We were ready for a week in Ubud, after the heat of Gili and the devastation we wanted a little more gentle reality and we had heard that Ubud was a thriving city full of identity, had a certain vibe and we were excited to be its newest vistors.
Now the the journey back to Bali was a little less exciting than the trip over, the weather was calm and gorgeous and we decided to meet our fast boat ferry back to Amed from Gili T to take the public island hop ferry rather than a private boat. The result was a huge saving in the fare but it seemed everyone else had the same idea.The boat was packed for the 15 minute ride to Gili T and I wondered why?
The reason was a high ranking family member had died on Gili T and his extended family were paying their respects today at his funeral. Climbing on board the ferry I noticed a lot of people and only two life vests. A quick look at Charlie sporting his Nemo based life vest confirmed he would be ok as would his brother. I on the other hand looked up and asked for help from Him above and he duly allowed us a safe passage.
The 1250 Suzuki horses arrived on Gili T on time and we soon found ourselves one of only two families speeding our way back to Amed. Kristi was turning a shade darker than white from fright and Charlie, in my arms decided it was time for an early Zzzz.
Our pre-booked taxi was waiting for us with cold water and an offer to stop for lunch on our three hour journey and we duly accepted and off we went.
The countryside of Bali is stunning, it’s not a case of if you have seen one rice paddy you have seen them all, they all have a different aura about them. We stopped at a beautiful water garden for lunch and the girls where starving and the boys in need of their next “bubble juice”.
We needed dinner close by and our host pointed us in the direction of the Pizza Bagus, a 5 minute walk she said. We didn’t realise that meant 20 minutes and walking on the equivalent of the M6, state highway 1 or I77 depending what country you are from. Kristi was not impressed with the lack of taxi so we were grateful for a recommendation for a driver to run us around and we accepted every trip from then on and it paid off.
Ubud is a fantastic place, tons of identity, tourists from all walks of life, tons of culture, we were feeling smug with our decision to pay a visit to this little piece of Bali.
We had planned yoga for Kristi, massages, a visit to the rice terraces, hiking the ridge trail, markets and the main temple. Unfortunately my darling Kristi got a virus, up went her temperature and down went her health. She was bed ridden for nearly three days with no energy at all. After a Doctors visit and two blood tests she was cleared of Dengue and making a recovery. I felt bad for her as she had dreamt of Ubud yoga, meeting like-minded people and taking everything Ubud had to offer in over a week, which was now going to be scaled down into four days.
Just before she fell ill we did get the ridge walk in. A much shorter walk than I had imagined but gorgeous, Kristi announces to Lara and myself that we could start at the trailead in Ubud and climb to the top of the ridge or start at the top and walk down. “Down!!” We both squeeled and that debate was over. The rain which had paid us a visit, just stopped as we got out of our taxi and started again as we descended into Ubud past a temple.
Time to reveal my favourite picture of this trip so far. Kristi and Ashton catching rain drops singing away, or at least Kristi was.
Walking back into Ubud the heavens opened and the boys were able to use their over size rain jackets for the first time. Time for another cute photo stop.
We came across a welcome sign, “Starbucks”, one of two in Ubud and both times that we visited it was a surprise that it was almost empty inside. After seeing the bill we knew why, American prices in Bali meant coffee here was three times more expensive and even us die hard SB fans had to say enough was enough.
Kristi has “met” a lovely Canadian lady on the world schooler Facebook group and she was in Ubud with her French husband and son. It was great to meet them and swap stories, grab some local recommendations and swap contacts.
Ubud’s famous monkey forest was not somewhere any of us wanted to go. Personally I hate monkeys and this was not something I wanted to waste our budget on but we did want to give the boys their first sighting.
Charlie was excited to ride our taxi as a local, sitting between the seats (not something we allow fyi) but he got a birds eye view of his first monkey. We walked them down to the entrance and they were everywhere.
Ashton was fixed on them and we spent a while standing still and watching them go about their business like a pack of thieves.
Now Ubid has cafes galore and we found one called “Kafe” the food was very reasonable and delicious.
Sitting at the table Ashton observed a large gecko walk over towards him and above his head on a beam, wiggle his bum over the edge of the beam and drop a poo his way. Luckily the poo missed Ashton’s arm by an inch and landed on the floor. I don’t know if the gecko was laughing to himself or annoyed he had missed his next victim. Either way Ashton was fixated on the poo splat on the floor before turning and eating his chicken finger.
Thankfully Kristi did make a recovery enough on the last day for a visit to the rice terraces. Individually owned rice fields, but intertwined into one magical sight that took our breath away.
After regaining our breath we had it taken away again by walking the terraces. It was hot hot hot here, no wind 100% humidity and two two year olds had to be carried. I was a sweat bucket.
The entrance fee was paid but on walking around we were conned into paying further fees by people claiming we had to pay to enter their little bit of this sight. It was a bit like do not pass go without paying $200. A donation for my bridge maintenance, a donation for my path ways, it was a shame they try and rip tourists off here, they get paid a percentage of the entrance fees and don’t need to be greedy.
On a last day while packing what happens? Charlie gets super excited at opening our massive sliding door when he sees us approaching it, and I was approching. The result was that he ran it over his big toe, pulling off his nail and blood everywhere. Man I hate it when our kids get hurt and this was his worst yet.
Kristi rushes him to the clinic who we now seem to be on first name terms with as their best customer this week. He comes back bandaged up and excitingly telling me the lady cleaned his boo boo. He was struck off swimming for a week and it meant we were left wondering how we get his wound cleaned the next day while travelling all day. Lucky my friend Mr Google told me their was a medical centre at Bangkok airport that could do this for him.
If you go to Bali, go to Ubud and spend time there, we met a couple from one of our favourite places in South Carolina, Charleston, who were there for a day, What? This place has it all. Say hi from us, we will be back!!
Check out our lovely images of Ubud
Next stop Koh Lanta, Thailand………