Blogs from Ubud, Bali, Indonesia, Asia

In search of an authentic Balinese experience, I ventured to the cultural heart of Bali, Ubud, for an experience of culture and bliss. Flying from Australia to Denpasar, Bali, I have to admit I was very much overwhelmed by the density of heat, humidity, people and overall congestion around the hotspot of Kuta and the surrounding areas. While this appeals to some, it was not what I had in mind for my Balinese experience. Together, my friends and I crammed into a van as we began our two-hour drive from Kuta to Ubud. After driving past busy bustling areas of Bali’s hotspots, with myriads of rice paddies gradually taking over the view, while getting lost with the driver as us girls navigated the directions, we gladly arrived in Ubud, initially to stretch, but more importantly, this ... read more

There seems to be 4 names in Bali - Wayan: first born, Kedek: 2nd, Neoman: 3rd and Ketut:4th. If yopu to continue having children, God knows why, you go back to Wayan. Lol. I'm living next door to Wayan the healer. She's very famous here. She's the lady that Wayan the healer in the Julia Roberts film was based on. You can imagine how the Americans eat that up. The other day just outside near the entrance she was holding this tourists head and he was knealing with his eyes closed in some hypnotic state. I started giggling. That image there that I've just painted for you is the done thing here. It's normal. It's ABnormal if you're a non believer. Every shop, restaurant, bar, warung (local stall), spa, hotel, hostel, homestay is catered for this ... read more

Short 1h+ bemo/ shuttle from Kuta to Ubud, supposedly the artistic and cultural capital of Bali. Stayed at Sadru Homestay along Monkey Forest Rd, only IDR80k a night (!).... read more

We gingen in de late namiddag naar de apotheek want ik had ook van de nieuwe vriendinnen gehoord dat dehydratatiezout een must was op wereldreis. Dus bij deze zijn we voorzien van een doos Electrolyte. We keerden terug van de apotheek en kochten een fles water in de K-Markt. Op zich niks speciaal, toen ik buitenkwam stond er veel personeel van de K-Markt en was er een soort tombola bezig. Ze wilden dat ik aan het rad draaide en voor dat ik het wist verliet ik de supermarkt met een TV!! Ik had een TV gewonnen! In het begin was ik nogal argwanend omdat ik dacht dat ik bankgegevens of zo ging moeten achterlaten of een adres, of dat er plots een rekening voor mijn neus ging gepresenteerd zijn maar nee hoor! Niks van dit alles. ... read more

This guy lones me a bike for a pound (these keyboards don'e have the pound symbol). I decided to cycle to this place that's up north. It's being considered for UNESCO. It's an ancient collection of temples carved into stone set in a vally of jungle. It was fantastric when I arrived but it took bloodly ages getting there. I took a friends advise and went off the beaten track. Julian, who lives next door has been here for 10 months. He showed me a hidden route. there where barely cares on the tiny road. a few scooters every now and then. It was across vast rice filed planes. famers and small villages every now and then. It was so beautiful I can't even descruibe it. I started off so snap happy. but as the journey ... read more

Wayan and Ketut the couple I'm staying with offered to take me to their family temple. Wayan's daughter, Kedek, and her young family also came. We took offering baskets with food and flowers and I was given a kebaya and sarong to wear. I was the only foreign person there. It was an honour being allowed in and to participate in the prayers. We had to sit on the ground. Kedek who is heavily pregnant had to be lowered down and pulled up to stand. Not what you want to be doing in the heat. I felt as though I was going to pass out. There's insence everywhere. You use flowers to pray with. After each prayer you place the flower in your hair. Then after 4 prayers - four flowers - there's holy water which ... read more

Deze morgen namen we de bemo bus vanuit Kuta richting Denpasar. De bemo kostte ons 20.000 Rp voor 2 personen (€2) voor een halfuur. Helaas spreken de chauffeurs weinig tot geen engels en heb je geen idee waar men je afzet. Onze chauffeur zette ons af bij één van zijn maten en we kwamen overeen dat voor 110.000 RP (€11) de andere chauffeur ons zou voeren naar Ubud. Een uurtje later, in de boemelbus , zonder airco – 30°C warm, kwamen er 2 afgepeigerde Belgjes uit de bus. Een seconde later werden we aangesproken door een vriendelijke Balinees die vroeg of we een cottage wilden zien. We hadden beter es goed gekeken op onze kaart want de cottage waarin we nu verblijven ligt nét buiten alle attracties. Hij verzekerde ons dat de cottage rustig was. Jan ... read more

De 3e dag Bali (2e dag in het stadje Ubud) was zeer geslaagd! We gingen te voet naar het apenbos. Toegang was zeer goedkoop: 20.000 RP per persoon. Nog maar 1 voet binnengezet of er zat al een aapje in Jan zijn broekzak te prutsen op zoek naar eten. Het is een zeer mooi bos met grote , oude bomen, lianen, watervalletjes , riviertjes en natuurlijk apen én baby apen. De makaken hebben mijn dag ervoor goed gemaakt. In de namiddag deden we een dutje. Slapen over de middag doet bijna iedere toerist hier. Het is hier snikheet en veel te warm om rond te lopen. Rond 16u stonden we terug op en deden we een ongelofelijk mooie wandeling tussen de rijstvelden. De rijstvelden geven je een gans ander beeld van het zo toeristische Ubud. Er ... read more

Ubud is a town designed for hippies. Everyone is floating around wearing linen and button necklaces. Having massages and reflexology. There's 'organic' and 'vegan' signs everywhere. Random herbs in drinks: maca, spirulina, wheatgrass... Everyone is meditating and doing yoga. Spiritual is definately the word. Quite different to Kuta! I'm staying in a Homestay with a lovely family. There's also another family: Kadek is the cleaner. She stays in one room with her husband and 7year old son. They live right below me. I went to a traditional Balinese dance show at a temple one evening. The dance is very perculiar, based on small movements of fingers and eyes. But very lovely setting. I've found a man that rents a bike for the day for a pound sio have cycled to a place called tegallalang. It's a ... read more

We had such a fun time on the bike tour and I shot lots of video clips to "TRY" to capture the countryside and the local life.... read more