My partner and I flew from Perth on Jetstar on April 3rd. Good flight and we didn't order anything, the flight was full. Also we had carry on only. I had 7kg in my bag, but it is a Bag with magnets that hold it to a motor bike tank. Sue only have 4.6kg in her back pack.
A bit of a wait through Immigration (45mins) but no biggy. Got the fixed price Taxi to Legian to pick up our Bike. Honda Tiger 200cc manual. I had pre-arranged this with Mohamad at Bali Tops Tours in Jalan Legain. Have gone to him and his mates for about 5 years now for anything from new phone card to tours and bike hire.
Paid for 10 days hire and off to Ubud. It rained a bit on the way up and we stopped for a hot tea at a small warung on the way for about 45 mins. And then continued in overcast conditions and wet roads.
Got a bit dirty from the spray behind the trucks and vans, laundry service will fix that.
Road into Ubud down past Indus and over the bridge in Campuan and Murni's Warung, up the hill and left into Jln Bisma. Along this road past Café de Artiste, Honeymoon Guesthouse almost to the end and now on broken pavers and dirt. On the left is Bucu View, we had booked 3 nights here. There are small stand alone Villas, Verandah and bathroom down stairs and large bedroom and sitting area upstairs. The view overlooks the gorge with lush vegetation and the sound of the river way below. Very peacefull.
I have stayed here a few times now and love it. Very private, the pool is smallish but clean and refreshing. 350,000rph including breakfast. The rate is slightly discounted from the norm.
Dumped the bags and off for a massage. There was a new place in Jln Bisma and saw they had Head Massage and shoulder massage for 40,000rph Sue does this type of work part time and thought we would give it a go for comparison. The treatment was fine although there was a bit of noise out the back, they were getting ready for the official opening the next day.
Off to Buddha Café or Bar (just up the small gang next to Ganesha Book Shop). Chai and a chocolate brownie, a bit of a read of the new book I got from Ganesha. We were there for about an hour.
Down the back streets to a Spa someone recommended, it was a bit grotty so plan ‘B' was off to Zen Spa in Jln Hanoman. 1hr massage 100,000rph. Just to get into the holiday mood. Dinner was at Bali Pesto, middle of the range pricing about 100,000rph for the both of us. Early night and a good sleep was in order.
Bright sunshine awaited us on the 1st morning, had a swim and ordered breaky to eat on our verandah and read and chill.
Will summarise Ubud a bit as we didn't do a whole lot, rode around lots and walked a bit.
Other Spa we went to was Verona on Jln. Monkey Forest, Javanese Lulur 135,000 rph. 75min massage and body scrub and a soak in the bath afterwards whilst eating fruit and hot ginger tea. It is tough at the top.
Eating - lunch and snacks were mostly at Buddha Café and Kafe on Jln Hanoman. Also had a great lunch at Gayatri Café on Jln MF on the rhs heading towards the markets past the Soccer Ground. Local food was great there and pretty cheap.
Tutmak for dinner the second night, the fish was good and the beer cold.
Café de Artiste the last night, was looking forward to this as we went there last trip together and were planning to go at some stage. Also after Pak Mungkin's review couldn't wait. However, our meals were over cooked although tasty, forgot what we had for desert but was fine. The costs was about 350,000rph which was pretty good.
Rode up to Kintimani and back down through Tampak Siring to a beautiful temple called Gunung Kawi. Lots of steps down to the river. Past a lot of shops that tell you you have to have a sarong to go to the temple. They have them for sale of course, so buy one from them or get one at the entrance and donate some money there.
Ubud, great first stop to chill and relax. We noticed a lot of Americans this time around, I wish I had a volume switch on one occasion, a group of 5 young ladies were at the other end of a café (about 6 tables away) all competing to be heard over each other of the plight of one of the ladies tampon experience and why she changed out of her white fisherman's pants. Very amusing really, they seemed oblivious to the 20 or so other people in the joint.
After 3 nights in beautiful Ubud we are off to Padang Bai first thing in the Morning.
Cheers,
Ray