Kintamani

Our first month in Ubud at our cheap villa was great. But after living there a month we realised that the villa didn’t tick enough of our boxes for what we were looking for. Yes it was cheap and that was great, but there are so many great deals around right now with hundreds of villas sitting empty that we figured we could get a lot more for our money. So, we spent a bit of time viewing other options that offered us a bit more of what we were looking for.

Ever since my first visit to Bali over 20 years ago I fell in love with the area to the North of Ubud. It’s a place I’ve always wanted to live and being so close now it would be a shame if we didn’t try and fulfil that dream. That area in particular, to me, is  amazing. It’s only a stones throw from the town and all it has to offer, yet at the same time the tranquillity amongst the rice fields makes you feel a million miles away from anything remotely urban.

We must have viewed around a dozen places and with only a few days to go until we had to move out we finally found the ideal villa. Great location, good price, beautiful pool and jungle view and a great living space. It was everything we have been looking for.

With our move done we decided we would start getting out and about a bit further round the island once a week. Bali isn’t a huge island but I guess it isn’t tiny either so despite having visited many times before there are still places we haven’t been and explored yet. Our first trip out was up into the mountains and volcanoes of the North to the small town of Kintamani.

A few days before we headed off there was an earthquake at Kintamani. It is right next to Mt Batur the volcano and there has been a little bit of activity around these parts lately. We felt the earthquake down in Ubud when it woke us up during the night with the doors and windows shaking, but I guess nowhere near as bad as the epicentre. Sadly three people died in Kintamani when their house collapsed in on them, very sad news and unfortunately a part of life in this part of the world.

The ride up was great. Just one long road climbing up the island through village after village. It took a couple of hours and once it levelled out at the volcano there was a distinctly different type of landscape in these parts. Gone was the lush green humid jungle of Ubud and in it’s place was a drier more barren climate. It felt a bit like being in Spain. I kept expecting to see vineyard’s or maybe olive groves. The road from here to the town was amazing. A wide black strip of fresh tarmac that snaked it’s way like a rollercoaster through volcano buckled terrain. You could have played on this road all day on the motorbike.

Our digs in Kintamani were really cool. We stayed at a place called Kintamani escape. They have these geometric glamping pod things with a beautiful view out over the lake. It was a very pleasant place to be and also incredibly hot! We expected it to be cold with it being at higher altitude but it was absolutely baking. We were going to sit outside our pod and just chill for the day with a few glasses of wine  and the beautiful view but it was far too hot to just sit so we headed off on the bike to do a bit of exploring.

Kintamani was interesting, and different to the rest of Bali. As we rode through the little villages it felt as if we were somewhere other than Bali. You still had the same Balinese temples dotted about to remind you where you were but everything else felt a lot more rustic and distant from the other areas of the island. Going through the smallest of villages felt more like Nepal than Bali. Smoke rising from little fires in the streets, a thousand chickens to run in front of you and just a general feel of small village life.

After riding around and checking some places out for a few hours we headed back for sunset and to grab some food at our digs. The family whose place it is were lovely, as is everyone here. After the sun headed down for the day we sat by a roaring fire pit eating our food and working our way through a box of wine while chatting with the owner. It was a lovely way to spend the night.

We woke the next morning not really wanting to go anywhere. It’s nice in this part of Bali and different, it’s nice to feel like your exploring somewhere new for a change during the pandemic. But head off we did, via a coffee shop and a beautiful view of the two volcano’s Batur and Agung. From there it was a lovely cruise back down the hill, well at least until the rain started.

It’s been creeping into rainy season lately and when it rains in Asia it can be brutal. It’s the kind of rain that physically hurts as it smashes off you and can make riding the scooter nigh on impossible. But eventually and very soggily we crept back to our Villa in Ubud and settled back in. It’s been really nice getting out and about a bit more again and we are looking forward to where we can head to next.

Kintamani has been a great change and it’s somewhere we want to go back to again at some point.