Ubud

Day 01 – Today we are regretfully leaving for Ubud. We didn’t think we would love Denpasar and our homestay that much. We would have loved to stay few more nights. Once again, we take a taxi there (well a Gojek, sort of like Uber, it is much cheaper than a taxi). Let’s just say the bus network is not optimal in Bali. We take some time to exit Denpasar, it is a city that is stretching wide, but from the car, we are really enjoying the “tour”. There are beautifully carved temples everywhere, lush vegetation and beautiful houses. Then, as we reach Ubud, we drive on a bridge surrounded by an impressive jungle. There are bamboos 15cm thick. To this day Côme doesn’t believe us when we say they are bamboos. He thinks they are trees. Ubud is a very busy/touristic city. There is just one main road and a traffic jam that doesn’t end. We tell our driver to drop us there, it will be way faster on foot.

The street to our next homestay is the market street. It’s really charming. On the floor there are messages from former toursits who left their mark and on each side of the street stalls selling clothing, souvenirs, kites and of course massage salons. When we reach our homestay, the family is embarrassed. Our room is not ready yet because the previous guests have not checked out (even though it’s 3 pm). We tell them we don’t mind at all. We just leave our stuff and head to that bridge in order to have that walk our driver recommanded. At first, it’s beautiful, there are temples in the middle of the jungle, weird looking crawlers, but, as we continue on, the pouring rain invites itself to our stroll. We take cover under a tree but we quickly realize we will have to walk under the pouring rain anyway. Doo hides the bag with our documents and the tablet under his shirt and we go back home as fast as we can.

When we arrive at the homestay, we are drenched but our room is ready for us. Our clothes will take days to dry. In the evening, once again, Doo will go out to bring back food that we will eat in our room. On the bed, there seems to be something itchy…

Day 02 – Today we are served our first Balinese breakfast: fruits, tea and flashy green pancakes (yes, flashy green) with banana inside. Julia eats all of them because Côme decides it’s too green for him (and Doo is obviously still sleeping). They are delicious but she won’t be eating lunch today. When Doo wakes up, he notices weird looking pimples on his body… Could there be bed bugs or fleas in the bed? Anyway, we all head to the monkey forest. On the way, Côme stops at every pond with fishes he sees to put his hands right inside and catch or feed the fishes. Julia is trying not to be too discusted by it but it’s Côme’s favorite activity. The only real problem is that he wants to stay there for hours…

Before we get into the forest, Doo reckons it would be great to buy some biscuits for the monkeys (yes, we love to live dangerously). So with a pack of Ritz we get into the monkey’s territory: a beautiful jungle with a temple inside. We start to feed the first few monkeys we see, but we will quickly stop because we realize the monkeys are really gluttonous and we see signs saying that it is forbidden to feed them. But the monkeys are well fed by the forest rangers (coconut, corn…).

In the late afternoon, we go to a balinese play that is performed in the forest. The story of a princess and a frog (not the Disney version though). So in this story, a prince goes into the jungle to hunt a tiger but can only find dragon flies. As he deems them not worthy of a king, a sorcerer will transform him into a frog. Then a princess finds the frog and falls in love with him. In the end, the frog is turned back into the prince. A pretty quick story right? Well, nooooooooooo! It lasted for a good hour and a half with repetitive shrill music and long long long dances… Let’s just say we held on for as much as we could and then left (most people had left way before us).

In the evening, Julia finally goes to have an hour massage while Côme and Doo play in the pool. She will come back enchanted by this moment that was just for herself.

Day 03 – Today we’re renting a scooter! We are heading to the north of Ubud to see the rice terraces. And since a picture is worth a thousand words, you’ll see in the photo gallery how beautiful they are! There’s a ton of pictures because it was hard to select. So it’s like we wrote a book right? We took our time to explore and we also took the opportunity of the scooter to go check the countryside. It was also beautiful. We came across a village of wood carvers and we were able to witness the different steps of wood carving (first with a chainsaw and then with more precise tools). We also finally sent the postcards from Nepal!!! Over there, the post office was not yet reestablished (post Covid) and we kept on forgetting…

Day 04 – Today is our last day in Ubud. Doo is discovering new hitchy pimples every day so there’s definitely a flea or a bed bug that established residency on him. He tried to drown it in the pool yesterday but it didn’t work. His only question now is: how long is a flea’s lifespan? As we’re about to leave our homestay in the morning, we see the entire family preparing tons of offerings in the temple. We ask them what is going on and they answer that today is the end of a 210 days cycle and that is the day they celebrate their ancestors. They invite us to the ceremony that will begin in the afternoon. So we go out for a small stroll and a quick bite and then come back to the homestay. The ceremony takes place in the temple. Everybody is well dressed with small offerings in front of them. On the altar the offerings are huge. There are two cooked pigs and much food. There is a man chanting and playing an instrument. He’s guiding people through the ritual. Then several members of the family bless us with rice (that we have to stick onto our forehead) and blessed water that they throw on us and then in our hands in order for us to drink it. We have to do it three times. The water is perfumed. And no, we won’t get sick from drinking it. It’s blessed water after all!

After the ceremony we are invited to the feast. We apologize because we have just eaten and we are pretty full (we didn’t know there would be a feast) but we stay nonetheless and help ourselves to the food. One of the dishes that appears to be harmless (mixed rice with some meat) is the spiciest thing we’ve ever eaten (and we’re just coming from Nepal!). It’s a good thing we haven’t taken too much of it on our plate. After a short while, we thank our hosts and go for a last walk in the city. Tomorrow, we’ll leave for Jatiluwih to see yet other rice fields. When we come back in the evening, there are still members of the family in the courtyard and they offer us yet again some food. This time the only thing left are deserts. Nobody even touched a delicious chocolate cake and Côme is delighted to have a few pieces. Later that evening Julia is going for her second massage but this time around, Côme will go and have a massage too. Since there’s only one woman massaging, Julia and Côme will take turn. While Julia is getting massaged, Côme will play with the woman’s 7 year old daughter. They will try to catch a gecko together and watch a cartoon on the phone. And then it will be Côme’s turn. He will manage to unwind, relax and stop moving for a while (which is kinda miraculous! We were doubting it would be possible). The masseuse is adorable and takes care of him like a mother. Côme will enjoy his first real massage.

In Ubud, Côme:
Did not understand: how come the monkeys had a mohawk.
Learnt: that a monkey could have a moustache.
Loved: catching a fish with his bare hands.

Julia:
Did not understand: why the dancers’ faces were deadpan and their eyes wide open.
Learnt: that every house in Bali had a temple/altar in their courtyard.
Loved: the lush nature and the massages.

Doo:
Did not understand: how the flea/bed bug survived the pool.
Learnt: that Balinese theatre was way too slow to his liking.
Loved: the scooter getaway in the countryside.