Lovina and Ubud

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Bali is already very different from Java. Java is mainly Muslim while Bali is mostly Hindu. As soon as we got off the ferry we could feel that it is much less conservative. Almost every single house has it's own temple/shrine and there are “offerings” all over the place. People will put the “offerings” at the end of their driveway, on their motorcycles, in front of their shops etc. Many people have tattoo's, some actually wear shorts, but there are also a lot of traditionally dressed Balinese people around. The older people are generally the ones to wear the traditional clothing (consisting batik sarongs; the women sometimes have long lace tops on with belts wrapped around their hips, the men usually have a traditional headdress that we unfortunately don't know the proper word for) but it has been really eye-opening to see such a big difference from island to island.



Lovina

Once we got off the ferry on Bali, it was really easy finding a bus to Lovina where we wanted to spend a few days. It was only $3 per person for about a 2 hour ride on a cramped bemo. Once we got there we had no idea where we wanted to stay, just had read of a certain road that had cheap accommodations. So we headed in that direction and started asking guesthouses and hotels how much a cheap room was for a night. As we mentioned in the last blog, we found a great little cottage type place for only $10/night. Steal of a deal!

Lovina was a great little place; exactly the atmosphere we were looking for after our East Java adventure.

(Since we are now kind of on a schedule to get to Lombok in time to extend our visa, we aren't really able to linger too long in one place. There is a lot to see on Bali - Right now we are getting in as much as we can with the plan to hopefully stay on Nusa Lembongan for at least 4 nights.)

Lovina was definitely a place we could have spent a little more time. We found our favourite little spot to eat with cheap food and cheap happy hour beers ($2 for a large Bintang 5-8pm), the beach wasn't the best but it sure was nice to get in the ocean and our hotel also had a wicked infinity pool. But we had to move on so to Ubud we went.



Ubud

Ubud is up in the mountains (where it seems we have been spending a lot of time in Indonesia) so again we had gorgeous curvey roads with lots to look at. While we were driving, it sometimes felt like we were driving through the clouds it was so foggy!

When we made it to Ubud we got dropped off in the middle of town which is not where we wanted to be so we found a little place to grab a fruit juice and pulled out the laptop to figure out how to get East. With a little help from Lonely Planet and our waitress we started heading in the right direction. Again we have ended up in a cottage-type bungalow away from the noise of the city. We are surrounded by flora with a view of a river. Charming is really a great word to describe this place, plus the little old lady who runs it is pretty cute.

Ubud overall is known as the cultural capital of Bali and we can certainly see how true that really is. There are tons of little shops with wooden carved crafts, batik clothing, and other artsy shops.While wandering around we came across a balinese dance show. It would have been awesome to see but we opted for a traditional Balinese massage instead. We obtained a few kinks from our recent 4WD excursions and who can pass up a one hour full body massage for $7.50?

For someone with a budget slightly higher than ours, it would be a nice place to stay longer than we are. However, our budget is more like Port Stanley than Grand Bend. We are looking for $1.50 meals not $5.00. We want $10/night accommodations not $20/night accommodations. These little things really add up so we are heading on to our next destination in the morning.

Tomorrow we will be leaving Ubud to move on to the popular Kuta beach. The white sand will go for miles in either direction, and the parties last till morning (Tyler picked it to celebrate his birthday, although we will be there a little ahead of schedule). I've personally been a little homesick the past few days so hopefully some beach time and a bit more sun will kick me out of this funk.

Lots of hugs and kisses to the people who brighten my day 😊

xoxo Ty+Becs

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Photos

Lovina
The rice fields are never far away

Lovina
lots of shops! Tyler bought a sarong and I got some comfy purple pants... we're real backpackers now lol

Lovina
home for a couple nights

Ubud
stairs that lead down to our private getaway by the river

Ubud
our own porch. Had coffee and banana pancakes served for breakfast, yumm!

Lovina
Gate to the beach

Comments

[Tommy]

Lovina
Do you remember the names of the hotel and the cheap restaurant you visited while in Lovina. My wife and I are heading there tomorrow.