Blogs from Ubud, Bali, Indonesia, Asia - page 23

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Asia » Indonesia » Bali » Ubud September 5th 2011

It was the cheapest way to fly from Australia to Malaysia, but my six day soujourn on Bali turned out to be far better than any stopover I have had yet - even if it did still involve a couple of nights sleeping on the floors of airports! With only a few days on Bali and a month on the beach in Malaysia awaiting me, I decided to head up into the centre of the island to Ubud. I'd always wanted to go to Bali ever since I had seen photos of glistening emerald rice terraces years ago, but the horror stories always put me off. Not the ones about the bombings, but the reputation of the Aussies in Kuta, almost as bad as the Brits in Benidorm. Thankfully most of them don't make it past ... read more
Lotus flower
Ubud market
Three wise monkeys

Asia » Indonesia » Bali » Ubud August 27th 2011

Bueno, bueno... pues aqui estamos todavia, en Ubud, Bali. Si no fuese porque los precios estan inflados para el turisteo internacional y honeymooners varios, es un sitio donde apetece quedarse. Ya tenemos nuestra rutina montada, nuestro internet cafe (donde os escribo atcualmente), nuestro warung (puesto de comida indonesio) donde cenamos practicamente cada noche, y antes de dormir de parloteo en la terraza de nuestra habitracion con vistas a los campos de arroz. Los alrededores de Ubud son increibles, y no hemos parado estos tres dias que hemos estado aqui. Hasta hice yoga en un sitio impresionante!! Eso si, me quede completamente alucinada del nivelon de los yoguis aqui, y al dia siguiente tenia unas agujetas que no podia con mi cuerpo... Y encima al dia siguiente teniamos contratado un tour en bicicleta por los alrededores. A ... read more
Mas terrazas de arroz
Gunung Kawi
Templo del agua en Ubud

Asia » Indonesia » Bali » Ubud August 24th 2011

Selamat Datang! Ya estamos en Bali desde ayer por la manyana. Finalmente! Aunque Java parezca pequenya en el mundo, creedme que atravesarla desde yogyakarta hasta Bali por tierra lleva su tiempo... Asi que embarcamos en el ferry a Bali con ilusion de cambiar de isla y llegar a la archiconocida isla de los dioses. Un consejo: nunca tengas demasiadas expectativas ante un nuevo destino, porque probablemente(al menos al principio) te decepcionara. Nuestra llegada a Bali, que imaginabamos practicamente con balineses recibiendonos con collares de flores y ofreciendonos cualquier tipo de transporte hasta Munduk ( el lugar donde pasabamos la noche), fue mas bien un capitulo al mas puro estilo pekin express. No habia taxis, la estacion de bus estaba practicamente vacia con 0 turistas y un par de minibuses con las ruedas mediodesinchadas y los asientos ... read more
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Photo 5

Asia » Indonesia » Bali » Ubud August 17th 2011

From Kuta Lombok it was only an hour by car and then 4 hours on the ferry before arriving in Padang Bai, Bali. I had a little trouble finding a reasonably priced room because August is high season and the locals try to make the most of it by putting prices right up. I settled on a basic room with breakfast for $11 a night. I met a lovely Italian girl called Cinzia at my hotel and in the evening we decided to eat at a little local warung. We both ordered fish with rice and vegetables but were very surprised when we received a plate containing two halves of a very large fish head. We came to the conclusion that maybe this warung didn't like tourists eating there. The next morning we went snorkeling at ... read more
Sanur
Padang Padang
Uluwatu

Asia » Indonesia » Bali » Ubud August 14th 2011

This was one of those unplanned day trips that I decided to take while I was in Bali for a conference. When my friend Faizal asked me if I wanted to join him for a cycling trip to Ubud, I immediately said yes. I had always wanted to wander around Ubud, going through the small streets and explore the villages. We were lucky enough to find a great tour operator, ran by Nyoman (www.jegegbalicycling.com) who was ready to pick us up in the morning near Maya Hotel Ubud. We didn't require transport and drove ourselves to Ubud, and even though the tour included breakfast at Kintamani, we skipped breakfast and went straight ahead to see "a coffee plantation", which was far from being called a plantation!. It is an area planted with lots of local plants ... read more
The villager with a pig
Our easy ride
The man with a tattoo

Asia » Indonesia » Bali » Ubud August 6th 2011

Surfs up in Bali! After a couple of days of relaxing on the beach, (attempted) surfing and wandering the streets of Kuta we headed out of town for an afternoon. First stop Dreamland. Finding ourselves amongst many over excited Chinese tourists on the picturesque Dreamland beach, surrounded by more professional surfers than we found in Kuta. This beach is beyond beautiful. It had everything - rockpools, boats way out to see, golden sand, and surfers carving up the crystal clear waves. The one not so beautiful site, but a serious entertainment factor, was a portly Chinese fella working the speedos. Following a quick dip we ventured on to Ulu Watu. Having been given sarongs and a firm warning about the monkeys we had a tight grip on our possessions as we entered the temple's clifftop grounds. ... read more
Beach Salesman, Kuta Beach
Petrol?
Dreamland Beach

Asia » Indonesia » Bali » Ubud August 2nd 2011

After spending a semi-sleepless night in Tirta Gangga, with the suicidal fan which spent the night attempting to self destruct, we jumped into the minibusses and headed for Ubud in the rain! I think this was the first time I had seen rain since arriving in Indonesia. On the way, Nyoman had planned for us to stop at White sands beach but, due to the rain, I didn't expect this to happen. I was reminded that this is Indonesia, not England, and my expectations for rain and how long it lasted needed reallignment as it stopped not long after we set off. An hour later we arrived at white sands with the minibus heading down a road which would have been challenging for a 4x4. To the drivers credit, we arrived with us and the minibus ... read more
black rice with honey and coconut....... mmmm
bat asleep
bat awake

Asia » Indonesia » Bali » Ubud July 30th 2011

Our guide, Apel, took us to a local market with no tourists. People asked Apel in Indonesian where we were from and if we were rich. They thought I was a movie star. Unlike the tourist markets, no one really spoke to us because they didn’t speak English. The hallways were narrow and there was a lot of clutter like other markets I’ve been in but the one difference was the water flowing below in cement streams. This seemed to keep it cool inside all the tarps. My mom and dad tried mangosteens for the first time. They share my obsession now. I had snake skin fruit for the first time which was also yummy. At a certain point Aple told us to stop and turn around. He said we were approaching the part of the ... read more
Bali Aga Village Cock Fighter
Orchid
Monkey Forest Family

Asia » Indonesia » Bali » Ubud July 23rd 2011

Prologue My 2011 visit to my parents' home in Singapore was a bittersweet one. My parents had sold my childhood home and I went to pack up as much stuff from my first 24 years as I could fit into two suitcases. I supported their choice to downsize. The downside, however, was that my childhood home, which was an actual house built on freehold (fee simple) land - a rarity in land scarce Singapore - would be torn down by the new owners who would most likely build a soulless custom McMansion on the plot. Not only did I have to say goodbye to a structure that housed so many memories, I also had to figure out what to keep and what to toss. Even though I am relatively unsentimental about my past, in hindsight I ... read more
Goodbye, Childhood Home
Close Up Of An Offering
Penestanan

Asia » Indonesia » Bali » Ubud July 23rd 2011

22.7. Syötiin aamupala terassilla seuraten riisipelloilla uurastavia miehiä ja pihapuussa lenteleviä kolibreja. Kympiltä mentiin sitten molemmat spahan ja sekin on niin tyylikkästi toteutettu, että ei voinut kuin ihastella. Pelkästään jo sinne mennessä rentoutui. Meille annettin sarongit ja pienet mustat mytyt, joista sanottiin, että underwear. J oli aivan kauhuissaan, kun muovikääröstä kuoriutui paperiset alkkarit. Sain vakuuteltua, että ne pitää nyt vaan laittaa jalkaan, jotta hoito voi alkaa. Ensin meidät molemmat hierottiin perinteisellä balilaisella tekniikalla, joka on kyllä hieno keksintö. Aivan taivaallista, vois thaikut tulla ottamaan oppia ja jättää ne omat hakkaamistekniikkansa! J:n hieronta vielä jatkui, kun mulle levitettiin kahvikuorintavoide ja sen jälkeen papayanaamio. Näiden jälkeen mulla oli vielä ohjelmassa maitokylpy ja lämmin jacuzzi, josta oli näköala suoraan rii... read more
SPA
Katukuvaa Ubudista
Vesipalatsi, hetki ennen renkaiden puhkomista




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