30th April: Arrived in Ubud. Had booked and paid for accommodation at Sri Ratih Cottages in Campuhan. I had had dreadful trouble finding somewhere in Ubud that 1) didn't have stairs (for my Dad who can't deal with a lot of stairs), 2) had air conditioning, 3) had multiple rooms available in close proximity to each other 4) had rooms available close to the pool, and 5) reasonably priced. Trying to book rooms for 10 people (my family, parents and little brother) with differing needs is not fun! Anyway, after much deliberation I found Sri Ratih which looked to answer all our needs. Well, I sort of got it right! Firstly the gardens are beautiful, very well established and immaculately maintained, and very few steps. Staff were very unobtrusive, but helpful when needed. The pool was a decent size and spotlessly clean. Rooms were big and clean. And close to the pool. But now for the down side... I had booked 5 superior rooms here. We were shown our rooms and I instantly balked at going into the bathrooms! They were like prison cells, no windows, very musty/mouldy smelling and many stains in the bath. There was no actual shower, just a hand held shower nozzle. I am not a fussy person, but unidentifiable, yellow stained baths that I have to stand in to shower and very obvious musty/mouldy smells are just not my thing! The rooms were a good size and the beds comfortable but I couldn't get over those bathrooms! So I trotted off to reception and asked to see their deluxe rooms. These were similar rooms, but the bathrooms were a little better... still looked like a prison cell (only 4 small glass tiles in one wall, otherwise 4 blank walls) but at least they had been renovated sometime in the recent past and the baths were not so disgusting looking! Still only a hand held shower nozzle though! So for an extra US$5 per room a night we moved into the deluxe rooms. These were acceptable. Although they did have a very obvious musty smell in every room and my parents even had very obvious rising damp stains on the walls. I burnt a lot of incense to try and keep the musty smells at bay! The pool needed a major overhaul. The kids cut their feet on broken tiles in the pool a number of times. Breakfast was included... we ate it one morning and it was acceptable but not terrific. And considering the state of the rooms I was very suspicious about the state of their kitchen! Such a pity really because it could be a really lovely hotel in a nice part of Ubud if only someone would do some maintenace in the rooms. Anyway, enough of my whinging! All things considered, it wasn't the worse place I have stayed in but after Villa Natalie and Life in Amed it was a major come down in the world!
Right, now that I have got that off my chest let's move on!
After settling in to Sri Ratih, we were starving and headed down the hill to Murni's Warung for some lunch. We were shown to a table on level 4, closest to the river with lovely views. Great service and delicious food. We ate and drank to our heart's content. Then we wandered further into town, just looking and taking in the sights. I bought some ¾ length pants, soft cotton with colourful stripy, fold over tops because I had run out of clean clothes! I think I paid Rp. 80,000 for 2 pairs which we later found out was a complete rip-off! My little brother made it his mission to see how cheap he could get them for in the Ubud markets and managed 2 pairs for Rp. 50,000! So I paid $2 each too much! Oh no! Shocking!
Anyway, we were hot by now so headed back to the hotel for a swim and relax.
My dear husband is turning 40 this year and as a surprise I had invited his family who live in Perth to join us in Bali for a surprise 40th birthday party. I had booked a large table for 20 people at Cinta Grill and Inn. So after lazing around for the afternoon I convinced everyone to get up, get dressed and head out for dinner. Hubby was very surprised to see his Dad and partner and his dear brother and sister-in-law! Plus there was all my family and some friends as well. We had a wonderful evening catching up, drinking, eating, swapping stories. The kids were amazed to see their grandparents and uncle and aunt... I hadn't told the kids either as they are dreadful at keeping secrets! The service was perfect, food amazing and considering all we ate and drank it came too about A$25 per person.
A very good Balinese friend of my sister's joined us for dinner. Besides being a terrific guy, Jacob also has his own tour business. He speaks excellent English and can get whatever sort of car you need and also has his own scooters for rent. He can also get good deals on most tours. During dinner we mentioned that we wanted to go rafting in the next couple of days. Jacob rang up and got us a terrific deal with the rafting company I wanted, much cheaper than anywhere else I had enquired at, and all was organised for a rafting adventure the following day! Jacob's details as follows:
Fast Jacob's Tours,
Name: Putu Jacob
Email: fastjacobs_tours@yahoo.com
Mobile: 08124640363
After much fun and talk we all headed back to our respective hotels for a good sleep.
1st May: Rafting Adventure today! Had breakfast at Sri Ratih. Was ok but nothing to get excited about. Eggs, tiny bit of bacon or sausage, cold toast, juice. And as mentioned before... was a little suspect about hygiene standards in the kitchen! Although none of us got sick at all so quite possibly I was just being paranoid!
Picked up in a van and headed north to find some white water. After much research I had decided to go with Bali International Rafting. Last time I went rafting the stairs at the end were a real dampner so after hearing rumours that BIR had the least stairs I thought we would give it a go! Drove for about an hour and a half and finally saw the Telaga Waja river.
Had a brief welcome by the manager and then organised our gear into stuff to take with us in the rafts in waterproof locked bags, or stuff to leave in the van in secure, locked bags. When our stuff was securely locked away I was given the key to the bag so that no-one else could get into it whilst it was in the van and in transit to the end point. Then we met our guide for the day, got fitted with lifejackets and helmets, had a brief education session and then we were off! Only about 10 steps down to the river and the boat.
We were actually in 3 separate boats so had a lot of fun racing each other, splashing and shouting insults! The guides were great fun, making jokes, splashing everyone but were quite obviously in full control at all times. The ride was enough to be exciting but not rough enough to think you were going to die! Beautiful scenery, saw some locals going about their daily lives on the river.
We did have to get out at one point where there was a pretty big drop and walk down some steps. Maybe 15 steps, steep and with a dodgy handrail but nothing too strenuous.
About half way we stopped at a waterfall for a stretch of the legs and a drink. Of course, the drinks were not cheap... Rp. 20,000 for a can of soft drink... but they did have a captive market so what else can you expect! I had a good laugh to myself when I saw a very pretty Japanese girl get out of her boat, looking a little wet and bedraggled (I promise it wasn't me who splashed her!), quickly grab her compact out and refresh her make-up! I don't think she expected to get wet and dirty but she was certainly wetter and dirtier by the end!
About 3/4s of the way along the guide pulled us into the bank and readied us for the drop over the dam wall. I was in a boat with my 10 year old daughter and 12 year old son. Daughter was a little worried but after seating ourselves in the bottom of the boat and hanging on for dear life we pushed off and over we went! I had done rafting on the same river 4 years ago so knew what to expect. Once again it was a little scary but great fun. Rest assured though, if it wasn't safe the rafting companies certainly wouldn't be doing it! Daughter was laughing and wanting to know if we could do it again! Adrenaline junky!
A couple of times we passed points where other rafting companies enter or exit the river. Saw people climbing up and down long, steep flights of steps. I remember doing the same 4 years ago... not fun! Bali International Rafting actually have the longest rafting course and I can now vouch for the fact that they also have the least amount of steps!
Reached the end point and walked up maybe 30 steps, some steep, then a short slope. Not very difficult at all as it was really a very short distance in comparison to other rafting companies. Showered (hot) with provided towels and then sat down for lunch. It was pretty mediocre, mass produced touristy fare... nasi goreng, some sate etc and fruit and a bottle of water. But we were hungry by this point so we ate it anyway and no-one got sick so it must have been ok!
Back on the bus for the ride back to Ubud... took maybe 40 minutes.
I had a long list of restaurants, gleaned from the forum, that I wanted to try in Ubud so after a rest we headed out for dinner. Our gastronimcal tour of Bali continued!
Decided to try Bebek Bengil for their famous duck. Lovely restaurant, huge and beautiful gardens (although it was dark so couldn't see too much!). The duck was to die for! Crispy and delicious. Once again we ate and drank to our heart's content. Desserts were yummy too!
2nd May: Decided to forego the breakfast at the hotel and strolled down the hill to the Bridge Cafe. Lovely place on the opposite side of the river to Murni's Warung. Similar views. They don't actually have a breakfast menu but they said go ahead and order whatever you like and we will make it! So we did! Bacon and eggs, banana pancakes, juices, toast. Was delicious and well priced.
Kids wanted to do some shopping so we headed for the Ubud markets. Found a DVD store first so bought some pirated copies... anyone with a dog that they love DO NOT buy 'Marley and Me'. Unless of course you have a huge tub of tissues next to you when you watch!
Reached the markets with many a 'No, thank you' and 'Tiddak' to the billion and one transport touts along the main road of Ubud. Kids had a ball in the markets... they are good little bargainers and often got better prices than I did! It was wonderful to hear my 13 year old son laugh and say to one watch seller, 'Oh no, very very mahal!' The kids picked up quite a few Indonesian phrases very fast and had a great time trying to speak the lingo. They certainly used Indonesian for their greetings, thank yous, to tell someone their name, to say expensive or cheap when they were bargaining etc. Just simple stuff but I think the Balinese enjoyed and appreciated their efforts. Daughter bought some dresses, Bali bling etc. Boys bought watches, carved wooden monkeys, some boy necklaces etc. I bought a tin, brightly painted chicken that you can put a tea light into! I love chickens and have a little collection of them at home.
Lunch time rolled around and we headed to Cafe Lotus. Lovely gardens, great service, good food. Again we had a large group to be catered for and the staff did a terrific job of getting everyone's meals out on time and hot.
Back to the markets again after lunch. Kids did some more bargaining and came out with more carved wooden things such as dragons and boxes. Also some sarongs and presents for friends at home.
Mum and Dad had had enough by then so we headed back to Sri Ratih for some down time. Swimming, reading, dozing and fruit juices by the pool.
And surprisingly enough, dinner time rolled around again too! One of our greatest joys while travelling is sampling the local cuisines and thankfully our kids have pretty adventurous palates too. Tonight I had decided on Warung Enak on Jl. Hanoman. Funky place with some bizarre monkey statues wearing bikinis and sunnies! Again, terrific service and food. All Indonesian fare here and everything was delicious. Not very busy though and I suspect it is because of their Indonesian only menu. Not a concern for us but some of the people we were dining with can be a little conservative in their food choices and I think were a little dismayed to see they had no choice but to eat fairly traditional Indonesian fare. After much drinking and chatting we headed back to Sri Ratih for bed.
NEXT EDITION: MORE OF UBUD