INDONESIA – BALI – UBUD

NOVEMBER 16 – DECEMBER 9, 2025

After our little go-round with the taxi driver we checked into our hotel. WOW! For $21 / night, it was a steal! Nice big room, nice bathroom and our own balcony overlooking a ravine.

With a swimming pool on the roof.

There was even a menu that was cheaper than going out. Most things on the menu cost 35,000 – 45,000 IDR ($2.95 – $3.78 CDN) Mie Goreng, a noodle dish with egg and vegetables, was my favorite go-to dish.

When we first got to Ubud we realized we needed cash. We went to a bank ATM and withdrew 4 million Rupiah (about $335 cdn). We then headed to a restaurant for breakfast, where I realized I left my card in the ATM! We ran back to the bank and reported the loss. They told me to come back in about 3 hours and they will have a technician check the machine. My initial thought was that someone was whooping it up on my tap card. I kept checking my bank account. No activity. Whew! We returned a few hours later and they had retrieved my card, along with about 8 more. The machine does not beep to remind you to take your card. After proving who I was and other security checks, my card was returned. It was a tense few hours, but all ended well.

We arrived on a Sunday, and found out that there was a big celebration coming up on Wednesday. GALUNGAN is a Balinese Hindu holiday that celebrates the victory of good over evil. It marks the time when ancestral spirits visit Earth. There were PENJOR all over the place.

They are a very long bent bamboo pole, highly decorated, installed in front of homes and businesses. Some of the more elaborate ones take a month to make using bamboo, coconut and banana leaves. It is used to express gratitude, symbolize prosperity and connect the human world to the divine

Vehicles were also decorated as a show of gratitude.

Every day offerings are set out in front of homes and businesses. There were more than usual on Galungan.

Bali is beautiful and Ubud is its gem. There is so much to see and do that just takes your breath away. Even the public bathrooms and manhole covers are nice.

I went to a Balinese dance show one evening. I purposely took our my hearing aid because I knew the gongs and clangers were going to be loud. The all female dancers performed elaborate dances while all in sync. Their delicate hand movements and even their eyes darting this way and that were in time to the music.

It was held at the WATER TEMPLE, which was lit up for the evening.

The next day we went back during the day. It was still pretty, but I think I enjoyed the evening view better. We walked along through the lotus pond over large lotus decorated cement pads.

The flowers were huge and beautiful.

Pierre said there must be a temple on every street corner. I corrected him and said that I think there are at least five. OMG, every few steps was another temple, or a home with a temple at the entrance.

A walk along the rice fields is always a pleasant way to spend an afternoon.

We went to the SACRED MONKEY FOREST one day. There are about 1200 long-tailed macaque monkeys in the park. When I was here 14 years ago the monkeys would try to snatch whatever they could from you. I was happy to see that they are now fed on feeding platforms which keeps them from grabbing at people for food.

I, personally, do not like monkeys. They can be vicious little creatures, despite their cute little faces. The park has more than just monkeys, though. One of the most beautiful spots was the HOLY SPRINGS TEMPLE with its massive BANYAN TREES.

There was a dirty looking pool that was once used for purification ceremonies. I would not want to dip even a toe into it.

The ravine leading away from the temple was gorgeous.

We hired a taxi / guide for 6 hours. He toured us around to wherever we wanted to go for 600,000 IDR ($50 CDN). Our first stop was to a KOPI LUWAK plantation. It is the coffee made famous through “The Bucket List” movie.  A little cat-like creature eats the coffee cherry.

The fermented bean gets pooped out.

After the beans are washed they are roasted.

The coffee is very unique tasting because of the fermentation process inside the luwak’s intestines. The coffee is said to be more valuable than gold.

We had a sampler platter of coffees and herbal teas on their beautiful terrace restaurant.

The Kopi Luwak coffee was an extra cost. In the end, we bought some herbal tea.

From there we went to the Holy Spring Water Temple (PURA TIRTA EMPUL). We hired a guide to walk us through the purification ceremony. It was well worth the $12. We had to change into special sarongs. Then we had to pray before the temple doors to ask for permission to enter.

Once inside we had to step into the chilly pond to ask forgiveness for past thoughts, deeds and words. We had to splash water onto our faces three times then dunk our entire head under the spigot of flowing water.

We had to do this 10 times, at 10 different spigots.

The next pool had only two spigots. It was to cleanse our present karma.

The final pool was for blessings for the future.

It all reminded me of Scrooge and the ghosts of Christmas past, present and future. It also was a different take on the dunking baptism ceremony by some western religions. This one had us contemplate our past, present and future thoughts, words and deeds. In the end, we both felt properly purified with a renewed sense of commitment to doing better for ourselves and toward others.

We then walked around the rest of the Temple complex where we saw a huge banyan tree.

A koi fish pond with so many koi splashing and smacking their lips in anticipation of food it made a funny sound.

Every square inch of the Temple was decorated with beautiful wood or sandstone carvings.

After the Temple we went to TEGALALANG RICE TERRACE. It was just a beautiful place to walk around and take in the beauty of a functioning rice terrace.

There were touristy spots to take pictures from, and I could not resist being a bird in a nest.

We took a cooking class one day. We went to the market and saw where the locals go every morning around 5:00 AM to purchase the food they will eat for that day. Balinese have no fridge or microwaves. They buy their food daily and eat the same thing for breakfast, lunch and dinner. No wonder they are so slim, there are no leftovers to graze on.

We went back to Wayan’s cooking school where we first had to make an offering basket. This was the same as we see in front of every home every morning. She had pre-cut the little man, that represents me, and the coconut leaves for us; but we still had to fold it into the correct shape and pin it together with toothpicks. Then we had to fill it with the correct coloured flowers in the correct placement.

The act of making an offering basket is considered an act of self-sacrifice; you are giving of your time and money. There are different offerings for different occasions, but basically they are made as beautiful as possible to please the gods, good and bad, to stay on their good side. The incense stick floats the good wishes up to the gods on the smoke. It is bad form to step on or even over a canang sari. The process of making and placing the offering is a daily act of mindfulness, gratitude, and a prayer for balance and harmony in the world.  Remember, they do this every day, not just at Christmas and Easter.

The placement of the flowers represent the four directions on a compass which, in turn honour specific Hindu gods. White flowers are placed to the east, representing Iswara (a form of Shiva), Red flowers go to the South, representing Brahma. Yellow flowers to the west (sunset) representing Mahadeva. Blue, purple or green flowers in the north, for Vishnu. The mixed petals in the centre symbolize Shiva (or the supreme god, Sang Hyang Widhi Wasa) who ties it all together. Before anyone gets pissy about the different Hindu gods, let me ask how the various saints in Christianity are so different. One saint is for protection in travel, one is hopeless causes, yet another is for lost items.

After we finished our offering basket we started chopping, grinding and cooking. Wayan was terrific in showing us techniques and explaining things. We all had a great time with lots of laughs while we cooked together with another couple from Spain. The dishes were garnished with frangipani flowers; again, an act of gratitude.

In the end we had 8 different dishes, including a dessert. It was all delicious. We went home with full bellies, a cookbook and a smile.

We took an morning walk to Jalan Subak Sok Wayah rice fields. It was about a 7 km (4.3 miles) round trip. The path is very beautiful, relaxing and almost meditative.

We saw some yoga scarecrows.

We came upon a brand new hotel, the GREEN LANDER. It was made entirely out of bamboo. That in itself was beautiful, but the architecture was out of this world!

We asked the price for the suite, which they graciously showed us.

It worked out to about $300 per night. Well worth it, but still out of our budget. The receptionist told us to text the manager and ask for a discount. I did, and we got it for $150 for the night; which included a full breakfast and a private butler! I have stayed in the Banff Springs Hotel, but this place had the Springs beat on so many levels.

The next morning we barely made it back to our old hotel (BALI UBUD HARMONY) when the skies opened up and a monsoon fell. There was thunder and lightening. We could see the steps at the hotel across the ravine flowing like a cascading waterfall.

We went to a dance performance one night. It was the Ramayana story of Sita getting kidnapped by the lustful demon, Rahwana. She is rescued with the help of the monkey god, Hanoman and bird, Garuda.

What made this performance spectacular, to me, was the GAMELAN SUARA. It is a choir of 100 men sitting in concentric circles, swaying, standing up, laying prone,

waving their arms and chanting. It was a scene right out of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, just before they rip the guy’s heart out of his still breathing chest. (No humans were sacrificed in this performance.)

The grand finale was a fire dance. The same group of men can in, pounding on bamboo logs, creating a proper primal vibe. The fire dancer came in riding a “horse”. As he danced around he would kick at the pile of burning coconut husks, sending sparks flying everywhere. Other men would rake the husks back into a pile and the fire dancer would kick it apart again.

At the end of the performance, he sat down and I could see the bottoms of his bare feet were black.

There was an art gallery on the corner of our guesthouse. There were traditional and modern paintings; but, as always, it was the traditional wood carvings that caught our eye.

Alas, our time in Bali had come to an end. The month slipped by too quickly. Its hard to complain when you wake up looking at palm trees and the weather is perfect every day. There truly is a calming vibe in Bali that seeps into your psyche. We have never been so relaxed on any of our holidays. We will return!

We had a one day layover in Jakarta before heading to Singapore. FYI, Jakarta and its surrounding area is considered the most populated cities in the world at 42 million. That is more than the entire country of Canada – in ONE city.

SIDE NOTE:

While still in Canada I had to go to the dentist to get a cracked crown repaired. They wanted $1848 to fix it. My insurance would cover $830, but I would have had to shell out $1018 from my own pocket. Since it did not hurt, I decided not to get it fixed in Canada. While in Ubud I saw a dentist shop near our guesthouse. I went in to get an estimate. I was given an appointment the next day for a consultation. Cost: $12.60. The dentist confirmed that I needed a new crown. He made an appointment for me 2 days later. Total cost for the new crown $420. Time will tell if it is as good as back home. BUT considering the broken crown was done in Canada, at nearly 4.5 times the price, how bad can it be? The dental office was sparkling clean, the dentist and his two assistants very professional and spoke good English.