Our new Airbnb accommodation (for 5 nights) was also a very good discovery! Located in a small street of Penestanan, a little village right next to the busy city of Ubud, it welcomed us with an outdoor living room and a pretty swimming pool. This one was the most expensive of our whole stay, but still less than 30 euros per person per night, with breakfast (and two fresh coconuts) included... 😉
Second Airbnb By the way, do you know how petrol stations look like down there? Bottles of vodka! :P Ask for bensin.
Petrol stations For our first day in Ubud, we did the Campuhan Ridge Walk, a free and easy nature trek. Note the best times to do the walk might be early morning or late afternoon, as there is little shade along the trail.
Campuhan Ridge Walk After our walk, heading back to the city, I saw a little river and could not resist... 😀
River bathThe main street of Ubud was very busy. It is home to the Ubud Palace and to the Saraswati Temple.
Ubud Did you know that I am clumsy and that I have very weak ankles? If not, read this! Did you know that city centres in Bali are very badly lit? Did you know that pavements are all shitty? Well, all that led to my falling and twisting my ankle on our way back to Penestanan... Fortunately, this happened right in front of the Ubud Clinic! 😉 But before that, we got to attend an Indonesian football game with a better atmosphere than the World Cup.
Football game I sadly spent my second day in Ubud between my bed, the sofa, and the swimming pool, praying (lol) for my ankle to heal. Luckily enough, the accident happened in Ubud: THE place to be for traditional Balinese medicine! 😀 Our host called a healer for me, a nice old Indonesian man who spoke very good English. He spent half an hour on my ankle and, believe it or not, I was almost fine after that!
Victor went for a walk on his own, and also for shopping - as Ubud has a lot of wooden masks and statues to offer. In the evening, we went to a very nice vegan restaurant (Moksa Ubud) in Penestanan with Jennifer, an Irish friend of mine from Suzhou! Yes, tiny world, isn't it?
Given the doubtful state of my ankle, we decided to rent a scooter for our third day in town, so that I did not have to walk. It was a very good idea! 😉 Renting a scooter in Bali will cost you around 3 euros per day, and maybe 1 euro for the petrol. Great, isn't it? We first went to the very famous Monkey Forest.
Ubud Monkey Forest Next stop? The Yoga Barn! Out of curiosity, as I could not do any yoga with my ankle. But I definitely plan to come back to Bali to enjoy a yoga and meditation retreat in this amazing and peaceful place... <3
The Yoga Barn Time flies! Let's hit the road (by the way, Indonesians drive on the left hand side of the road, like the Brits) to reach Tegalalang Rice Terraces! Famous for their beautiful scenes of rice paddies (we can confirm)... I believe these were the very first rice terraces of my life! I have now seen more, including the Jatiluwih terraces (which will be presented later on in this article), and the Longji terraces in Guilin, Guanxi, China.
Tegalalang Back to our scooter for two more stops: at the Tirta Empul Temple and at the Gunung Kawi Temple. Note visitors have to wear sarungs (kind of long skirts) in temples. Most temples in Bali lend sarungs for free.
Tirta Empul Gunung KawiTime to head back to Penastanan to bring our scooter back (deadline 8pm). Thank you Victor for bringing us dinner on the balcony! 😀 I eventually had the gado gado I had been dreaming of since our arrival... 😉
Gado gado is a deliciously comforting Indonesian mega salad served with crunchy prawn crackers and an incredibly delicious peanut dressing. Bon appétit !