Uber-relaxed in Ubud

12-17 September
We arrived back in Bali from Flores and almost immediately got into an argument with some taxi drivers. To be honest, we were not excited to be back in Bali. Our four days in beautiful Sanur a few weeks ago made us weary of touts and budget busting prices. Weary is actually a word we have started to use more often than we should.

We made our way to Ubud from the airport (about a 1.5 hour drive) and lucked out at Shanti Homestay with a beautiful bungalow with attached kitchen for about $25 a night! Attached kitchen!! I write this post from our back garden patio where we just enjoyed lunch and a coffee. After two and a half months of eating out, we were thrilled to have the opportunity to self-cater and cook some meals of our own. In addition, our hosts cook us the best breakfasts, usually a scramble or pineapple pancake with a large plate of fruit, we have had on the entire trip. After one night we decided to stay a week.


Ubud is a pleasant town and has more shops than even the most dedicated shopper could handle. There are also some beautiful countryside walks to enjoy, a forest full of monkeys, and plenty of transit touts to avoid on the streets. We spent the first few days literally wondering through the hillside enjoying the never-ending rice fields and river canyon views. We've exchanged books in used bookstores, Nick cooked us some delicious pasta, I've bought more jewelry than I should, and I enjoyed a great yoga class.

The highlight for both of us was a Kecak performance -monkey chant dance - we attended in one of the local temples. Kecak is hard to explain, but it sounds to us like the word "kecak" (pronounced "kechack") repeated over and over by sections of performers at different tones, at different speeds, in whispers, and in screams. The leaders of the group yell loudly to change the speed or intonation of the sound. All the while the performers are sitting cross-legged in a circle and swaying side to side, back and forth, hands up, hands down, laying down, etc. etc. etc. This seems like chaos, but it is expertly performed and is something that we will never forget. This particular performance molded kecak and the ramayana story together. At the end of the performance a man came out and danced wildly through a pile of burning coconuts, kicking husks this way and that, some practically landing on tourists laps. This was quite amusing.

We will spend a few more relaxing days in Ubud - more hiking and yoga - before heading northsouth to the Sideman Valley and then north to Lovina. We have lost our weariness and have fallen in love with Bali after all.