Eat, Pray, Love Binders - Ubud, Bali

After Nusa Lembongan, Ubud would be our final stop in Bali, and last major stop of the whole trip. Located in central Bali, Ubud exhibits every element of Bali culture from temples, to dance performances, art, rice fields galore, spas, and monkeys. It's always been a popular destination in Bali, but has exploded a little bit since the book/movie "Eat, Pray, Love" showed Ubud in an only semi-accurate depiction (there is no beach, and a lot more traffic). I still haven't seen it, but we could tell that the women in Yoga pants sipping kombucha at the cafe talking about their feelings certainly had. Either way, Bri and I were out looking for a relaxing final stop, some good food, and taking in the culture of Bali.

Our friends Mike and Kelsey Grady suggested we stay at a house in Ubud that they stayed at on their honeymoon in Bali last year. Owned by Americans from New Mexico, but run by a local family that lives downstairs, the house was beautifully perched up on a hill overlooking the rice fields, providing an incredible view and cool breeze. Open windows, outdoor shower, a tower with a futon, and a temple in the courtyard, this place was a Bali wonderland. The family was great, including Putu the mother who cooked for us in her restaurant downstairs. And Ketut, the oldest son who gave us tips and drove us around to see the sights.

Carrying our bags up the stairs to the house..

Front gate to the house, getting excited to see our pad

Some of Putu's home cooking downstairs, Nasi Campur

View from the deck and bedroom

Bedroom, great view and slept with the windows open for the breeze. Frogs and bugs buzzing all night long, like a jungle.

Downstairs

Outdoor shower, averaged three showers a day since it was so hot

Front door, Bali style

The tower, good place to have some wine we bought at the market... Out of beer mugs

Another sunset, nbd

Our first day we decided to avoid the touristy center of town and hike the Champuan Ridge, overlooking the rice fields and wandering through numerous villages. We stopped for lunch at Sari Organik, a crunchy kinda place with a view of the rice fields, for some healthy and fresh fare. We checked out a traditional Bali dance that evening. Yeah, we got cultural.

Walking along the Chumpuan Ridge

Rice fields

Cafe in the rice fields

Harvesting going all all the time

Well deserved fresh juice and lunch at Sari Organik

Paths and waterways behind our house

More waterways behind the house, like a wonderland

Dancing, Bali style

Busting moves

Ketut had mentioned there was a wedding in town the following day, and asked us if we wanted to come. Thinking he was just being nice, we didn't think he actually wanted us to come, considering in America you can't just bring random strangers along to a wedding. When we ran into him the next day on our way out the door, we learned he was serious, so we scrapped our plans, put on some traditional Bali gear and hopped on the back of their motorbikes to head to the wedding. We kept asking when it started, thinking we were running late, and he just said "it starts when it starts and ends when it ends". This was a hard concept to grasp, considering our own wedding was planned down to the minute. When we showed up, we were welcomed and found about 50 people just chillin at the house/compound, including the bride and groom who immediately offered to take a picture with us. Everyone was incredibly nice and welcoming, even offering us a huge buffet of food. We learned that in Bali weddings basically everyone hangs out, with guests coming and going all day, eating, chatting, while the couple has multiple ceremonies and does occasional blessings in the background. There are many similarities to American weddings, such as sweet engagement photos, proposals, and tons of food (no booze though). We were very thankful to be invited by Ketut and his wide Made, and that we could take part in a very special and real part of life in Bali.

Brando and Ketut before the wedding

Wedding time, all dressed up

This guy couldn't stop laughing at Brandon

The bride and groom, and the Binders

So many offerings

You offer a Binder a food, he will load up a plate. So good.

Bride and Groom making the rounds

Engagement photos

After the wedding, we decided to pamper ourselves at the spa at the famous Hotel Tjumphuan across the street from the house. For less than a one hour massage for one at home, we both got a two hour massage and use of the incredible pools and hot tubs. On our last day, Ketut drove us around the countryside including stops to overlook some serious rice terraces, a temple, have some Babi Guling (suckling pig, a specialty in Bali), the Volcano, finally dropping us off at the Sacred Monkey Forest in town. The Monkey Forest is a park and temple, that is home to hundreds of cheeky monkeys everywhere, allowing tourists to get up and close to the critters that run amok. It was pretty hilarious.

The pool at Hotel Tjumphuan, a nice break from the heat and humidity

Fanciest hot tub cave ever

Relaxed, but really hot

Babi Guling (suckling pig) from Warung Ibu Oka. Best part was the crispy skin.

Rice terraces, pretty impressive way to grow rice in the steep hills

Ketut is a Raiders fan. He was just wearing it by chance. Thinks they need to scrap the zone offense.

Water temple, where the spring starts and runs down to the rice fields

Putting our sarongs to use

Batur volcano, still active

Baby in the Monkey Forest

It's hot, have to sit and keep cool

Deep in the Monkey Forest

Ubud was a great place to round out our Bali experience, before heading back to Bangkok for 1 day and then back to the great U-S-of-A. Not quite time to get all sentimental about our amazing trip coming to an end, but it is sort of sinking in that a return to "real" life is just around the corner...

Quick stop to check out the Four Seasons just outside Ubud.

 

Posted with Blogsy

Off the Beaten Path Binders - Nusa Lembongan, Indonesia

Before getting to Bali, the plan for the 3 days between Seminyak and Ubud was to have no plan. Often the best excursions come when you just plan as you go, and this was a perfect case of that. Initially, we were thinking of going to the Gilis, three small islands off the coast of Lombok (the island just east of Bali) that are an hour and a half speed boat ride. After doing some research, we found a place that was not only closer and cheaper to get to, but also had great diving (and surfing, although we don't surf). I had never heard of Nusa Lembongan before, but we booked a boat and a hotel while sitting at the pool at the W and were ready to roll.

Nusa Lembongan is the middle sized island of three off the south east side of Bali. There are no ATMs, the main industry is seaweed farming, and the pace is below a crawl. We booked our "Scoot" boat for a 30 minute speed boat ride, and had to walk through the water from the beach on both sides to get on/off the boat. Since there are very few cars or roads on the island, the dudes from our hotel met us on the beach and helped us walk 200 yards up some stairs and down a path to our home for the next 3 days, The Lembongan Reef. On the hillside, with a view of the bay and even Mt Agung on Bali when it's clear, a pool, and a cheap/casual restaurant, Lembongan Reef was the perfect home base. Eager to chat up some people to learn the deal on NL, we met some English Gents who lived all over the world and come to NL quite a bit. They gave us the rundown and said The Beach Club at Sandy Bay was the spot for dinner and drinks and a view - and they were heading there later. We went early for sunset, and saw dolphins jumping in the waves in front of the setting sun, looked pretty much like a Lisa Frank folder from back in the day (remember those?). The English dudes showed up later and we had a great night drinking and chatting in one of the more epic night settings of the trip.

Our Scoot boat, three engines strong. Note the water entry.

View from our room at Lembongan Reef hotel.

The bay of Nusa Lembongan, no pier or dock.

The main industry of Nusa Lembongan can be seen through the clear water, seaweed farming.

The pool at Lembongan Reef.

Our table at The Beach Club.

Dolphins were jumping in the background, Lisa Frank inspiration everywhere.

A trip to South East Asia wouldn't be complete without an adventurous motorbike ride on a remote island, and with the lack of cars, the best way to see Lembongan is by motorbike. For $8 including gas, we got set up on our Wild Hog (see pics). We started off heading in a clockwise circle making our first stop in a remote town, and had lunch overlooking the mangrove forest. We continued on, passing not much but some small huts and kids selling bracelets and yelling "buy something!!" as we sped past, Bri clutching on to me on the back of the bike. We passed about a 100 motorbikes parked and local dudes yelling in a crowd, which initially looked like a cock fight. Turned out it was just the betting portion, where people show off their roosters pre-fight and put down money. Just a bunch of dudes holding their... Cocks.

The main drag of town.

Wild Hog Binder

The road to the town in the mangrove forest

The end of the road on the north side of the island and ending in a small town, if you can call it that.

Our view from lunch

Heading into the mangroves

The almost-cock fight. Note the size difference between Brando and the locals, not blending in much

We continued on to find the bridge to the neighboring island Nusa Ceningan, and crossed it, while Bri put claw marks in my sides. The roads continued to get bumpier, until we were on a narrow dirt path through bushes. The road turned to rocks so we finally parked, and walked to what looked like the end of the earth, and watched the waves crash on the rocks and 20 feet in the air. We got back on the path, and once again hit the end of the road on the south side of Ceningan at a point overlooking a popular, but only inhabited by 2 surfers, surf spot. We had a Bintang (beer) and sat and watched surfers from the cafe on the cliff, before heading back over the bumpy roads, over the bridge, and back onto Lembongan. We cruised to Dream Beach for Happy Hour, and got 2-for-1 margaritas and use of the pool, while overlooking an awesome beach. We rolled down the hill, and back into town, but not before snapping some sweet pics at the top of the hill overlooking the bay. If you can tell by the length of the description, this was one of our favorite days of the whole trip.

Cruising towards the bridge

The bridge to the neighboring island

Giant waves at the end of the earth

Where we're going, we won't need roads

Secret Bay, the surf spot on the other side and the cafe on the point on the right in this pic.

View of the surf for Mahana Point cafe.

Surf's up bro

Some ceremony of 100 people just wandering past us on the path

Happy hour and free pool use at Dream Beach. Barstools in the pool.

Top of the hill before heading back into town.

Epic day, one of our favorites, possibly ever.

Day 2 we headed out on a boat for some diving and snorkeling. The two highlights were an amazing drift dive (where you just let the current quickly take you over the reef) and Brando's wetsuit being way too small (it was too hot to try it on, and XL's always fit... But this apparently was the smallest XL in the world). It didn't even zip in the back and I almost split it, but when you're out on the boat, you just gotta make it work. The water is blue and crystal clear, and the dive/snorkel was incredible. We grabbed some post dive beers at our hotel, and befriended three Aussies on a surf trip. We ended up drinking beers in the pool and having dinner with them. It turned out one of the guys was the Aussie version of Brando, they just talked and told stories, cracking themselves up while everyone else just listened. It was an international talking festival, and a great reminder that the people you meet are often one of the best parts of traveling. What an amazing and short stay, on an island we didn't even know existed 2 days before going there.

Blue waters and a view of Lembongan

Lesson learned, try on your wetsuit before getting on the boat

Dive Binder

So clear

Our hotel, the second set of red roofs from the left

Sunset on our final night, maybe the best of the trip and we couldn't even see the sun

We headed back to Bali the next day on the Scoot and inland towards Ubud, the cultural center of Bali. Also, the Indonesian stop Julia Roberts made in the chick flick Eat, Pray, Love. 4 days there, a quick stop in Bangkok, then back to the US of A. Crazy that this amazing trip is winding down, but at least 1-2 more good posts left... Thanks for reading this long post, can you tell we loved Nusa Lembongan?

 

Posted with Blogsy