Bali and Gilis: Part 1 - Ubud

It's been too long. I know! But better late than never...here are my blog posts about my incredible summer holiday to Bali and the Gili Isles. Apologies it's taken so long.

Day One

On 1st July 2012, Rach and I got up super early (2am!) to go to the airport. After a pretty hairy taxi journey there (the one taxi driver in Bangkok who didn't know where the airport was!?) we arrived safely, checked in and went for a croissant and a cuppa in the departures area. 

I had a window seat on the plane which, for me, was a pretty scary ordeal. Although I was brave and took some photos of us leaving Bangkok.

Outskirts of Bangkok

Sunrise and clouds over the Gulf of Thailand

Mountain peaks peek through the clouds
over Java (maybe?)

The plane journey was good and only took about 5 hours. I read the rest of The Hobbit and started the first Stephanie Plum novel. Holiday reading at its best! Landing on Bali was really unusual. The airport is right next to the sea and so our approach was completely over open water. We were getting closer and closer and could see the waves breaking before suddenly the runway was underneath us and we touched down. Not a bad first glimpse of the island.

After getting our visas on arrival, we went to collect our luggage. Rach's appeared on the conveyor belt, but mine was nowhere to be seen. Air Asia had left it in Bangkok! Rubbish! The very helpful man at the airport gave me a form and promised me it would be at my hotel by the following evening.

We stopped and had some thing to eat at one of the airport cafes then got a taxi to Ubud. The journey was warm and slow, traffic was quite bad as the roads are only one land and it's the main route between the Denpasar and Ubud. However, we had our first glimpse of rice paddies and there were loads of kites flying. We'd arrived during the kite flying festival and so every now and then there were pockets of 10 or 15 kites dotting the skies. Very pretty.

We arrived at Kakiang Bungalows, which looked lovely. They had a bakery outside which was already tempting! Kakiang Bungalows were at the bottom of Hanoman Road and about a 30 minute walk to the top of Monkey Forest Road (the main road in Ubud). Although it was a bit of a walk, it was nice to do so much walking every day and see the shops and temples.

Once we'd left Rach's luggage at the hotel, we went for a walk around Ubud. There were loads of pretty shops selling clothes, jewellery, kites, souvenirs and trinkets. I bought myself a bikini and a top so I'd have something to wear while I was waiting for my luggage.

Monkeys outside the Monkey Forest

Pretty shops on Monkey Forest Road

Market in Ubud

We stopped for an early dinner at Ibu Rai and had our first taste of Storm Beer. A delicious meal! Spring rolls, mango and shrimp salad in wonton, chipati with chicken and mango and a chicken sandwich with onion marmalade. 

Prawns and mango salsa on a wonton

Yum

After such a long day we went back to the bungalows for a game of cards and bed. We're wild.

Day Two

The Kakaing Bakery breakfast was very good! Croissants, toast, eggs, fruit and tea. Stuffed! :) 

Hungry?

We spent the morning doing some more exploring of Ubud. We went to see some of the temples and old houses before walking down to a small stream and through some rice fields. 

Ubud Palace

Small shrine by the stream

Kettle in the rice paddies

We went for lunch at the Bali Buddha, an organic cafe with a huge range of foods to try. I had the beetroot, mint and carrot salad with hummus, Rach had an amazing chicken salad with seeds. We'd definitely be going back there again! So cheap!

After lunch we went back to the bungalows and sat by the pool to read. My luggage arrived safely and in once piece which was really good - meant we could get dressed up for dinner that evening! We had a lazy afternoon reading by the pool (what...we were on holiday!) and then went out for dinner to Kebua, a French style bistro. 

How could you not be tempted by this?

We treated ourselves to a bottle of wine and had a huge tapas selection! While having dinner, a friend from school walked passed. Sarah was in Ubud for a few days to so we arranged to meet up before we left for Candi Dasa. 

Grilled vegetables

Mezze platter and prawns

Beef with caramelised onions

Creme Brulee

After another very stressful day, we went back to the bungalow for some cards and kindle.

Day Three

We had a late breakfast at about 9am, stocking up on scrambled eggs and toast before a long walk to see some rice fields. We'd decided to follow one of the trails in the Lonely Planet book and walked for about an hour an a half through Penestan to the river look out post. 

While trying to find our way, we met a tour guide who helped up get to the river look out point. He was very helpful and kept appearing at crossroads or junctions, pointing the way. When we finally got to the look out, he was there too and told us about some better view points. Stunning!

We decided, instead of following the rest of the LP walk, we'd go with him on a tour through the rice paddies. Before we set off, we used one of the villas as a rest stop and had the most amazing view from the toilet...

View from the most scenic loo ever!

We set off on our walk which took us along the river, through rice fields and up and down the steepest hills ever. He showed us turmeric  vanilla pods, sweet potatoes, bananas, lemon grass and chillis all growing in between the fields. Some of the hills, or should I say, rock faces we climbed were daunting and Rach and I were pretty scared! But it was all worth it and we saw some amazing sights. By the time we'd finished, we'd been walking for another 2 and a half hours and were knackered. My thighs have never hurt so much! 

Huge spider on a banana plant

Harry Potter house!

After such a long day, Rach and I were ready to collapse. Or eat a horse. So we stopped into the Bridge restaurant which was beautiful! The view from the terrace we ate on was glorious and the Indonesian food was delicious.

After dinner, we got a taxi back to the hotel and napped. Oh good lord, how we ached! We got up about 6pm and then went for dinner at Pandi Pandi, which was about 2 mins from our hotel. We had another Storm beer or too...nice to have real beer!

Satay chicken with coconut vegetables
and chicken skewer with jacket potato

After dinner, we went over the road to meet Sarah for a drink in Siam Sally. The served homemade truffles that were infused with kaffir lime leaf which were really good. A few of those may have been consumed! It was then back to the bungalow for another card game before bed.

Day Four

Our long walk certainly took it out of us. Rach and I were both stiff and aching and getting up and moving around was accompanied by granny-like moaning. So, it was only right that we spent the morning by the pool, resting our weary legs and reading our kindles. 

I decided to go for a mooch about on Monkey Forest Road for a little while before lunch and bought a pretty silver chime necklace as a souvenir. Rach came to meet me for lunch at Bali Buddha again and we had a suitably healthy meal there. The tomato quiche was very good.

Handmade water feature

Colourful handmade belts

Kite shop on Monkey Forest Road

We spent a little more time relaxing by the pool in the afternoon and then went to meet Sarah at RendevouzDoux. Sadly, she hadn't got our message in time and so we didn't end up meeting. Instead, Rach and I had our last Ubud evening meal at Nomads, one of the restaurants that's recommended in the LP. Rach had the biggest tuna steak I've ever seen and I had a mixture of 9 Indonesian tapas dishes. Such good food!

This was bigger than Rach's fist!

I'm ashamed to say, I couldn't quite finish it all! 

So, our last night in Ubud was spent stuffed full of delicious food and feeling relaxed and refreshed already. I'd definitely like to go back there. It was calm and peaceful and had a hippy-ish feel to it. The Indonesian people were really friendly, the rice paddies and landscape was beautiful and the food was great. If I were to go back again, I'd quite like to do the downhill bike tour (my kinda bike tour!) as Sarah did it and said it was great. She saw the volcano and loads of lovely scenery. Maybe I cold squeeze in another trip before I return to the UK.