On our first full day in Bali we decided to drive inland to visit the town of Ubud. Often called the cultural center of Bali this area boasts museums, galleries and temples. Our driver had a list of recommendations for us - watch Balinese dancing, visit stone carvers and wood carvers, see batik work done - but we bypassed these to begin our day with a walk. We got the idea off Trip Advisor and it turned out to be one of my favorite things we did in Bali.
After an hour or so of driving on congested roads it felt good to get out of the car. We tried to start early before the heat of the day but it was still hot and incredibly humid. The Campuhan Ridge Walk starts from the main road through town with a little sign saying Karsa Kafe 2km. From there a brick path winds across a bridge and up to a ridge top. All around us felt lush, green and tropical.
We came out at a dirt road and passed a few places selling cold drinks. Tess was dragging by this point and we were tempted to just buy a bottle of water and call it a day but we kept on and I'm thrilled we did. Here we are arriving at our destination.
I initially went to sit down at one of the first tables we saw but Tess spotted the over water seating and we were lucky enough to get the last one available.
We ordered mango smoothies, watermelon juice, lime juice with honey and a fresh coconut. They tasted amazing after our hot trek.
Then we kicked back and enjoyed the view out over the terraced rice fields. I found it incredibly tranquil.
The girls bought some food to feed the fish.
I could have stayed in this area all day but we had more much more to see so we started our walk back into town.
On our walk back we saw a procession of women carrying offerings to a nearby temple. Religion suffuses so much of life in Bali. More than 80% of people in Bali follow Balinese Hinduism. The other 20% are mostly Muslim like the majority of people throughout Indonesia. There are temples everywhere. Each house has its own temple. Every place of business has one. You come across small offerings tucked all over. With all that is put on for tourists the religious back drop stands out as something far more genuine. Seeing all of this prompted a lot of questions from our girls. We did our best to explain about offerings and prayer and admitted our own ignorance when asked for more specific details about things like the powers of specific sea gods.
Once back in town we decided to walk through the main street and visit some of the open air markets. I promised the girls they could each pick out a dress and a sarong at some point during our stay but I cautioned them to start by just looking to see their options. I figured I would look around first and get a sense of prices but with no fixed prices this is hard to do. As soon as I touched a dress the negotiations began whether I wanted them to or not. Emily kept asking me how much things cost and I honestly couldn't answer her. The exchange rate is 10,000 rupiahs to $1 - not particularly hard math but with the speed of the haggling I had to keep double checking in my mind whether this meant $30 or $3.
In the end we purchased a dress for each girl and a sarong and a beach cover up for me and it all came to $25. It took a grand total of fifteen minutes and I walked away feeling like I had probably over paid and I definitely had decided too quickly. From that point on I only looked from afar and made a point not to slow down near any more shops.
For lunch we stopped at Naughty Nuri's Warong. We received two different recommendations for this place and I can see why. I ordered the mie goreng - a traditional Indonesian fried noodle dish. Brian went for the restaurants' signature barbecue ribs. The ribs were so good we actually ordered a second helping to split between the two of us. The woman at the front of the restaurant kept a steady stream of ribs grilling the entire time we were there.
We ended our day out with a visit to the Sacred Monkey Forest. We read that the monkeys have been known to make off with people's glasses, hats and iPhones so we paired down to the essentials. Tess couldn't believe her good fortune to see her favorite animal and not have to wear her glasses! Our driver was much more casual about all of it and reassured us we would be ok with our camera so we brought our small one. I'm glad we did because I found the cool dark setting of the forest just enchanting. The trees towered over us all around.
The monkeys were all over and clearly some of the visitors were not shy about getting in close. Emily got braver as we went along. She kept asking to buy some bananas so she could feed them. One even grabbed her dress at one point but she remained calm while I shooed it away.
We loved watching the monkeys interact. We watched them play and wrestle, climb trees and nurse their young. Brian bravely set up a photo with Ducky.
On our drive back to Sanur we stopped at a batik workshop to see some of the craft first hand.
Brian and I enjoyed a lovely dinner out while the girls stayed back at the hotel with a babysitter. It was clearly a long journey just to get to Bali but this day alone made the trip feel worth it and we still had three more to come.
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