Ubud, Bali. April 2019

So one of the appeals of Bali is the laid back way of life, this also applies to immigration. After an inexplicably long time in the queue we met our driver and set off for Ubud! We had been warned about the crazy traffic and it did not disappoint but 1.5 hours later we arrived at our hotel for the next 4 nights, Bisma Eight. It was late by then so after a quick look around we headed for bed.

Our first morning we were up early and after a delicious breakfast, including the famous Bali coffee, we spent the morning by the pool and quickly realised this was one of the best hotels we had ever stayed in, everything was perfect! After a super healthy lunch, including our first ‘poke bowl’ and a couple of Bintang’s we set off to explore Ubud. First stop was the sacred monkey forest and the monkeys were everywhere, we even saw some swimming in the fish pond! After a pleasant hour pottering and watching a local ceremony we walked back up the main street, stopping for a quick cocktail at sister hotel, Folk before checking out Ubud palace and the water temple, both beautiful and peaceful places within what is a very busy little town. Next we embarked on the ridge walk which takes you around 2KM out of Ubud providing some pretty nice jungle views along the way. As the evening was drawing in we eventually found a taxi home and watched the gorgeous sunset over the jungle from the hotels infinity pool. We had a 2am start the next day so it was room service and an early night!

The next morning, or middle of the night, we were picked up to drive just over an hour North to start the trek up Mt Batur. In the pitch black we set off after our guide with a friendly local dog keeping us company. It’s not a super hard climb and 2 hours later we reached the summit just as the first signs of sunrise were on the horizon and it was a breakfast of warm banana sandwiches and tea, which was very welcome as its cold at the top! The bananas are cooked in the steam from the volcano, did I mention it was active? Then we sat back and watched the spectacular show, it really was beautiful and the view of Mt Agung, another much bigger active volcano was stunning. The chump running around in his pink speedos was mildly annoying but what can you do, tourists eh?

Getting down was much quicker and our driver offered to stop off at the Tegalalang rice terraces which were on route. These really are spectacular and the ribbons of green seemed to go on forever. After half an hour or so exploring it was getting very hot, even though it was before 9am, so we headed back to the hotel for our second breakfast and a delightful dive into the pool. The rest of the day was understandably lazy and then we wandered around Ubud that evening, having a lovely dinner at Watercress.

The next day we decided to stay at the hotel and work our way through the drinks menu and that evening we went to a local dance performance. The chaps playing the bamboo instruments were very good and the dancers were certainly taking things seriously but I’m ashamed to say we did get the giggles. We then headed to Bridges restaurant for dinner, the setting over the river was lovely and our rather fancy meal was so tasty.

Our final morning was more wholesome! We started with a morning swim followed by yoga on the roof terrace and then while I had a traditional Balinese massage Dan went to the gym, crazy I know. After ordering pretty much everything on the breakfast menu, including the truly delicious coconut pancakes, we were picked up by Shirley our driver who took us to Tibumana waterfall. This was a lovely spot, the waterfall cascades into a pool surrounded by jungle, ripe for Instagram shots as you can imagine but it was fairly quiet when we were there thankfully. And that was Ubud, next stop Seminyak.