For more information see the main Ubud page.
After getting back from the road trip to East Bali, I was frazzled as usual, after several hours of swinging an SUV through Balinese mountain roads and hairpin corners. As mentioned before, there are several factors that will affect every trip, anywhere in the world. Among these factors are number of people, weather, budget, mode of transport, time frame. In a sense I felt I was trying to ram a square peg through a round hole (hey, maybe I’m becoming Balinese!). We had a short time frame due to my web site commitments, people from a cold climate who need AC, 2 Indonesians, who’s diet is considerably different than other people in the group, and quite long periods in a car, due to traffic and the road system.
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Driving tourists around Bali is a hit or miss affair. As in any place, part of the enjoyment is relaxing and taking the time to find the special places / moments. Doing it on a swing-through is rather like going to Disneyland, and I feel like I must show one ‘attraction’ after another. Bali has its attractions for sure, but the special thing about Bali is not Waterbom park or Tanah Lot, its the local culture and scenery. To get into that takes time and I can’t whip that out of a bottle. One of the cool things, figuratively and literally I could do for my friends, was take them for a dip in the river in Ubud. Sounds crazy to some people, but after sweating up a storm touring a temple or museum, there’s nothing better in my opinion, than finding a stream and jumping in.
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Bali has been steamy today, or least the part where I am. Arriving in Ubud, we were hoping for rain, to cool the place down. Sure enough, around 2pm it poured. Realizing this and wanting to crank out some articles, I ducked into Cassa Luna on Jl. Raya Ubud and sat out back, under the roof.
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My friends were getting hungry around noon today and I offered some alternatives. My final choice was KAFE, located on the lower section of Jl. Hanuman. “This place is a little bit of Eugene (Oregon),” I said, meaning the hippy / new age person would be drawn there.
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This morning I was in my shower at 7.30am getting ready to shoot downtown for a trip to Ubud. As I finished showering, the handle of the faucet broke, meaning water was gushing out, nothing I could do about it. After a moments thought, I carried on getting ready, knowing the pembantu would be along later and maybe she could fix it.
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My choice for lunch today was Nomad on Jl. Raya Ubud. Why you might ask, am I continually taking my guests to western restaurants. There are a few reasons, which include, having a mixed group (men, woman, kid), the kid may not like Indonesian food, but will like a smoothie, Ubud has great food and elsewhere on the island, they may have to settle for simpler fare. Nomad is located on the same side of the road as Cafe Moka, they are one block apart. Seating in open air, inside and the staff are very nice. Our group ordered a burger, shrimp salad, chicken satay, myself ordering a tuna steak.
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Monkey Forest in Ubud is one of the main attractions. The thing that makes it handy, is its located on the loop around downtown Ubud. I pass it 5 times a day when I’m in Ubud, just trying to get somewhere. Ika and I have taken Jevon to Monkey Forest and I reckon its okay for kids. We showed up today at 9.30am, and bought tickets (10,000rp forr adults, 5,000rp for kids). Monkey forest tells you not to wear sunglasses or hats, good advice in my opinion, as the macaques will jump up on you and grabs anything loose. Toby started off carrying Maya, but set her down once he realized we we not in the actual jungle.
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Ubud is loaded with lovely shops and galleries selling art, antiques and interior design gear. This afternoon I stopped into a couple of places on Jl. Raya Ubud. The first was Gender Mas, a shop stocking original work by a selection of artists from all over Bali, including Karangasem. I asked the staff, a muscly young guy called Gede (single women take note), how much the merchandise was. He quoted prices or 30m rp, 25m rp etc. for the small 3 foot status. he told me there is another shop in the village of Mas, a few kilometers away.
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One could argue that Balinese culture is strong all over Bali. I don’t dispute that, but here in Ubud it seems the ceremonies are performed with more grandeur and people don’t do things by half measures. Arriving today on Jl. Kajeng, the first thing that greeted us was a line of Balinese women carrying bantens of fruit on their heads. Asia snapped a few photos, and thinking about it, its a great thing that these stereotypical images of Bali are real and happen all over the island, everyday.
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Bali is hot right now, as I’ve been saying for a while. The sun is as relentless as ever and yesterday, after going to the gym and then to Kuta, wearing a short sleeve shirt, I realised my forearms were rather rosy. Being one of Britain’s paler citizens, that’s something that’s always going to happen. One recent visitor reckons its too hot to shop in Ubud.
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