A Day of Trekking Around Ubud

When I researched Ubud this spring, one of the things I did was to literally type "Ubud, Bali" into Google image search and marvel at the photos - try it, it's nice escapism.  We've been here for three days already and hasn't quite yet seen anything to rival it, but I think that changed today.  

Nicole, Stacen and I set out this morning for a trek that would take us south and west of Ubud proper.  Kacie has been nursing a cold and decided to take a needed day of R&R ( which is great when the view outside your little porch is this:)

Looking at the rice paddy behind our hotel.

With the sun high in the sky and the rain at bay, we started in the Monkey Forest.  We went there yesterday and were treated to very greedy monkeys who are completely fearless.  They pretty much all look like this, except if you have food on you and they want it.  Nicole can tell you what the monkeys look like in that instance.  

We turned south and wandered through some expat villas that all command rice paddy views and have little swimming pools.  We were jealous.  Our path took us through little snatches of woods and back out to rice paddies, where we marveled at the various stages of rice production and irrigation.  

Rice drying on a tarp in the middle of the road.  I'm not sure what stage of production this is exactly, or what Indonesians cap it.  We did learn in Karimunjawa that there are actually four different words for rice in Bahasa Indonesian, the national standard language.  These correspond to the stage of production - for example, "nasi" is cooked rice.  We ate nasi goreng (fried rice) for breakfast for days before arriving in Bali, and finally got sick of it.

Nicole and Stacen lead the way through the rice paddies and villas.  

A little row of eco-cottages you can rent in the middle of rice fields.  We looked in - they each have a kitchenette, access to a pool, and are fantastically funky architecture (all bamboo).  How much is that going to set you back? About $21USD/night.    We slightly considered taking rooms there for a night as it was so tempting.

We wound through fields, past villa construction, and onto some forested tracks that would lead us closer to town.  Before we reached the road that could take us to Ubud proper, we went through a little artist's community.  We stopped in some galleries, which are chock-full of work of a dizzying array of styles.  Galleries are really just family compounds that sell the art that family members have created.  When you talk to someone in a gallery, you're guaranteed to hear that the piece you're looking at was created by their uncle.  Or brother.  Or aunt.  

We followed one gallery back and back and back, moving past the art (and the family's pet civet cat!) to find the cottages available for rent.  They're perched at the top of a hillside and have a lush series of terraces to overlook. 

Nicole plays the lady of the manor and displays the cottages and terraces.  I'm at the bottom of the hill.  

From here (not having found any art quite to our liking) we got back on the road, lunched (underwhelmingly), and headed to the next part of the trek.  The walk directions sent us to a hotel and said "take the narrow track down to a spot where you can swim in the river."  Dutifully, we located the Sayan Terrace Hotel, entered its grounds, and found a path.  The paved path ended, and a single-file track veered steeply down the hillside.  Stacen "Mountain Goat" Buchholz found this no obstacle, but Nicole and I found the pitch severe enough to cling to some weeds on our way down just in case we were to fall.  We were about to pack in and give up when Stacen reported from up ahead that it was well worth the effort.

We had found our picture-perfect moment.  

The river and its verdant rice paddies. The Four Seasons in Ubud is just to the left of where we were standing - but we got the view for free!

We gingerly made our way farther down to the riverbank, where a Bali was farmer laughingly told us that we could not swim, after all.  I don't think we've ever been that sweaty or dirty, so it was a keen blow.  To top off insult with injury, she asked us for 150,000rp (about $15) to cross her land and continue the trail. A hotel employee had come down to the river by this point (he commutes by swimming across!) and he thought it was a laughable proposition, so we felt fine declining.  We trudged up the hillside, feeling a bit giddy with our accomplishments but still supremely sweaty and disheveled.

Nicole and Stacen; models of trekking achievement and strength.

Shortly after reaching the main road, Nicole and I decided to head back to the hotel for a shower and relaxing beverage, and Stacen continued on to do another section of hike (where he found all of Unud's delinquents!).  

We have two more days in Bali - hopefully we'll be able to fit in everything we want to do!