Indonesia (Bali): Part One (Ubud)

Our next stop after Vietnam was Indonesia. After passing through Singapore we landed in Bali. It would be good to note here that Bali is often mistaken as its’ own country, and rightfully so. It is one of the major tourist hotspots in the world and, as such, has westernized far ahead of the rest of Indonesia. We had even heard it described as “Australia’s 7th State” with so many Aussies both living and vacationing there (it’s a shorter flight from Western Australia to Bali than it is to fly to Sydney). We knew that we were going to have to get over some shock of seeing so many tourists after our more down-to-earth time in Vietnam, but we were ready for it.

We were exhausted after a jam-packed last few days in Vietnam, and especially after not sleeping the night before. We both fell asleep on the 40 minute ride over to our Homestay, but we did catch glimpses of the really cool buildings along the way. Almost every structure from Depensar to Ubud consisted of a low decorative wall with a central building and smaller it building inside. All of them had ornate statues and terracotta roofs too. By the time we made it to the Homestay (which was also surrounded by a small wall, with a temple and several buildings), we were ready to drop off our bags, get some food, and take a nap. We were a little worried about the prices in such a touristy place, but the menu at our Homestay turned out to be very cheap ($2-3 per plate) which was refreshing! We quickly ate and then took a nap…that lasted about 15 hours as we woke up at 7am the next day.

Despite the amount of sleep we got, we were still pretty exhausted from our time in Vietnam, and we decided to spend most of the day lounging by the pool and catching up on blogging, emails, photos, etc. After a few hours we went out for lunch and found a super cheap place offering bakso (meatball soup) for 10,000 rupiah, or just 60 cents! We followed that up with some fancy iced lattes served from pint bottles with some bread/cheese as a snack, and that all combined was just another 50,000 rupiah ($3). It was safe to say our fear of Bali being too expensive was quickly relieved. That evening we ate at the hostel again. We thought that the menu was somewhat limited, but we had learned from seeing other menus that local food in Bali mainly consisted of nasi (rice), mie (noodles), soup, and maybe chicken. After such a lazy day we knew we wanted to be productive from then on, so we planned a jam-packed tour around Ubud. We were also feeling a little guilty about not working out, so we found a gym around the corner to workout at. It only cost 10,000 rupiah (60 cents!) for a day pass (Nicole actually thought their monthly pass, at 100,000 rupia ($6) was the daily price until they corrected us).

The next morning we woke up early to get a run in. Despite it being early, the weather was still hot and muggy, and we had to contend with traffic as there weren't really any running lanes or sidewalks to use. After the run we rented a scooter from the homestay ($4 for 24 hours) and began exploring the Ubud area. That day we started with a visit to the Tegallalang rice terraces, which are some of the most photographed in the world. After seeing similar rice terraces in a more "natural" setting in Vietnam, it was a bit jarring to see all of the cafes, shops, swings (built specifically for the ‘gram), and other infrastructure built around these ones. There was a constant barrage of shop owners vying for you to sit down at their shop, or even trying to sell you "tickets" to visit the rice fields (note that it was actually free). Eventually we found a free place to park and walked until we had a secluded path into the terraces, and it actually ended up being quite an enjoyable experience. We did hit up one of the cafes afterwards to rest and enjoy the scenery.

Following the rice terraces, we took a free tour of an eco-friendly coffee plantation. We had an awesome guide who not only taught us about the coffee production, but taught us about a bunch of other plants as well, and even dove into his Hindu religious practices as well. There was a free tasting of coffee and tea at the end, with the option to pay for a cup of "luwak" coffee at the end, which we did. A Luwak is a cat-like jungle creature which, allegedly, eats only the best of the coffee berries. After the berries pass through it's system the farmers pick up the droppings and process the coffee, which is sold at a ridiculous price thereafter. In modern day times it's a pretty controversial topic, as most of the luwak coffee is produced from caged luwaks being force-fed coffee beans. Some plantations still do it the natural way...but it was unclear which type of place we were at. But besides that hanging over our conscience, we otherwise enjoyed the whole experience.

After the the coffee tour, we visited the Ubud market, which was packed full of artwork, tourist trinkets, and clothing. We did some hard-bartering for a few small items and tried a nearby food spot for lunch. Ubud is full of cool cafes with all types of food, and specializes in organic and health-trend cuisines. After the market we visited the Ubud Water Palace, which was one of dozens of ancient temples that can be found in the area. We then ventured to the Monkey Sanctuary, which we had thought was free, but ended up being relatively expensive. Rather than pay, we simply walked the surrounding area where there were still tons of monkeys hanging out. We had plans for visiting some waterfalls in the area too (another thing Ubud, and Bali in general, are known for) but after such a jam-packed day we headed home. And honestly, after all the waterfalls we have seen so far on the trip we were fine with passing on some of these. For dinner, we ate at a local chicken place in a food court that was clearly only visited by locals, but pointing at random items on the menu turned out okay, as it seems to always do.

The next morning we tried another activity that is famous in Ubud: a yoga class. We went to the Yoga Barn, a large complex of yoga studios and even rooms to stay for those on yoga retreats. We opted for a 90 minute class that was just the right combination of alternating difficult and relaxing stretches. After the cleansing yoga experience...we had heaping plates of babi guling (spit-roasted pork) for lunch at another Anthony Bourdain recommended restaurant (we think he would have been proud of our acceptance of both yoga and indulgent food in our lifestyle). With lunch we also tries our first hot Orange Juice which is just OJ...served hot. It was okay, but we still prefer it the cold way. From there we rushed home to pack up, drop off the scooter, and to head to the beaches in Kuta!

One thing to note here: we really, really wanted to hike Mount Batur. It is supposed to be an amazing hike on a still-active volcano. However, the guides in Ubud have made it nearly impossible to do on your own. They really push the guided tours as being the only way, and their are warnings of vandalism to your car and misleading information for all of those who attempt it. It was a shame, and we felt that hiking in SE Asia in general was approached differently, and much more difficult to do, than most of the other places we had travelled.