Visiting Ubud, Bali

Day 10

I caught the shuttle bus to Ubud arriving late noon (I spent the morning getting spoilt in my hotel with room service - i was feeling much better now) and checked in at Happy Mango Tree Hostel (back to the budget!). The hostel is located in Bisma street which is uphill and filled with rice paddles along the road so it has such beautiful view all the way. I was staying in a colourful and hippy accommodation with reggae and Jamaican prints all over the place. The beds are made of bamboo and there is a ceiling fan for £5 a night. Seemed great to me! If you had booked a private room in Ubud, you would have to pay for 2 persons even if it's just for you. So a mixed dorm is ideal and £5 is the lowest rate. 

I left straight away to start my day and I was liking Ubud already! Walking left of the hostel then right straight down to the Main Street, I started to walk to the famous rice fields. There are rice fields where I am staying but this one was vast. So Ubud is more arty farty hippy classy despite the poor littering but it's full of arts and crafts, pottery, wood carving, antique products and homemade goodies.

I had went to the Tegallalang Rice Fields by walking 2 hours from central Ubud. It is particularly famous for its scenes of rice paddies and terraces along rivers.

(You can get a mototaxi for 50,000IDR return - pay no more). Make sure you take a drink and good walking shoes. It's quite a climb around with sandy steps (very slippery) and a long walk around. I didn't spend too long there as I didn't have much time but I was there a while; long enough to ache. I decided to take the moto back so I didn't have to walk in the dark. 

Ubud is a more quieter place than Kuta with less tourists and more culture. You'll find beautifully made temples, children in their atzec school uniforms and many restaurants. They hold traditional Balinese dancing every night at 7.30pm for 80,000IDR.

My driver Nyoman makes 50$ a month being a taxi driver and he has been one for 10 years. He among the others in Ubud are the kindest people on earth! He drove me to my escape plan to Pantai Klotex where no tourists are found. A secret destination which I was excited to go to. As Bali is a volcanic island, there is a selection of black sand beaches and white fine beaches. I was on a mission to find some beautiful beaches so being close to East Bali was my chance! As they are not promoted and usually sacred, the beach is quiet and clean. 7am the next day on my way to Pantai Klotek, a motorbike ran over a dog (the dog was clueless!) and when we drove pass it, its head was twisted over and I had felt mentally disturbed for hours. I insisted someone remove it from the road but the driver said 'everyday dogs die'. We sat in silence for the rest of the way and soon the dog was no longer news. 

We arrived and I was amazed. Pantai Klotex has a black beach sparkled with its dark fine sands. The sands would be made of basalt created by lava that has flowed into the ocean in an explosion before reaching the shore and cools. I may be wrong though but this is what I understand. The locals spoke no English and most were working. Some were surfing and the beach was just so sparkly. I'm aware I've mentioned this already but it's beautiful. There were rubbish scattered on the upper part of this beach and so many bat-like birds were flapping around disturbing the air. So everything was happening all at once! I walked along the beach to see large wave stopping rocks (there's a name for this but sadly my geography has passed) and huts for workers. I waved at any children and attempted to paddle the unpromising sea water. It's not somewhere to sunbathe and swim (although the locals are found swimming and surfing).

I had seen workers on the beach keeping busy so I volunteered to help separate the white pebbles (they package these to sell for house building) to the blacks. Sadly I have no pictures of this but I've treasured some great memories taking part. I definitely want to come back to Bali and find some more secret places. 

It hit midday and it was time to head back to Ubud. Before going back to Kuta, I visited the monkey temple nearby. Word of advice, don't be a fool and bring food & valuables to the forest otherwise riot and theft. Other than that, do go. It's a Sacred Monkey Forest Sanctuary with three temples (holy spring temple, cremation temple and main temple) and 600 monkeys (long tailed Macaques) including infants. The forest shows the harmonious coexistence of humans and nature. There is a deer farm within the forest where the monkeys enter and play among them which was weird. You don't really see the two together. The site is Hindu and there are many offerings of plant pots around given by the locals. It's a long path around the site would take you an hour with stopping to watch the monkeys disturbingly fornicate or play. I had seen monkeys snatch flip flops off people but only because they were standing too close to them. The monkeys are not chained in any way. They are fed sweet potato and fruits all day.

I stayed on to watch the monkeys for a while leaving them undisturbed unlike the others. Tourists can really be annoying and irritating. Especially when there are signs saying please do not feed the monkeys or touch them. When one does, they scream and complain. Oh get a grip. The monkeys do jump on you whenever they want to so if you are scared, you'd need to be careful and keep hold of your belongings! (they love water bottles - even though they can't open it). But when they do jump on you, be still and calm. I'm not sure if i enjoyed the monkey's testicles on my neck but i loved my time there.

I took the bus back to Kuta and spent my evening in Seminyak which is more north than Kuta on the white sandy beach by the bars. Kuta to Seminyak is about 20minutes depending on traffic by a moto taxi (you can rent one yourself) but spend no more than 40,000IDR each way.