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The time has come to leave Australia and start a new adventure in Southeast Asia. As I said last time, we are on our way home with the United Kingdom. However, we are on the long way through Bali, Singapore, Phuket, Chiang Mai and Bangkok! To say that goodbye was difficult; Especially because Perth’s winter had decided to warm up only for our last day. Once we were at the airport, although we were ready for our first Asia sample. However, Emma and I were anxious when verifying our bags, since we had a lot of overweight when we met Australia. We had so many things that we had to send a suitcase for almost $ 400 once we moved to the truck. Normally we are excellent to pack the light, but, with Australia, we had planned to work in legal roles, so we had costumes and all kinds! For each flight we had paid 25 kg of luggage each; Surely that would be enough. Fortunately, it was more than enough! I think we had about 8 kilos of spare among us, but the biggest problem was my hand luggage. In my backpack/camera bag, I had to carry my camera, three more lenses and batteries my laptop, drones and three drone batteries. Somehow that ended up being 9 kilos! They gave us the option of registering Emma’s manual luggage, which meant that we didn’t have to pay anything else. I will have to work some magic on the next five flights!Arriving in BaliAnyway, we arrived safely in Bali around 9:30 pm, but it took more than an hour to overcome security and collect our luggage. It could have been faster if we had accepted the offers of the security personnel to take us to a side room and give them money in exchange for a quick entry. Welcome to Bali. Our first week passed it in Ubud, a city located in the foothills of the mountain surrounded by jungle and rice fields. He triggered fame thanks to the book/film ‘Eat Pray Love’ and has always been considered a city of culture and arts. Ubud receives his name from the Balinese word for ‘Medicine’ and, as in the film, people come here to relax, meet medications and have innumerable massages. We had considered staying in a hotel on the outskirts of Ubud, some of which you will have seen in all social networks, but they were too expensive. Instead, we find a six -room guest house inside the temple complex of a local family. For £ 98 for seven nights, you cannot complain.[easy-image-collage id=2466]The trip from the airport to Ubud took an hour more and presented us with madness on the roads. Scooters everywhere, horns are constantly and the red lights are ignored. I felt much safer when we arrived at the guest house at midnight. Unfortunately, we don’t sleep much thanks to dogs barking and cockereles (if that is a word). After a fast breakfast made for the family (banana pancakes), we board the fifteen -minute walk to the Ubud center. Our first opinions were great with us we had to constantly dodge scooters and cars, since there really wasn’t a path. When the road appeared, we would have to jump through open holes. I didn’t like to fall into wastewater drains. The first day was more a case of guidance. We both returned with headaches.[easy-image-collage id=2467]The most annoying is the constant cry of “taxi taxi” or “Massazzzze”. I appreciate that everyone is trying to make a living, but if you wanted one, I would ask. Nor does it make sense to take a taxi, since traffic is always standing during the day. My first Bali impressions are that it is dirty and full of tourists. However, I can see its raw beauty with thousands of temples, steep ravines and jungle full of palm.
What we didn’t do
We had decided not to go to the sacred forest of monkeys, since we had seen the monkeys in the nearby streets anyway and we had heard some horror stories. Monkeys are recognized for biting or scratching people. We had left Australia so fast that we did not have time for the vaccination of rabies and there have been so many people who have had to try to get gunned from rabies after Bali. Neither of them liked to risk rabies to see some monkeys anyway. Little Rascals. We also decided that Tegallalang’s rice terraces are also lost. If you have been in Ubud, or have seen photos, you will probably think that this is one of the best things to do in the area. I have seen photos of the rice terraces, at dawn, which look absolutely beautiful, so it was in two minds. However, it was invented once we knew that all the rice had been harvested, it must pay to enter before being approached at each level of the rice fields for more money and is actually quite small. Apparently it is also full of tourists. Anyway, we had read about some better rice terraces towards the center of Bali that we liked.
Come back to what we did
So, if we did not do the two main things to do in Ubud, how do we spend our days? Mainly just wandering the streets, buying in the markets, drinking beer (obviously) and trying as many local foods as possible. This included Curry Balinés, ribs with fried rice, pork sate and suction pork. I think I even ate an intestine. One of the most prominent aspects also wandered on the Campuhan crest to La Jungla, a beach club in La Jungla without the beach. What was a bit annoying is that, if I forgot to bring money with us (at least twice), we would have to walk all the way back to the guest house before returning. He took at least half an hour. We also had any place to really relax since the guest house did not have a pool area, so when it was raining, we spent a little time in our room! This also meant that I could take a small nap when I saw England lose the semifinal of the World Cup until 4:30 am, it took it out! [easy-image-collage id=2469][easy-image-collage id=2468][easy-image-collage id=2470]
A private driver
On our last day in Ubud, we hired a private driver through our guest house for 700,000 IDR (around $ 70) to take us to the rice fields that I mentioned earlier and a temple in a lake in the mountains. One of the relatives with whom we stayed recommended some other places, but we had no idea what they were until we got to them. So, our first stop on the excursion of our full day was the Taman Aseung temple, which translates into ‘beautiful garden’. All the temples we have seen are really pleasant (and there are many of them in Ubud, even in the houses), but he stood out. It is located between Ríos and has a little inner moat around the temple. Actually, you cannot enter the prayer area, since it is constantly in use by the local Hindu, but it was good to walk early in the morning sun. When we finished, tourists began to accumulate, so I’m glad I had avoided that![easy-image-collage id=2472]The locals in Bali are extremely religious, which constantly puts offerings to the gods outside their stores and homes. The offerings are placed in a small square of bamboo with things like rice, fruits and incense sticks. I am quite sure that I even saw some with what seemed to be Jacob’s cookies inside! The offerings are everywhere and you must be careful not to stop on them. At the end of the day, street bamboo packages are often seen that border the streets. I guess the gods did not want those. These are a Unesco World Heritage site and the rice fields cover more than 2,000 hectares! There are some different walks that you can do through the fields, but we stick to the shortest, since it took more than an hour to complete. There were many locals working in the fields that show that they still trust the rice here instead of tourism! I strongly recommend coming here, but you will need a driver or, if you feel brave, your own transport.[easy-image-collage id=2473]Then they took us at the top of the mountains to Lake Beratan and the Ulun Danu temple. After a while, I suppose it could be said that all temples begin to look the same. This is in the lake itself with a small catwalk to get access. Again, you can’t get to that, so everything you really do is wander. The lands were not so large, so we had lunch and then went.
The next was the door of the Golf Handara complex that had been famous for Instagram. We were so close that the driver decided to take us there for ‘selfie’. It cost us $ 3 each for ten minutes at the door, but there were so many other people who really couldn’t get a decent photo. The door is, of course, pleasant, but it is just that, an entrance door.
On our way back to Ubud, our driver decided to stop at a coffee plantation to try local coffee. Once outside the car, they greeted us immediately and passed us through some hedges on a road. Our guide pointed to a coffee and a cocoa tree (I think one or two of each one; this was not a plantation) before moving more deeply in its complex. He pointed out a pork in a small cage without explanation of why they had one. I couldn’t talk much English. Then they showed us to a table where we had numerous teas and coffees poured for us, including the most expensive coffee in the world, Luwak Coffee.
I never drink coffee, and for some strange reason, to pour it in front of me and our guide looking at me carefully, I decided to try it. A luwak is an Asian palm civet, a kind of cat/comadreja. Coffee is basically fed by force Luwak coffee cherries and collecting the bean of its poop. The bean, after having been subject to ingestion and fermentation, is taken to produce coffee.
Honestly, I cannot believe that people drink these things and much less in front of it so much that it has become the most expensive coffee in the world. It is horrible, absolutely horrible. Everything I could try for the rest of the day was pure poop. It was obvious that it was just a tourist scam, since they quickly took us to a cabin with things to buy. The lemon grass tea we tried was around $ 15, while a small chocolate bar cost $ 10. We quickly decided to go out as quickly as possible, but there was a moment of confusion between Emma and me, where I thought I wanted to buy something and thought the same thing about me. We almost ended up buying some chocolate and tea so as not to bother the other person! I ended up having to pay $ 6 for my cup of poop coffee. Not impressed.
Advance
To finish our time in Ubud, we find a large local restaurant famous for its ribs and fried rice. We had three main meals; The ribs with fried rice, pork status with a different type of fried rice plus a yellow chicken curry. With drinks too, the cost reached less than $ 25. We packed in the morning before saying goodbye and asking for a car through the ‘Go-Jak’ application. Next stop, seminyak. A little controversial such as online taxis are prohibited by locals in Ubud. There is a taxi poster where they try to maintain transport for them so they can collect a higher price. However, the price was three times higher, so it made sense to go through the application online. It’s much safer that way! I loved Ubud, but it is not the relaxing for those that mountain retirement tourists come here. I’m ready for Seminyak now; A more exclusive complex where it is mainly food, drink and sunset! Thanks for reading, I will return soon with a new publication about our time in Seminyak. Once I am back at home, I will publish guides so you know that they can plan your own trips! Until next …
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