Ubud, Bali, Indonesia
The ride up to Ubud was nice. Beautiful clear blue skies, sun beating down on us. A nice cooling breeze as we bounced along on our little scooter. Days like this are great. Heading off without a care in the world, just enjoying the scenery and experience that surrounds you.
Ubud isn't a long ride at all, maybe an hour or so from Sanur so we weren't in any hurry. We took our time and kept ourselves nice and safe when on the highway sections. Riding in Bali can be a bit overwhelming at first. Thankfully we have ridden scooters here a few times now and nothing will ever compare to riding into Saigon in the dark during a monsoon. Safe to say we were well prepared for hitting the roads here.
The traffic eased once we passed Denpasar the capital of the island then built up again as we neared Ubud. Ubud seems to get busier and grow every time we return here. It's still a great place to visit but it's tour bus central in this part of the island, especially in the town centre. We pretty much avoid the centre when we come here now and enjoy getting out and about on the myriad of back roads that run out of town to much smaller villages.
It's an amazing place to go and get lost on the bike. Once out of town particularly to the North you are treated to beautiful little winding roads that snake their way through lush green rice terraces. Quirky little cafes and warung's. If you want your vegan, no msg, energizing fruit health shake with a side order of yoga and meditation then this is your place. It's a beautiful part of the world.
Park your bike up and go and get lost on a walk through the rice fields. Here you will find tiny homes, boutique homestay's and beautiful friendly locals who want to stop and talk to you. We were also very lucky to catch a local ceremony one day while out on the back roads. It was amazing. A huge procession of maybe 1,000 locals. All dressed up in amazing costumes, music, statues being carried aloft. It was great to experience.
Speaking of friendly locals this is where the title of this entry comes in. When we first arrived in Ubud we stayed at a guest house out of town. Nothing spectacular but great value at just £7.50. This got us a nice cool clean aircon room, a pool and breakfast each. That's damn good value in my eyes but it gets better.
On our 3rd night we went to eat at a place called Warung Muja. Dani had read about it being very cheap and good and that the owner was an amazingly friendly host. We were about to find out just how friendly this guy is.
As we sat eating our food the owner named Made, came over to sit and chat with us. He was friendly. English a little broken but enough to have a nice conversation. He showed us photos of his old VW trekker, so we had something in common being volksie fans ourselves and having owned a beetle.
He asked how long we were here and we explained we had a 2 month Visa and were looking to explore more of Indonesia.
Then after just 5 minutes of chatting he explained that he had a house further up the road near to our guesthouse. He said he has a 1 year long term rental coming soon from the US but that the place is free for the next week or so. He then turned to us and said we could stay there for the next week. The photos he showed us of the place looked amazing. Modern, clean, stylish, your typical expensive upmarket Bali residence.
We said it looked beautiful and thanked him but that there was no way we would be able to afford such luxury as we are traveling on a budget. Made explained we didn't have to pay him anything, he didn't want any money from us. We could stay for free. Free! He believed it would bring him good luck and as long as we cleaned and kept it tidy for his long term rental coming we would be helping him out.
We were a little taken aback by this. You know when something sounds too good to be true it usually is right? When we had finished our food he asked if we would like to go and see the place. This is where being a "Yes" man kicked in.
Several years ago I read "Yes Man". A book by Danny Wallace. A book that genuinely changed my life for the better. It's the booked that spawned the Jim Carrey movie. Please read it, it's a true story and nothing like the movie. The movie doesn't do the book any justice at all
It starts off with Danny being in a pretty mundane place. Lost his girlfriend, lazing around his flat, living off take-away's and video games and generally making excuses not to venture anywhere. Always fabricating some scenario to decline offers from friends and people to go out. But this all changes when he decides to say yes to literally everything that comes his way.
I know this sounds a little extreme, and it is. The book is hilarious at times with some of the situations being a "Yes" man gets him into. I certainly don't apply it to the letter of the law like Danny did. But I took away a little something from reading that book. That you need to be more receptive and open to things that present themselves to you.
I have found myself quite a few times now in situations when I have applied being a Yes man and it has proved to be the right choice. This was one such situation that we couldn't let pass. Yes I guess you could find yourself caught up in some dodgy scam, or some predicament you don't want to be in. But we put our faith in Made and the warmth and hospitality of the Balinese way of life and followed him on our scooter to take a look at the apartment.
The apartment was beautiful. Two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a nice open fronted kitchen and lounge area in the middle of the property. It all seemed a bit too good to be true.
We chatted for a while with Made, trying to make sure there wasn't some sort of catch and that what he was offering was genuine. With our guesthouse already booked for the night we exchanged details and said we would meet him the following day.
Sure enough the next morning Made messaged us and we met him back at the property. He gladly gave us the keys to this wonderful place, having only met him the night before.
And here we are now. We have just woken up on our 3rd morning at this fantastic place that Made has kindly allowed us to stay at. He has constantly refused to take any money for it, but I did manage to give him at least a little something last night for electricity. It's fine being shown amazing hospitality and generosity but the guy being out of pocket is a different matter.
I know many people go on about how Bali is too touristy now and not worth visiting anymore. I first came to Bali 17 years ago and have maybe visited 6 or 7 times since then. I love the place and above all the amazing people that live here. Bali is unique within Indonesia. Indonesia is a predominantly Muslim country however Bali is home to 98% of the Indonesian Hindu population. And it is a form of Hindu that is particular to just this small island, "The island of the Gods".
Whenever I come to Bali there is always many an experience or encounter that restores my faith in humanity. Every single time I come to the end of a trip here I leave feeling humble, feeling grateful, feeling uplifted from the inside out. To me it is a truly unique culture and part of the world that really touches me within.
If you come to Bali or are thinking about it then please get yourself out and about and meet the locals. Spend the time to stop and talk to them. Yes there are scams, the same as anywhere. But be open to the people. 99% of them genuinely want to get to know you, to speak with you, to interact with you. They really are beautiful souls and I'm so glad we have returned here.
It's always sad whenever we leave Bali but in my mind I always know it will never be the last time and that we will always return another day.
