Blogs from Ubud, Bali, Indonesia, Asia - page 36

So we would start a small boutique hotel in Ubud. Then the child needed to have a name. A lot of the small hotels or guesthouses in Bali are called “ Villa So-and-So” where “So-and-So” has to be replaced by some exotic name. “Villa Hibiscus”, “Villa Cempaka”, “Villa Mahayani”, … So we could hardly call our little paradise “Misty Cliffs” or “Summer Willows”. We needed something oriental and a tad mysterious. frangipani tree We have two, one hundred and fifty years old, frangipani trees in the garden. We therefore initially were considering “Villa Frangipani”. My wife liked that name. The name reminded me strongly of the frangipane cake of my youth. So no, not “Villa Frangipani. At the left side, after entering the gate we have a cloves tree. Cloves in Bahasa Indonesia is "Cengkeh" and ... read more

Well I think our bodies are becoming acclimated to the time change. Last night after a couple glasses of wine I was down for the count. It was only 7:00pm. This morning I'm up and ready to start my day @ 3:00 am. The day before we were in bed @ 6:00 pm. We're making progress! Today we ate breakfast and made big plans for a deluxe day at the Zen Day Spa (also recommended by Kelly). We were signed up for a hour massage, full body scrub and a floral bath. The whole treatment was to take 1 1/2 hrs. The bummer was we fell behind and lost track of time. We called to ask them if we could come in 15 minutes late and it sounded OK. By the time we got there they ... read more

The next morning we decided we needed to get up early and start on our adventures since we had been doing nothing but relaxing, pool plunging and eating!!! We scheduled a friend of Sarah's parents, Charlie, to come and drive us to Ubud (about an hour drive) to the Bali Safari!! The rain had finally arrived in Bali thanks to this crazy weather pattern and it poured all day long. This however did not stop us! It was myself, Al, Blair and Louise two of Al's friends from Perth. Blair had only had a couple hours of sleep but was fabulous in keeping up with the rest of us at the Safari. We had no idea what to expect either but we were very very pleasantly surprised! Camera gear in hand we ventured out into the ... read more

Ubud Arrived to Denpasar after a lovely 16hour bus ride, wasn’t so bad actually nice comfy seats etc. Then got a motorbike taxi to Ubud, complete with 20kg bag and day pack - yes on a motorbike, the main rules of the road to remember here is there are no rules! Its every man for himself, nobody gives way, pedestrians are given no right of way even on a foot path where you will find cars and bikes sneaking up, and both drive the wrong way down a busy main road…..so with all that in mind, we set off to Ubud! Ubud really nice, quite touristy, but was nice to meander through the art gallerys, have a coffee or two and take it easy! Went on some nice walks in the rice paddy fields. Met a ... read more

Today we wanted to take it easy. We left the hotel this morning and headed for some of the small shops here in Ubud. It was a beautiful day outside and great for walking the streets. We made our way in and out of some of the shops mingling and conversing with some of the local vendors. It was fun. Next Dewa told us he wanted to take us to a famous rice terrace. On the way, we stopped and had a nice lunch with ANOTHER beautiful view. Heard this enough yet? The food was great and we enjoyed a nice relaxing lunch with a great breeze. After lunch we arrived at the Tegallalang rice terrace. This place had an amazing view!! We walked around there for a bit and finally left as there were so ... read more