No Doubt Ubud It

When we arrived in Ubud, I was shocked by the amount of people walking through the streets. Luckily, we had booked a little home off the beaten path, away from all of the craziness in the city's center. When we arrived at our home for the next week, our scooter was waiting outside and the incense were ready to be lit not to mention the entrance to our home was so inviting. Don't these doors look like you'll walk into a mystical place when you walk through them?

                           

                                     

Isn't it adorable? By the end of our week here we were really starting to fall into a routine and it was nice to feel settled for a bit. We made breakfast every morning and spent a few nights watching movies and reading books in our little home away from home. Mike even got to enjoy a bath! For those of you who know about Mike and his bath time, it was a big deal.

Day 36- We took our scooter and went exploring with no destination. Our initial goal was to drive as high as we could to get a nice photo of some rice fields, so we kept driving and driving and driving and the colder it got, the higher we were getting. As we were driving, we were flagged over on the side of the road by the local police. They asked to see Mike's drivers license so he took it out but it wasn't what they wanted. They wanted to see his international drivers license. We just so happened to get one for each of us before we left Calgary but we had left them back at our guesthouse. In all of the other places we've travelled to so far they say you don't even need a drivers license to drive a scooter, let alone an international one. The cops took us aside to write us a ticket and all the while each of them were so kind and had big smiles. When we explained that we had given the information of our international drivers license to the guest house maintenance worker, he allowed us to call him to get the number. The officer said he believed us so he would let us go but we have to travel with our license anytime we are driving in Bali. He shook our hands then sent us on our way. We asked him if there was anything nice worth seeing in the direction we were headed and he said "yes, there is a beautiful volcano with a lake in the crater". So I guess we were going even higher!

                                  

We arrived at Mount Batur shortly after. The giant crater in the center was filled with a huge lake and an entire town of people who live inside of it. The last time the volcano erupted was in 2000. We were absolutely frozen from the drive up so we enjoyed some hot soto ayam (chicken soup) at a little restaurant at the top.

On our way back down we took a wrong turn and continued our drive to nowhere. While we continued to descend, I saw a sign for a temple and lots of foreigners walking around, so we decided to stop to see what it was. The place is called Goa Gajah and it stands for elephant cave. According to about travel.com, it is a mysterious hindu site that allows visitors to enter a cave that looks like a demonic mouth, apparently suggesting that people are entering an underworld as they go inside.

We were quite pleased with our random adventures but still cold from the drive so we went back into town and settled into a nice backpackers spot called Clear Cafe, known for their great wifi and vegetarian and vegan menu. As you can see Mike was in his glory with good wifi. Mike even let me drive us to our next spot. 

                         

   

We finished off the day with some live music at a cool local bar called Laughing Buddha. 

Day 37- Woke up to a peaceful little breakfast on our veranda. 

We went to monkey forest sanctuary and prepared ourselves for some monkey business. We were cautious and a little scared going in because our last roommate had gotten bitten by one of the monkeys and our travel doctor told us that a lot of them have rabies. When you enter the forest there is a sign that states the rules of the area. Don't scream or make fast movements if they jump on you and don't look them in the eyes because they see it as a sign of aggression. We walked through the forest with caution but we both wanted at least one photo with a monkey, so we bought some bananas. Mike was up first and he put the banana on his backpack so the monkey would grap it without jumping on him. Well, Mike must have been putting off a calm energy because his monkey came over, took the banana, then helped himself up on Mike's knee to enjoy it. Slowly. He was in no hurry to get on his way.  For a moment, him and Mike became good friends. 

                                         

Then it was my turn. There was a big monkey who watched me get the bananas and he ran right over to me, so I handed him one, then I walked over to a smalller monkey to give him the other banana. The big monkey saw me, came over and took that one too. He was a bully. 

I didn't think he was being fair so I bought some more bananas to give it another try. I sat down and saw two monkeys look at me at the same exact moment. Then they looked at eachother and now it was a race of who could get my bananas faster. I did not scream. I did not make any fast movements and I don't think I could have looked them in the eyes if I tried. Mike said "Lisa, smile" and this was the result.

                              

                             

                

               

After monkey forest we returned to Clear Cafe to enjoy another coffee and some snacks. I love how much care and attention the Indonesian people put into their businesses. I wish we had places like this in Calgary. Everyday they use flowers to write a message on the steps up to the cafe. I loved this one and wanted to share. 

                                   

We enjoyed a nice night at home and watched a movie. Here is our sweet set up.

Day 38- We had scheduled this day in as our health and wellness day. We woke up early to a fresh breakfast in our home, then headed to Yoga at the Yoga Barn. The studio was beautiful and they definitely run the yoga scene in Ubud. I have been dying to practice yoga since leaving Calgary but there have been very few opportunities to date and it was Mike's first yoga class ever, so needless to say I was very excited. We participated in a Vinyasa Flow class taught by Les and it was fantastic, my body needed a good stretch and my muscles thanked me for working them over. Mike did so well and followed along with ease. I think he was meant for Yoga. 

After class we went to the cafe at the Yoga Barn. They are known for their healthy, fresh and nutritious menu so we ordered up some smoothies and salads. Next on our list of to do's was to take care of the sunburns that we got in Maratua. Yes, those sunburns. We definitely did some major damage to our skin and the way my back was peeling was making me look very ill. We went to the spa and booked ourselves in for a sunburn treatment. It was an hour and a half long and it consisted of a massage and scrub with a cucumber mixture followed by a soak in a flower bath. All of which is meant to re-hydrate and repair the skin after excessive sun exposure.  The whole experiene was wonderful and my whole body felt much happier when we were done. 

We took some time to listen to music and read our books before heading to dinner at Buda Bali. We chose this spot based on their healthy options and opted out on beer for this meal. 

Day 39- We had to drive back in to Denpasar to complete part two of our VISA extensions. This took most of the morning but we were happy to make it there and back with very little traffic and beautiful scenery.  When we got back into Ubud we stopped for pizza at a place that also had a deli with a few other cooking items. We were craving a night in so we bought the essentials necessary to make a pasta dinner. After dropping them off at our home we set off one last time to see the beautiful landscape that made Ubud so famous. We couldn't leave without seeing the rice terraces of Tegallalang but it was hard to enjoy the scenery with so many tourists hustling around and also walking on the rice terraces. We took a few photos of the main area but decided to take our scooter further up to find a view with less people. We succeeded and it was worth the effort. 

We came home for our last night in Ubud, enjoyed a pasta dinner and watched a movie. :)