I arrived in Bali and traveled to a place called Ubud, a place I heard so much about. I loved Ubud straight away, Ubud is a sort of place I could have stopped and stayed in for much, much longer, it was magical in so many different ways and I ended up staying here for the whole week and it is the first time I felt a sadness to leave a place, so I can definitely understand why so many people come back here every year to live here for a few months, it is a very spiritual place and you can really feel this.
I stayed in a wonderful home stay with my own room and terrace looking out to this lush green scenery of tropical plants, water fields where rice usually grow. Every morning I was served very yummy breakfasts and the family was so friendly.
The town itself is lovely with lots of nice little shops (I really had to control the urge to buy too many nice things), little restaurants and cafes set in beautiful gardens, the Indonesian food was so, so tasty. The people were also really friendly which also helps to make a place special.
I found this amazing place called the yoga barn, and here I ended up having yoga everyday, I think these have been my best yoga classes I ever had, excellent teaching. The yoga barn was a huge barn in middle of rice fields and the actual room where we practiced yoga had beautiful views to all directions and you could feel the breeze and hear birds and insects as you were practicing yoga. They also run other interesting classes and one Sunday morning I attended a class called ecstatic dancing where for 2 hours you just dance in whatever way you feel like dancing, or what your body tells you to do to different kinds of music, here was a room full of wonderful people just letting go of any inhibitions it was so much fun. What an amazing way to spend a Sunday morning.
I also went for some serious pampering in Ubud and had several Bali massages. One morning I had a whole morning with various treatments in this beautiful spa, I even had a flower bath here it was so funny and I felt so wonderful.
I had a long walks across the rice fields, one day I came across this organic cafe/restaurant, a big terrace right in the middle of nowhere and I think I had my best salad here ever, of roasted vegetable, it was the freshness that made this so special, but also the setting and the peace and quite I felt here.
I visited an nice art museum, with some interesting local art in a beautiful building.
I also went on a really well organised Eco Cycling tour for one day where we cycled through little rural villages, we had an excellent guide with us, telling us so much about the Balinese culture. Apparently they spend about 1/3 of their earnings on offerings, you see little bamboo baskets which they make and put flowers and food into to make offerings, you see this everywhere, they also make beautiful bamboo decorations that are displayed along the streets. It is not just the money they spend on this that I find astonishing, but they must be spending a lot of time preparing it, the place where I stayed I saw the families sitting around preparing offerings everyday, quite incredible.
While in Ubud I attended a silversmith course which was fun and I was shocked with what I managed to create(see picture). I must say I am very proud:-)
Ubud in Bali is all I had time for in Indonesia, but I would love to return to see some other islands and of course this would give me a good reason to see more of Bali but also visit Ubud again.
