Walk to Penestanan

The arrival of the monkey colony at Cendana always causes a stir. This morning they were in the adjacent rice paddy and climbing up to the edge of the swimming pool for a drink while we were at breakfast The staff spring into action to shoo them off including two of the young men on staff using well aimed slingshots this morning - which worked well!!

 

During the pandemic the monkey colonies left the Sacred Monkey Forest at the bottom of Monkey Forest Road because there were no longer tourists feeding them. Apparently the Sacred Monkeys belong to the village of Pengosekan, to the south of Ubud, but the Banjars of that village didn't feed them either during the pandemic even though they gain the financial benefit of tourist admission charges to the monkey forest during the good times. Ubud people are unhappy about this situation because the monkeys are now doing damage to the surrounding properties in their quest for food.

Anyway we decided we'd do a walk to the village of Penestanan this morning. Penestanan is to the west of Ubud, on the way to Sayan which is sited on a ridge above the Ayung River. We started out heading down Jl Raya Ubud to the bridge over the Campuhan River before turing into Jl Raya Sanggingan (which takes us to our fave The Indus eventually).

We turned left pretty soon and climbed the famous (and steep) Penestanan stairs.

Once we were at the top pf the stairs it was obvious we were in a quieter area, much more laid back than Ubud is these days. Apparently Penestanan has always been an artistic centre and it was where the German artist Walter Spies settled in the 1930s when he lived in Bali. 

It was easy walking along these picturesque laneways although a fair bit of climbing was involved.

The temple on Jl Katik Lantang looked like it was decorated for a ceremony today.

And we saw quite a few locals dressed for the occasion too.

Rob captured this great shot of the new and old bridge across the Campuhan River on our walk back to Ubud town.

After two hours or so of walking we were ready for a long stop at Casa Luna and an eventual (excellent) flat white coffee after we'd cooled off enough.

The afternoon was spent in our usual way reading relaxing and enjoying some lovely time in and around the pool. Dinner tonight was at Cafe Wayan! 

Was that Hugh Grant by any chance, descending the stairs from room 303 of Cendana Resort on his way to dinner?

It's been a week

We had a pretty chilled out day in Ubud today - another day, another rice paddy walk, another long session in the pool, more time to read and relax and more beautiful meals at old and new faves!

We set out on the main Ubud rice paddy walk early in the day - on the Jl Subak Sok Wayah track winding past Cafe Pomegranate (and the once iconic but now closed Sari Organic Cafe!!) and the Rice Jogolo ......

We were struck by how much development there had been on this track over the past four years or so - new villas, new cafes, new shops, all serviced by a narrow walking/scooter track. It was way too busy with passing scooter traffic to really feel at one with nature like the old days unfortunately, even though the surrounding fields of rice and the resident duck populations are just as beautiful as ever.

Luckily the Cafe Pomegranate stop for a cold drink overlooking the rice fields is as good as it ever was!

We walked around 7 klms this morning - and all before breakfast - so we treated ourselves to a full menu brunch at Cinta Grill after our walk. I ordered my first flat white coffee in a week - and it was so GOOOOD......

Cinta Grill is definitely the best big breakfast cafe option in town: coffees, juices, house made granola, yoghurt, smashed avocado, eggs benny, pesto ....... everything on offer, and all very good!!

It was midday by the time we got back to Cendana - time to admire the latest towel art from housekeeping. This is the best one yet!!

We spent the afternoon in and around the pool and reading and relaxing, ending the day with another beautiful meal at Three Monkeys Cafe. After a week in Ubud we have a nice little holiday routine going.

Ubud Sunday

It was a quiet day in Ubud for us today. Haruko had to leave around 2.30pm to get to Ngurah Rai in Denpasar in time for her flight back to Jakarta - so we didn't want to rush around too much up until that time. After meeting up after her check out we spent about an hour chatting over a cold drink at Kafe Batan Waru on Jl Dewisitra. Then we headed down to Bodyworks together on Jl Hanoman for our much anticipated Ayurvedic massage treatment.

Bodyworks is the best place in Bali for deep tissue massage - the staff are so well trained and competent - and the ginger tea afterwards in the traditional family compound is the perfect extra touch! Rob and I have been coming here for around twenty years and its hardly changed at all - in the very best of ways!!

We were genuinely sad to see Haruko leave. We have shared a lot of stories over the last few days and picked up our friendship just as it was in 2019 when we last saw each other in Bali. We've made some plans for 2024 visits too (maybe in Australia?) so we have that to look forward to now ........

We always slow right down in the hours after a Bodyworks massage so it was the magic sunset hour before we set out again from our hotel, just in time to see the fading light over the adjoining rice fields ...

The man in red works in the fields ALL DAY..... always on his own ......

We enjoyed dinner at Ibu Rai tonight - an old favourite. It would be difficult to have a bad meal anywhere in Ubud I think - but you'd never have a bad meal here at Ibu Rai!

 

To Lake Beratan

It's been many years since we've been to the Lake Beratan area in North Bali. Haruko had been more recently but she was happy to go with us yesterday as we headed north of Ubud, an hour and a half's drive, towards the township of Bedugal and the site of one of Bali's most photogenic temples - Pura Ulun Danu Beratan - the beautiful Temple on the Lake.

The 400 year old temple is now a major tourist attraction in Bali - and it shows (unfortunately). We joined the throngs and posed for our own set of cheesy pics against this most beautiful backdrop. 

At least the crowds, paying their 75000 IDR entry, ensure the gardens around the temple, and the temple itself, are beautifully maintained and managed - but we couldn't help but compare the experience to our last visit all those years ago when there were few tourists and it was the site of colourful Balinese traditional temple ceremonies and hundreds of locals in ceremonial dress (and we sailed (rowed) out on the lake in a traditional canoe).

 

Next stop was the nearby Bali Botanic Gardens. We'd been here a long time ago too but the gardens had developed a lot since then - and in a good way too. Haruko breathed a sigh of relief to be in amongst so many trees and so much grass - after the constant crowding and pollution of living in Jakarta. 

We walked as far as the orchid house - there is an extensive collection there - but very few were in flower for our visit ... It would be very worthwhile timing a visit for that event - it would be spectacular.

The cactus garden was interesting to visit .........

Our lovely driver Nyoman got quite animated in the cactus garden identifying plants for us - he grows a few of them himself........

The gardens, overlooking Lake Beratan, are a popular picnic site for the locals, although the resident monkeys create a few hazards for those groups setting up their lunches too close to the forest canopy.

We visited the Bedugal fresh food market afterwards. There were lots of samples offered, of tropical fruits and nuts etc, but there was a lot of pressure to buy buy buy unfortunately too.

Haruko did the bargaining in her excellent Bahasa for our purchase of some cashews grown in Karangasem over in the east of Bali.

Our favourite stop was this colourful plant shop...........

The owner specialised in orchids and she went to a lot of trouble to explain the different types and how they were propagated - with no pressure to buy either!

Nyoman drove a lot of backroads today so the trip north and then back to Ubud was so interesting for us, through small villages and markets, rice fields and then the fertile farmlands around Bedugal - such a relaxing way to see a more rural part of Bali! We ended off our lovely day with another delicious meal at Three Monkeys Cafe and an(other) icecream from the Gelato Factory conveniently located on the laneway to Haruko's villa - perfect!