We just left New Zealand to kick off the next chapter of this trip: South East Asia. First stop is Bali, and we’re spending our first eight days in Ubud. Getting here was quite a journey. Up at 6, 9 a.m. flight to Melbourne (four hours), five-hour layover, another five-hour flight to Bali, and then a two-hour taxi to Ubud. Basically a full day of planes, airports, and trying not to lose our minds.
It’s quite the adjustment from New Zealand. Here it’s hot and humid in a way that makes you discover new places you can sweat from. I learned my elbows are apparently equipped with sweat glands. There’s also way more traffic, barely any sidewalks, and roughly one billion scooters doing whatever they want. So many scooters. And then there’s the whole “don’t drink the tap water” thing. We were used to that in South America, but NZ made us soft.
I’m not going to go day-by-day, so here’s what we got up to.
Our villa
Our villa is awesome. Two bedrooms with a swimming pool in the middle. It’s a pretty great place to come back to after sweating through our clothes every day. The owner of the villa is also a massage therapist, so we all got massages on our first day. Yes, even the kids! They loved it.
The Sacred Monkey Forest Sanctuary
I wasn’t sure what to expect here. It’s a forest with more than a thousand monkeys. Not a zoo. Wild monkeys. While researching, I found tons of great reviews… and also some horror stories. Apparently some of these monkeys are assholes who want to steal your phone, water bottle, sunglasses, jewellery, etc.
We were cautious at first, and the kids were scared. We told them all the rules: don’t look the monkeys in the eye, don’t show your teeth, don’t scream, don’t hold anything they might want… basically don’t be interesting in any way.
But it was fine. The monkeys were calmer than I expected, and the forest is beautiful.
Until I told the kids and Mylène to sit on some stairs so I could take a photo. A monkey jumped straight onto Mylène’s lap and started trying to open her purse. Then he hopped onto my head and refused to get off. The guidelines say to “stay calm and walk away,” which sounds great in theory, but that bastard was glued to my skull. I eventually bent down and took off my backpack, and he finally bailed.
Some people might call that a fun travel experience. I call it “how to get fleas or rabies 101.” But he didn’t scratch or bite me, and I didn’t end up with fleas, so I’ll take the win.
Physio appointment
If you read my last post, you might remember I injured my back in Mt Cook doing something extremely badass. Right before leaving NZ it was still pretty bad, so I booked a physio appointment here.
The physiotherapist barely spoke English, which surprised me because everyone else here seems to speak perfect English. I tried to explain what was hurting and I’m not convinced he understood. I think he said “muscle spasm,” but based on my Googling (and Mylène) it’s more like a pinched nerve or “lumbar radiculopathy,” whatever that is.
He used an ultrasound thing on me, then massaged the painful area and gave me a few exercises. Whatever he did, it worked, because the pain is almost gone now. And the best part: the whole hour cost $25 CAD. In Ottawa this would’ve been at least $140!
Tegallalang Rice Terrace
Ubud is surrounded by rice terraces, and Tegallalang is one of the prettiest. It’s touristy but wasn’t too crowded when we went. We wandered around for a couple of hours taking in the views. I’m pretty sure this is just the beginning of our rice-terrace viewing in Bali and the rest of Southeast Asia.
Coffee plantation
Ubud is known for its coffee. I have no idea why. The coffee here is… fine, I guess, but nowhere near as good as even the worst coffee we had in NZ.
We still stopped at a plantation, and I’m pretty sure the whole thing was staged. There was an older woman roasting beans with a stick and a pan, and then using another stick to “grind” them. They had maybe three coffee plants total, so I’m not sure where the actual coffee comes from.
They also had civet cats in a cage, because this is where they show you how “kopi luwak” is made. These cats eat the beans, ferment them in their guts, shit them out, and then people roast and sell them for $500/kg. No thank you.
Tirta Empul Temple
We visited this water temple, and they make you wear a sarong to go inside. A bunch of people get into the pools for some kind of ritual. We didn’t do it, but honestly I kind of wanted to jump in because it was insanely hot and the water looked very inviting.
Bali Zoo
I don’t like zoos. But the kids really wanted to go, so off we went. It was hot as hell and we saw a bunch of caged animals. Some of them even did little shows for us. Not my favourite place, but the kids were happy, so that’s what counts.
Wrap Up
Ubud is a pretty cool place, but nowhere near as relaxing as it is portrayed in Eat Pray Love with Julia Roberts. We were pretty worried about getting "Bali Belly" from the food, but so far so good. And the food is quite cheap even in highly rated and reputable restaurants.
Here are a few other random photos.
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