Bali
Ubud, Tampaksiring & Tagallalang
January 8th-13th
Day 1
We arrived super late and tired from Cairns (Great Barrier Reef).
It took about 2 hours to get from the airport in Denpasar (DPR) up to our hotel in Ubud Como Shambala Estate.
Day 2
Woke up fresh as a flower and set out for the 8am morning yoga class with the hotel instructor, Monica, from Italy.
After yoga we went to the breakfast spot and had all the colorful and healthy juices one can dream of.
After fueling up, we explored our hotel property which had a long hike down to the bottom of the hill where the river runs through it. We found natural waterfalls and mineral pools in an almost secret garden landscape. We had the place to ourselves.
The hike back to the top was around 20 minutes and we were ready for lunch.
Hailey headed out for a pilates class with the same instructor as yoga class in the morning.
Somehow it was already 5pm and we geared up for the spa for our 90 minute Shambala massage.
Dinner was early and so was bedtime.
Day 3
We left our hotel around 10 am and took a car around the Ubud and Tegallalang area.
The first stop on our tour was the Tirta Empul Temple in Tampaksiring which is also where one can go through a water purification ceremony. There were many people there to go through the ceremony and our driver/guide helped explain the process alongside us.
Before entering the temple, our driver had prepared sarongs for us to wear. It would not be appropriate to wear non-traditional clothing into the temple. The goal is to not wear clothing that accentuates the lower region of your body and for all to walk in as equals.
We decided to go through the water purification ceremony at the temple, and spent the next 45 minutes plunging our heads through the water holes, thanking the gods for their prayers of purification. We would have not had any idea what to do if it wasn’t for our guide and driver. We later saw the springs where the water comes from and it was incredible to see it coming directly from the ground and bubbling up to the top of the pools.
After spending the morning with the Hindu gods and many other tourists in the purification pools, we stopped for lunch at Tebasari Rosto Bar and Lounge. There were also a good amount of tourists here, but the food was good and the ambience was very traditional.
By this time we had finally dried off from our total submersion into the water purification ceremony and it was time to head to the infamous Rice Fields of Tegallalang. Tegallalang was a busy city and you could tell that many people come here to see the rice fields. We soon figured out why!
You pay for entrance into the rice fields, and you walk around for 30-45 minutes. We probably could have stayed longer to relax, but it was scorching hot outside and the humidity was overbearing. We set out back for the hotel to cool off and relax.
Although extremely tired from the day, Hailey went to a Traditional Balinese Gratitude Ceremony class where she learned how to make an offering, what the colors in the offering mean, what gods are involved, and how to make sure your message makes it to “heaven”.
Massages at 5pm were very welcome after a long and warm day. Dinner was clean, and sleep was bliss.
Day 4
We signed up for a guided walk through town and through the local rice fields (less touristy than the ones in Tegallalang). From the hotel we walked about 5 minutes directly into somebodys house compound that had several temples and areas to place offerings. Our guide shared that everyone in Ubud’s doors are open and all are always welcome to come inside and explore. The town we walked through was called Melinggih Kelod.
After checking out the house temple compound, we continued through the town to walk through the rice fields. They weren’t as complex, intricate and staggered as the ones in Tegallalang, but it was nice to have a mini tour of them and learn a bit about the price making process.
We had lunch back at the hotel and Hailey went off to a pilates class.
After pilates, we headed back into the center of Ubud to walk around and check out the Sacred Monkey Forest.
Traffic when we approached Ubud was very congested and our driver pulled over so we could just get out and walk around. After 3 failed attempts to take cash out of an ATM in Ubud, we finally took American Dollars to a money exchange place and it was an easy transaction.
We stopped for a whole coconut drink and snack at a local spot in Ubud before making our way to the Sacred Monkey Forest. There are so many restaurants and markets in the Ubud area, there is no shortness of places to stop for a bite or for a souvenir.
We made it to the Sacred Monkey Forest and spent about 45 minutes inside watching monkeys freely walk around and play. Max wanted to get a “selfie with a monkey” so we paid a monkey trainer to help us set it up. We had a little too much luck and a baby monkey hopped on Hailey immediately. Shortly after a larger adult monkey sat on Max and the photos can explain the rest.
We showered immediately when we got back home (monkeys crawling on us was not entirely sanitary) and went in for our evening massages.
Day 5
Our final full day in our hotel was reserved for relaxing at the hotel and enjoying all it has to offer.
Hailey headed off to the morning yoga class, then we had our typical healthy breakfast in the temple-like pagoda.
Hailey had a Chakra Energy Healing session at 1:30 and came out of the session “relieved” of potential blocked energy from flowing through her body. She was told her shoulders were blocking energy because of stress and that she has too much on her mind.
We went down for our final massages, had our final dinner at GoGlow, the restaurant at the hotel, and called it a night.
Day 6
Left our hotel at 8:30 for a 12:30 flight to Singapore!
On the drive to the airport we saw impressive massive statues of the gods Brahma and Vishnu.
Next time we visit, we plan to check out:
The beaches
The mountains