We have been in Ubud for a few days now and absolutely love the place. It is a vibrant and artistic place and as soon as we got here we knew this is where we wanted to be.
As we are in land there is no beach here but the general vibe is alot more friendly and uplifting. As always transport is not a problem. As im am writing this we are in a state of recovery but I will come to this in due course.
The first day we arrived here we visited the Sacred Monkey Forrest where monkeys run and play freely. They seem very happy to mingle with the vast number of tourists. They can be quite unpredictable so rahking them up wasnt going to be the best idea. That night we saw a show that depicted and ancient Hindu story which entailed a 100 man choir and dancers in elaborate costumes.
The following day we headed up to the rice fields to find accomadation. Our travel books suggested it was a very cheap place but after 2 hours of walking around in 25 degrees with our packs we soon realised we were in some sort of B&B hot spot. We ended up finding somewhere but as usual had to barter to get a reasonable price It was worth it though because we had amazing views of the rice fields from our room and it wasn't too far to walk into the city center.
Yesterday was to be the highlight of the trip. We hired a scooter for around $5 and headed out into the madness that is Bali roads. We managed to navigate ourselves not too badly and headed up to Kintabalu Volano area. It was a rather step climb with some stunnig views of the rice terraces which was in the heart of rural Bali. The tourist dollar didnt stretch out this far for the locals however with some rather run down villages. It is soo different on a scooter than in a taxi as you really can take soo much more in. 1 minute from the summit we skidded of the scooter and sustained some pretty severe gashes and grazes. We saw the Volcano on the way to the clinic to get cleaned up. Everyone was soo nice and helpful and made the ordeal somewhat pleasant. We even had the local police officer stick around and keep us company until we were to head back to Ubud.
When we got back we were a walking spectical with our battle wounds but we went to the clinic in town today and our wounds are all clean and healing. Kirsten is the rock of the team as I was in a sad state due to the injuries she had and the massive dent in my ego but as she said no broken bones so well be fine.
We are recoverying in Ubud today then off to Legian tommorow night for our last night in Bali. We hope to be fighting fit to hit up Jakarta on the 9th. Bali is a sweet place with many sights and experiences. Despite the haggling the people are amazing and always willing to help you out ,although usually for a price. We never felt nervous or got bad vibes from anyone. The deep spiritual nature of the people is something we will never forget.
