I don't even know where to start describing how much we're loving Bali! We had been looking forward to getting here for some time. New Zealand and Australia were fantastic but basically extensions of home in culture and language. After 2 months roaming New Zealand and Sydney we were missing the exotic factor with the exception of our short stay in Fiji. Bali has filled every expectation and more in our first few days here! Upon arriving we made our way to the hotel on an adventurous 2 hour drive from Denpasar airport weaving between cars and dozens of motorbikes. Our driver was extremely skilled at maneuvering the roads whilst telling us about the best places in Bali to visit, what food to try and a little about the culture. For our first 9 days we are staying just outside of Ubud at the Kampung Resort. It's an unbelievable place to stay only a few minutes walk from the famous Tegalalang Rice Terraces. Our second floor room is larger than our Vancouver apartment with a wall of glass doors over looking the lush forest and rice terraces. Directly below our room is a beautiful pool and further down through the property are little gardens with fish ponds, shrines and grassy areas for relaxing. Even the screeching bugs, birds and chirping geckos can't ruin the zen vibes of this place. During our drive to the hotel we were advised to take advantage of our location and jet lag to visit the Rice Terraces. The driver was spot on with this advise. We were up at 6am (9 am for us Sydney time) the next morning and decided to head over. We only had to walk a few minutes down the road until we came upon the rice terraces. This early in the morning nobody else was walking around giving us an uninterrupted view. It's not an easy walk through the terraces with steep steps and slippery surfaces but well worth it for the extraordinary views. There are donation boxes everywhere and a small fee is expected to enter (usually 10 000 IDR approx 1 dollar Canadian). There are locals around the terrace who will suggest you take their photo and expect money in return, you can politely say no and carry on however. There are plenty of rest stops and even a few cafe's, though nothing was open so early in the morning. The irrigation system used in the rice terraces is called "suback" and is said to have been passed on from a holy man as early as the 8th century and hasn't changed much since. Before tourism took over Bali, rice was big business and the village where our hotel is located was predominantly farmers. There are still local farmers but many have switched to selling their arts and crafts to tourists along the roadside leading up to the terraces instead. As with most beautiful attractions the rice terraces can be a bit of a tourist trap. As we prepared to leave around 8:30am bus loads of people started to pass by us and make there way to the terraces. I image as the day progresses it gets even worse. After a fun morning we headed back to Kampung for some breakfast. The food at Kampung Cafe is incredible and cheap! Breakfast is included in our room rate so we've been gorging ourselves daily on fresh fruit, juice, local coffee and teas and a big breaki. Lunch was even tastier, with tempura spinach chips, corn fritters, curried veg, spring rolls and more all for $5.00 washed down with a $2.00 Bintang Beer!! The hotel only has 9 rooms but tourists visiting the rice terraces keep the restaurant busy for lunch and dinner. After a $7.00 lunch we thought it was high time to spoil ourselves some more and got $20.00 1 hour massages in our room. Bali is truly a place where anyone can live like a Queen. On top of spoiling ourselves we're here for the culture so today we headed into Ubud City Centre and the Sacred Monkey Forest. The Sacred Monkey forest is incredible. There are around 600 Balinese long-tailed monkey's roaming freely through the grounds and temples. The park was created to provide an escape from bustling Ubud so one can find spiritual and physical well being. On top of being a spiritual and mental escape from the city it's a conservation area for rare plants used in rituals and the monkeys are protected. It's also an important space for research programs, particularly ones on the monkey's social interactions. There are some guidelines to consider for interacting with the monkeys such as not feeding them human food and not forcing an interaction with them. You can however buy bananas inside the park for a small fee and hold out you arms for them to climb on you to retrieve it. They're very friendly little beasts and extremely clever so watch you belongings! Ubud city is an endless parade of yoga stores, art and clothing shops and cafes. It's a haven for vegans, yogi's, hippies and fun for everybody! It's crowded and hot so we were glad to have packed some water but also made a few stops as we walked to have a beer and coconut water.
So far we are completely in love with Bali. Everyone we've met is incredibly friendly, they try very hard to speak English with us and teach us about their village and culture. We're only a few days in and still have a ton of exploring to do so I'm sure we'll have lots to write about in a few days from now!
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