that had a young lad sat atop which was also being hoisted along by a small army of local men in sarongs in small stages, in time with the drums.
It was quite the spectacle as they lugged these massive floats up the hill towards the temple at the top where the cremation would begin. We felt really lucky to be part of this event as it’s not every day you will get to witness this sort of cultural event in person. The noise was phenomenal and there was genuine happiness among the people as they played their parts in the ceremony, funerals in Bali are very happy affairs as the deceased are destined to move onto a better life providing they have good Karma and have lived a good true life!
The funeral was followed by the some of the best food we have had yet at Mama’s Warung, some seriously tasty Tuna steamed in banana leaf with spices and a mixed satay that was moreish to say the least. The rest of the afternoon we ambled around the streets and parked up in little cafes to use the wifi and sort somewhere to stay for the next few nights. Eventually we settled on another couple of homestays set outside of Ubud, among the rice fields and small villages which looked lovely.
Ubud has a Jazz Cafe with live music every night that I really wanted to get to so having bought a cheap half bottle of Vodka to take in with us we headed off to one of the coolest places around. The place was crammed with expats and locals who like to sport a natty pair of Cuban heels! It was Salsa night which didn’t massively float my boat as my aging hips have absolutely no salsa chicness about them anymore but the band were good at what they played and it was a nice way to while away a few hours before heading back.
Up early the following morning we went in search of the elusive Ibu Ocha again and it’s succulent pig. We found it easy enough and as expected the place was crammed, mainly with Japanese tourists fresh off their day trip bus but I have to say that although very nice the pork was over rated compared to what we had read about so we didn’t hang around too long before wandering back and packing up to head out on the scooter in search of new digs and scenery.
Yeoman’s place where we were staying was surprisingly close. Ten minutes of bobbing along through beautiful rice fields, down winding roads past smiling locals and we were there. The place Yeoman has is beautiful. Our room at the top of the house over looking the lush green rice fields as far as the eye can see. With bags thrown in we headed out on the bike through the back waters to explore and sample some rural life. The area around here is stunning, little roads carving their way through the tropical landscape and small Warungs and artists studios dotted about along the way. As we passed a little junction we found a place that I had read about that I didn’t expect to find. It’s a small village where all of the Heron that live in the area come to roost for the night and we had stumbled upon it just in time to catch them returning from the fields. They fly off on a morning in different directions to go and look for food in the rice fields but then all return between 5:30pm-6:00pm on an evening to bed down for the night in a long line of trees that runs the length of the village.
It was pretty impressive to see them return in their thousands all jostling for position in the branches. Once the Heron circus had died down and we had wiped away the multitude of Heron poop from the scooter we went off in search of some food and managed to grab a small feast at a little Warung for the price of a loaf of bread, if you get out and about here away from the main touristic places there is some seriously good and cheap food to be found.
The next day brought rain…..a lot of rain…..then some more rain. So with our plastic poncho’s on we headed out again and followed our noses to see what we could find. What we found was some of the best scenery I have seen so far. Rice terraces that look like they were designed by Disney for a film they are so perfect. Little quaint huts dotted about among the crops. Beautiful colourful plants intertwined along the edges, people going about their daily business of rice cultivation, it was amazing to watch it all unfold in front of me.
The terraces stretched for miles up a small but deep valley and it really was picture postcard stuff, the kind of views you see in a film or documentary. We rounded one corner in search of whatever spectacular views we could find to be greeted with the most amazing temple and gardens. Sat in the bottom of a small basin in the hillside the temple and grounds were beautiful and quiet. So serene and with lush tropical landscape around. We also stumbled across a local bathing pool where the locals come to wash away their sins. You need a sarong to enter so hopefully tomorrow if the weather is better we will come back and take a dip and experience what the cleansing waters are like.
These past few days have been the best I have had in Bali since I have been coming here. The freedom that the scooter gives you is brilliant as so many places off the beaten track are more accessible. It is great being able to head off and get lost among the locals and their daily life safe in the knowledge that the people are friendly enough to help you get back to where you need to be.
