Day tour of Ubud

Feeling quite relaxed already here in Bali, which was the whole purpose of the holiday, to just relax. Martin needs some serious time out!

We did arrange a private driver to take us around some of the sites. Top of my list was to see the rice paddy fields, and thankfully that was included in the tour.

Our tour guide was a lovely local gentleman, who gave us a lot of information about the culture. It was lovely to hear this man of deep faith (Hinduism) and the sense of family and community that they all have.

Every home must have a temple on the east side of their homes. So as you drive around Bali, you see endless amounts of temples, and that’s the reason why!

We went to Tegenungan Waterfalls first, then to the Butterfly Gardens. Had a bit longer there as the butterflies were just so lovely.

Next was the Water Temple at Sebatu where our guide explained the meaning of every ritual. It was good to hear and understand this part of their faith.

We then had lunch at a rather lovely restaurant overlooking some rice terraces. They also had a giant swing which swings over the edge of a cliff, there are several of these around Bali.

After lunch we visited the famous mongoose coffee house. They had the whole process of how they make this “poop” coffee and then we got to try some. It was actually really good coffee! Who’d have thought.

Then onto the rice terraces at Tegallalang which were just amazing. So pretty. I did want to ride a bike through the paddy fields, but you couldn’t do that here.

We walked along the top of them and got some good views. All the rice grown in Bali is for local consumption, which is just great.

Felt pretty pooped after our big day out, and headed back to the hotel. Journey to the hotel took much longer as the traffic was bad! The distances to sites aren’t great, but the traffic makes the journey really long. We’ve decided that Bali drivers are super skilled, it’s literally bumper to bumper driving with motorcycles to negotiate as well.

A long day but fascinating as well.