Day Trip - Bali Wonders 2 - Indonesia 8/9

After our last 2 trips with tour guides (Borobudur and Bali Day Tour), we learned that tour companies really try to jam pack your day as much as possible. Perhaps it's because they want you to feel like you're getting your money's worth or simply because that's the energy level they expect of everyone. Keith and I, on the other hand, thought we would enjoy our days more if we could take it a tad slower, so this time, we went with a driver instead. We booked our driver service from Eddy Smile Tours and our friendly driver, Wayan, waited for us at the lobby on time right at 9:00 am.

We asked to go to the Tengenungan Waterfall first as it's on the way out of Ubud. This waterfall was featured in one of Anthony Bourdain's shows, and it looked really cool (both figuratively and literally). After a 20 minute car ride and an entrance fee of 10,000 IDR per person, the car stopped at the top of a hill, where we could look down and see the waterfall. The sun was starting to get hot, but we didn't want to only take a few pictures and leave right away, so we headed down the stone paved stairs.

Tengenungan Waterfall

The sound of the waterfall drowned out everything else in the area, like the gush of crisp clear water cleansing your thoughts, I can't help feeling refreshed. At the bottom of the stairs there were these stone built showers attached to the side of the hill as well as a big gazebo where a few locals were chilling out. The natural showers were really cool to see, with water some how flowing through the mountains and out of the openings. We could hear tourists screaming and shouting as they get ready to jump into the water, so we continued a little further. But the road ended shortly after and we were forced to skip across rocks on the riverbed, so we soon headed back up the hill.

Next stop was Tanah Lot Temple. 

I hesitated on this one initially, as it seemed too touristy. But was I happy that I didn't skip it because the entire experience was absolutely gorgeous. In fact, though we have see many beautiful temples along our trip, this was the most impressive looking one. All Hindu temple grounds consist of 3 temples, Shiva, Brahma, and Vishnu. I forgot which one this was, but I knew it wasn't the main temple (so, not Shiva). It stood in the middle of the ocean beside pounding waves, on top of a naturally formed rock that looked like it bridged the island to the main land, the weather was perfect, and I was in awe.

Tanah Lot Temple

It couldn't have gotten any more picturesque than this. Clear sky, white waves, dark volcanic rocks, and green grass. There were even 2 surfers surfing right beside the temple, it was too cool. We eventually made our way down to the main temple, which was actually completely detached from the main land. The temple is only accessible by locals when the tide is low, and at noon, the tide is high and still rising. At the bottom of the hill on the path to the main temple is where all the tourists were. We heard some broadcast but didn't understand what it was. I stepped closer to the edge of the rocks when we finished taking pictures, letting the wave wash over my feet. It wasn't till we re-adjourned with our driver that he told us the broadcast was a warning of the rising tide. He also told us about a Chinese tourist that got washed off these rocks last year and died from the accident as he points to a red flag a little further down. "That's where he was last seen" he said. It was then that I realized I was playing with fire standing so close to the edge.

Tanah Lot Temple (main)

We continued to head South shortly after, and were ready for lunch. We had picked out a restaurant in Seminyak for us to eat some "clean" food. That's right, after my 3 day near hell illness from what they call the "Bali belly", we've decided that eating whatever we could get our hands on was probably not the best idea. Seminyak is 2 neighborhoods North West of Kuta, and is supposed to be the more expensive neighborhoods with high end stores and restaurants. We had booked an amazing looking villa through Airbnb and were excited to see what our new home has to offer.

Our Villa in Seminyak

Bo & Bun was situated on one of the busier streets of Seminyak. It is a Vietnamese fusion restaurant and our stomachs were really happy to finally eat something not overwhelmingly spiced. Our driver came back to pick us up after an hour and we headed over to the villa to check in. The roads leading to the villa was quite crappy and we were about 15 minute walk away from any stores. But I wasn't worried though, as the villa was the most amazing modern place I've ever stayed in, and being locked in would mean to have 3 days of luxurious peace and quiet. We told the driver to come back in an hour and a half, checked in with our host Rachel, and passed out for a nap.

At 3:30 pm, we headed back out again, this time, to Uluwatu Temple. This was definitely one of the ones I was planning on missing out because of all the vicious monkeys the internet has so kindly warned us about. But since we have time, and our driver was very enthusiastic about it, we decided to check it out.

Uluwatu Temple (the cliff)

Uluwatu is on the South Western most tip of South Bali (Nusa Dua), and the temple is famous for it's cliffs and evening performance of the Kacak Dance (which the majority of people go for actually). By the time we got there the parking lot was starting to fill up. Our driver said it would be cool to watch the dance, but we should expect a huge traffic jam heading out after the dance as everyone would be leaving at the same time. The dance was an extra 100,000 IDR and I've seen plenty of footages on youtube so we thought we'd walk around first and see how things go. We headed down the cliff for about and hour, saw one of the most gorgeous sunsets ever and a wedding party taking photos, and decided that we could miss the dance after all. Plus, we really needed to get some supplies for our new home, and I didn't want our driver to work too much overtime. So we stopped by Carrefour and quickly got all the supplies we would need for our 3 days of luxury: some rice, bread, chicken, some oil and what we thought was salt (turned out to be MSG), some coffee, and juices, then headed home and passed out some more.

To be continued...

Ubud - Bali - Indonesia 7/9

The morning heat slowly sneaked up on us through those thick black out curtains as we opened our eyes, realizing, we're in Ubud, Bali. It was still early, but I was excited to explore, and I felt great! Breakfast wasn't going to be served until 7:00 am, so I took Keith out for a walk.

Keith showed me the restaurants he got our dinner from last night. Mamma Mia Pizza and Warung Ubud, both right around the corner. We walked a bit further North as the famous Yoga Barn was close by as well, and it was gorgeous. There was still mist from the morning. We walked for about 20 minutes, bought some pastries, and went back to our villa for breakfast.

The Yoga Barn

We had read online that the breakfast from Umae Villa wasn't that good. But, though simple, we actually thoroughly enjoyed it. There were tea, juices, toast, and the eggs were cooked to perfection. The interesting thing was, though, that we got different quantities of items each morning even though we ordered the same thing every day.

Our Breakfast at Umae Villa

We decided to rent a scooter that morning as Keith was excited to get back on the bike again. We lived really close to the Monkey Forest, one of Ubud's main attractions, so we kept putting it off thinking that we could go there any time we want. Turns out in the end, we actually didn't go to the Monkey Forest at all.

Ubud Traditional Market

We went into town centre to look for food and walk around. The first place we went to was the Ubud Traditional Market. This is a 2-3 story complex with hundreds of small stores selling things from art work to clothing to food. We got there around 10:00 am and were one of the first few customers, so we got their "special first customer good luck deal". The vendors were a lot nicer here, and they don't hassle you as much when you don't buy their products. We found a small store that had some bags I liked, the lady gave us a pretty kick ass discount so we ended up buying all of our souvenirs from her. We bought 3 bags, 6 t-shirts, 1 button up shirt, a slinglet, and a sarong for around $30 CAD total.

Fair Warung

We were super happy with our purchase, and continued walking through the main street of Ubud. We saw the palace, but weren't interested to go in. The heat was quite difficult for me to get used to, and it was around 11am when we stopped by Fair Warung so we went in and enjoyed some fruit juices and crepes. We were quite early, and got the one gazebo all to ourselves. There was internet, so we got comfy and chilled for a while. I had a great time there, with the wind cooling us down, the gazebo blocking the sun. "I could get used to living like this" I thought to myself. We noticed there were little rocks glued onto the pillars of the gazebo of people signing their names or writing short messages. It was amazingly adorable so I asked the staff for some markers and left our names on one of the rocks.

Umae Villa

We headed back soon after that to escape from the heat, which was wise, but although we blasted our air conditioning at its strongest setting, the room still heated up like an oven by 4pm. One of Ubud's most popular restaurants is right across from where we live, so we went there for late lunch. The restaurant's called "Who's Who", and is owned by a young dutch guy. The food was good, perfectly cooked, light and fresh.

Crème de Caramel from Melting Wok Warung

For the next few days, I was pretty sick, and we ended up staying in a lot. I had a fever and was achy head to toe for a full day. Keith took care of me and we ended up eating at the few restaurants around us a lot: Mamma Mia (almost everyday), Warung Ubud twice, Taco Casa once, Who's Who twice. We had to cancel our reservation at Bali's number 1 restaurant, Locavore, because I was ill. Too bad we weren't able to get in it again after that as they are always fully booked. We did, however, ended up going to Melting Wok Warung, which was owned by a French lady, and was freshly delicious! They even accommodated us in adjusting the serving in a take out item, and their Crème de Caramel was to die for!



Campunhan Ridge

One of the mornings, I don't remember which day, we went hiking on Campunhan Ridge. We road the motorcycle down the road headed East from the Ubud Palace, then down a really steep hill where there were young students sweeping the floor. We parked the bike and headed around a renovating temple, then hiked on the ridge all the way to the end (about 2 km). The ridge would've been amazing if it wasn't for the drought that made the grass all yellow. Nevertheless, it was a great walk and it was nice going out for some fresh air.

Karsa Spa

During our stay in Ubud we also booked a spa appointment at Karsa Spa. The location was very nice, and the treatments were great, but for some reason, the Smart Day Spa remained top 1 in our minds.

Karsa Spa

Not sure if it was because I fell ill or simply due to unreasonable expectations resulting from the movie Eat, Pray, Love, Ubud wasn't as "magical" as I thought it would be. Everything came across just a tad too commercial, and the streets were filled with tourists. The scooter, however, was the highlight of my Ubud experience. It's very convenient to get around and made our lives much easier.

For our transition to Seminyak, we had booked just a driver. We already know where we wanted to go, so we didn't need a tour guide this time. As the sun sets, I felt a tiny hint of sorrow and regret. I thought that maybe I hadn't cherished this stay in Ubud as much as I should, and perhaps I hadn't cherished the people around me as much as I should either. I starred at the signature Balinese ceiling, and fell asleep in our lovely glass hut.

To be continued...