Ubud

Just one of the many temples in Ubud

In Kuta, Heather and I said, "see ya later" to both Pete and Sophie as we took the afternoon shuttle bus to Ubud. Ubud is in the center of the island and is the designated epicenter of Balinese culture. It is surrounded by tranquil rice paddies, hard working farmers, artists, and most importantly (and abundantly) temples. Ubud's nickname is the city of temples. 

The obnoxiously compact, sweaty, crazed shuttle bus drops us off on Monkey Forest Road, where we begun our quest for a cheap guesthouse or bungalow. Our backpacks have really begun to slow us down, so they're real heavy. But after about 45 minutes of looking and negotiating, (and a near argument with Heather) we find the perfect bungalow complete with AC, private outdoor shower, twin beds, TV, free breakfast and wifi for 200,000 rupiah, or about $20. We are stoked and also exhausted from trekking around the city while simultaneously sweating profusely. So attractive. 

Once we got settled into our room and freshened up, we hit the street for a walk about. We walked up to the main road, look at a few shops, saw a few temples, and had a fruit smoothie before heading back to the room. A small nap was essential before going to dinner at the famous Dirty Duck restaurant. Two of the things I love most about Ubud are food and atmosphere. Every restaurant and hotel has a beautiful courtyard ordained with beautiful offerings, sculptures, and soothing ponds/streams. It really sets a relaxing and peaceful mood. We sit down and listen to natures CD while we eat our amazing Balinese food. Heather ordered the crispy duck (an entire bird for that matter!) and I was gazing in jealousy. 

Heather indulging in some crispy duck

The next morning we were able to wake up for an amazing French toast, bacon, and fresh fruit breakfast because we kept it mellow the night before (no 4am nights here). We got back to our room to get ready for the day when all of a sudden.... EARTHQUAKE!!!!! Heather and I look at each other as the ground beneath us trembled and we think to ourselves, "This is familiar".  After about 5 seconds of shaking, we go outside where there's a 15 ft stonewall swaying from side to side as well as the two-story building behind us. Nowhere to go. So we hold our position in between them and wait at least 30 seconds for the earth to stop rumbling. The French couple next to us were confused but as earthquake veterans from Southern California, we explained to them what it was and to not surprised if there are a few after shocks. 

Heather and I laughed at the irony of being in earthquake in Bali and guessed it was about a 5.3 on the richter scale. Turns out it was a 6.0 just off the coast of Nusa Dua, in the south of Bali. There was some damage to a couple buildings but most businesses just had a few items fall off their shelves. NBD. 

So after the Armageddon false alarm, Heather and I did another walk around Ubud. We both really wanted a Balinese massage so we stopped at a cute little place to get a 1 hour full body massage for 60,000 rupiah ($6). Mine was amazing but Heather's masseuse apparently got too close to her lady bits and understandably made her feel really uncomfortable. 

Ubud has plenty of shopping to make all women go berserk. There is an outdoor market complete with about 100 shops where basically we dove head first into a shopping binge. I'm a professional haggler and my apprentice, Heather, managed to master her skill as well throughout her 2-month internship with me. We each got some amazing finds that our friends and family back home will be very happy with. 

Enjoying some pool time at the hotel 

Our minds and wallets were exhausted so we grabbed a snack at a little warung over looking a soccer field with a bunch of kids playing. Our conversation consisted of complaining on how heavy our backpacks will be now, what city we will go to next, and the earthquake that morning. When we got back to the hotel, we jumped into the pool to remove all the salt and sweat. So nice on a hot day! 

For dinner we went to a Mexican restaurant down the street. We didn't have high hopes (being Mexican food connoisseurs) but we actually both enjoyed our meal. However, I still could really go for a giant cheese enchilada and some proper chips n guacamole. 

Being the sugar freak that Heather is, we went to a chocolate store after dinner so Heather could get her chocolate banana coconut waffle she's been talking about all day. You should have seen her devour this thing. It had no chance...

It was another mellow night in Ubud, but it was perfect because we were essentially partied out for a few days after being in Kuta for almost a week. It was Karen's birthday (Heather's mom) so Heather went to make a surprise phone call to her at the end of the night. Karen was just waking up for work. I can still never get used to the time difference.... Once we got back to our room, we watched Finding Nemo on our small TV in Indonesian. Lol. 

Holyness

After another fabulous free breakfast at Hotel Puri Manik, our taxi picked us up for a day of sightseeing! Our first stop was the ancient elephant caves. These caves reminded me of the Batu caves we saw in Kuala Lumpur. It was a series of temples intertwined through the caves and forest. So beautiful and serene.

Entrance to the caves

Our whole goal of hiring a taxi driver was to go to the volcano and hike up to the top. Unfortunately our reading comprehension skills are severely lacking because we missed the whole section where it says no one is allowed to hike Mount Batur without a licensed guide for 500,000 rupiah per person ($50). F@ck that! So we do the next best thing and get up to the viewpoint at Peneloken to take in some breath-taking panorama. When we find out we cannot hike to the top, or at all, we are both really disappointed because that wad the only thing we really wanted to do. So we find alternatives. After grabbing two diet cokes over looking the volcano (we packed lunch consisting of cheetos and strawberry kuala snacks), we head to the rice terrace. 

Mount Batur

It's about a 45-minute drive to the rice terrace. The driver weaves in out of all sorts of small villages and other rice paddy fields until we finally come upon the landmark. It's absolutely gorgeous. Monet would have been inspired. The cascading rice paddies flow into one another from on top of a steep hill surrounding a small valley with quaint art shops lining the street. Heather and I grab a seat at a cafe and have a snack while we take in the crisp air and picturesque views. 

Next we went to the holy water temple. We put on our sarongs like everyone else visiting a temple and walked down a million stairs to the natural spring and shrine. It was truly spectacular not only because the temple smelled like jasmine and vanilla, or because it was surrounded by rice paddies and cliffs, but because you left feeling better after arriving. Not sure what happened but you can understand why the Buddhists chose it has a holy place. 

Just another beautiful temple

Our final stop before going back to the hotel was an art gallery. We wanted to see an art museum but that was 50,000 rupiah so instead we saw some free art. Moreover, it was probably better then any museum in the country. The owner came from a family of artists and was truly talented. Not only did he have many of his own paintings, he had others from all over the world showcasing their pieces as well. He took a better part of an hour showing us all the different rooms and explaining where each came from and what inspired it. So fantastic!

After a long day of touring, we were ready for some good grub. Heather recommended we got to Naughty Nuris on the north side of town as it was marked as a must-see in her Bali guidebook. Problem was that it was a 45 minutes walk... Uphill. We didn't know that but we marched towards to restaurant anyways while trying to fight dusk and the incoming storm. We made it just in time and got the last table in the joint. 

Naughty Nuris is famous for 2 things: their BBQ and their martinis. Heather and I both inhaled our BBQ chicken and split the veggie curry. We wanted to each get a martini (quoted by Anthony Bourdaine to be the best martini outside of NYC) but they were $10. I'd pay that in LA but not in Bali so I passed while Heather got a Bintang. 

Next thing we know, this 75-year-old guy, Steve, stops by our table and strikes up a conversation. We tell him were on our 3rd month of backpacking and he is intrigued. He then invites us to join his table of friends after we finish dinner but not before buying a round of beers for us. 

The gang - Kelly, John, Jamie, and Steve
Were all sotally tober

Heather and I are of course stoked we got some free Bintangs and join Steve and friends. At the table there is Steve from Texas, Jamie from Scotland, John and his wife Kelly from Australia, and another Aussie couple. They are all bloody hilarious and we have a blast shooting the sh!t with them. Jamie is the only young-ish single lad and it comes out that tonight there is a celebration for him. He owns a hotel/villa that he rents out for $3,000 a night and was rated the #1 hotel in all of Southeast Asia by Vogue Magazine (or something like that). Ballin! So clearly everyone is in a cheery mood and were rolling with the punches. The next thing we know, we have 2 martinis in front of us. Then there's 2 margaritas and then 2 more... Oh sh!t, we're f&cked up and now they're kicking us out of the bar cause it's closing. Jamie was going to take us home but he was belligerently drunk so I made the executive decision to take a taxi back to the hotel. Everything was going smoothly until I see Heather's head out the window half puking in the taxi and half on the road. Yup, that happened. I immediately get out of the taxi and do a clean up session on the car and Heather. I was too drunk to know how the taxi driver felt about everything, but it couldn't have been good. Once back at the hotel, I get Heather to shower and we both pass out. Definitely an interesting and unexpected night...

Fried prawn and mango salad

The plan was supposed to be: wake up early, have breakfast, leave at 11am and go to Chandidasa by shuttle bus. Of course that was an obscene task that morning and out of the question for us. Way too hungover... So we ended up spending another day in Ubud. At breakfast, I tease Heather and have to refresh her memory from the night before...  The front desk guy also hassled Heather asking, "Feeling ok this morning?" She was blushing... 

View from Bibianu Cafe

It was most definitely a recovery day. We got some more zzzzz's after breakfast and then went directly to the pool. Some lunch followed at our favorite restaurant in the city: Bibianu Cafe which over looks the rice paddies down the street. I had the mahi mahi and Heather had a bomb salad and fries. This place was so good that we returned a few hours later for dinner where I had the fried prawn salad. Uh-mazing! What a great way to spend our last day here. If you come to Bali, it'd be a sin to miss Ubud... Next stop: Chandidasa.