Ubud
We get in around 10pm after a trying flight experience, but we are here as is all of our luggage (gate agent in Broome messed up our luggage) and the screaming family is gone. We are pleasantly surprised at the hotel and our room. Our room has its own private patio with a small pool. We unpack and hit the bed - we're tired
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| Love a free room upgrade! |
You ask where is Ubud. First, it's a town on the island of Bali, Indonesia that was made famous by the movie "Eat, Pray, Love." We are north of Australia. Indonesia is a vast archipelago consisting of over 17,000 Islands (depending on your definition) and over 6,000 of them inhabited. On this trip we will visit two, Bali and Lombok.
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Bali and Lombok are greatly enlarged on this map.
In reality they are small islands in the middle of the archipelago
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Next morning we head to breakfast where I play it safe with eggs benedict, but Jeff tries a local breakfast dish, Mie Goreng which he enjoyed. It was a pile of fried noodles with a fried egg on top and pickled vegetables. We also get a juice each. To put it mildly, the street the hotel fronts is busy and narrow. Happily, our room is way in the back and quiet. Now it is time to venture out and explore. I am window shopping for silver jewelry since I heard that is a local product. I also notice some straw handbags but decide there is currently no room in the luggage so drop the bag idea. We are walking with a bit of a purpose in that we are heading for a trail called the ridgeline trail
Along the way, we see the Ubud Palace, officially Puri Saren Agung. We wander in and look around. I like the architecture style and am amazed at all the gold leaf. From there we keep wandering and peer in at a couple of other elaborate buildings.
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| Front |
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| Back |
We find the trail and start down a path that quickly takes us to a temple which we peer in - don't think was open. The trail is a former road of some sort and made of steppingstones. We stop and check out the view a couple of times because yes, we are on a ridge and wow there are some big trees, fancy houses, and just nice views.
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| Banyan Trees |
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| I see how the spotted dove got its name |
After walking for about a mile we come to 3 steep steps with a gatelike structure on it. At the top of the steps, I think we entered a small town. There are lots of small businesses, but it is relaxed and low key here not the craziness in Ubud. I buy a ring directly from the guy who has made it. We wander past rice paddies, a fancy spa resort or 2. We decide we hit the end and turn around and quickly agree to stop at a restaurant that has gorgeous views of some rice paddies. We order a beer to share and then another. It is a local beer and while I don't love it, I am hot and sweaty and happy to have it and enjoy the view and breeze before returning down the hill.
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| rice paddies |
Lombok
We took a ferry from the island of Bali to the island of Lombok. The ferry is pretty nice and I watched a Disney movie while we came and yes I saw the whole thing so you get an idea of how long of a boat ride. The movie ended before we did 2 quick stops at neighboring islands - the Gillis. We get to our island and there is a van waiting for us for the 15- 20-minute drive to our home for the next 5 nights. The narrow road we are on most of the time has businesses and homes right along it. Unfortunately, it does not appear to be a prosperous area. As we get close to our resort, we see a mosque under construction and a sign for a golf course. We ask about the mosque and are told it is a small family one. I should add we are now on a heavily, heavily Muslim Island with a seperate language from Bali. We will hear the call to prayers at various times during our stay.
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| Another free room upgrade |
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| View from our balcony |
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| Lower terrace of two infinity pools |
When we arrive at the resort, there is a welcoming ceremony and drink. The Sasaks (the local people) appear to be big on drums. Or at least that is how our hotel portrays it. They use a couple of drums for the welcoming ceremony and for a nightly ceremony. Later in our stay we are invited to a sounds of Lombok program. After the 2 young men told us about the drums and played them, they let us try. Jeff said the big one you was heavy. Then they showed us the drum that is on a base, and I played that one. The drums are gendang beleq and bedug.
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| Culture activity, where we learned about the role these drums play |
At 6 pm each evening, there is a ceremony with the drums, 4 flags and a drink. The drums lead the flag carriers down each day and at the end there is a different small drink for you. The drinks are based on local flavors and always start with tuak mantis - one time it was kind of spicy another time it was salty. Unfortunately, neither of us completely understood what the flags were representing other than 2 were former kingdoms and 2 were for queens/princesses.
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Nightly Ceremony
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| Nightly Ceremony from our balcony |
On our last full day at the resort, we went on a guided bicycle ride through the local village and to another beach. We were impressed by one particular rooster we saw at which point with great pride our guide said it belonged to him.
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| Many farmers raise cows and have them tethered in a field |
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| We found blue coral and shells on the beach |
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| Mount Agung on Bali at sunrise, our next destination |
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