Ubud
Oh my goodness what a journey- walking, ferries, a scary car journey, overnight outside an airport, fly, wait, fly, taxi, and finally hiking up a steep hill all in 24 hours and with no sleep. Finally We arrived at our lovely charity run guesthouse in the middle of some stunning paddy fields with the lovely spanish owner, great opportunity for me practice!
After settling in and a quick nap we set about organising our week or so in Bali. We'd originally intended to skip Bali itself and go directly to the Gili Islands but after doing a bit of research online it seemed like it was going to cost far to much for just a few days there. However after speaking to owner of the guesthouse, it became apparent that buying tickets is a lot cheaper on the island. So the plans changed and we made the decision to just spend 3 days in Ubud, central Bali then head over to Gili Meno.
Begonia from our guesthouse introduced us to Eka who took us on a tour of some of the hotspots in central Bali. Our highlights of this day trip were the Sebatu Temple which was magnificently beautiful and peaceful, it's a holy water temple where hindus visit to bath and bless themselves. We visited the Gunung Kawih Temple which is tucked in a valley down 300 steps and carved out of stone itself in the hillside not far from Ubud. Whilst at the temple we had heard to follow a small path which then went over the rice paddies it was so small and quiet we considered turning back but we are so glad we kept going because at the end there was a lovely waterfall and water at the bottom you could swim in. There was no one around so expect a local farming lady so we got in water and had a splash. We then went to what is known as the mother temple, Besakeh. It was a bit of a mission to get through the locals trying to con you into having a guide around the temple, but with our frugal mindset we managed to avoid that and explore the extravagant temple independently.
Yet again we ended up at an unusual coffee tasting experience, where we were given 13 coffees to taste whilst being awkwardly watched by the lady working there - we ended up pretty much downing them.
We also visited a traditional village and saw the old style homes and streets there before heading to Gianyar, a night market full of locals getting their dinner, as most families in Bali only eat breakfast and lunch in the home and venture out for supper every evening.
