Since Rich and I started planning this trip, Bali was one of the locations for which I was most excited. It didn’t hurt that in July and August 2018, Chrissy Teigen, John Legend, and their children, Luna and Miles, spent several weeks in Bali, braving earthquakes, making friends with dangerous bugs, and filming headband of the day videos. What more could make you want to go?
To provide some geographical context, Bali is an Indonesian island, and Ubud, the first town we visited, is in the mountains. Ubud is incredibly beautiful– the terrain is lush, there are temples and offerings everywhere, and it is known as a place of healing. And there are monkeys! Read along to hear how we spent our five days here.
Day 124: Travel from Yogyakarta to Ubud, Bali
We had an early flight out of Yogyakarta which was a bummer because we had to leave the hotel at 5:00 AM, and the delicious breakfast at our hotel didn’t start until 6:00. Missing out on a free, good meal always hurts.
We took a Grab to the airport, avoiding the terrible walk we did when we arrived, and got checked in pretty easily. Our flight to Bali was also, thankfully, much smoother than our flight to Yogyakarta had been.
Our taxi ride from the airport in Denpasar to Ubud was not so smooth. For some reason, on the hour long drive, our driver kept falling asleep! It was about 10:00 AM there, so we were not sure if he might have been on drugs? Let’s just say we were more than a little concerned and very happy when we made it there safely.
Rich booked our villa, the Moksha, in Ubud through AirBNB, although it really ran like a small hotel with a pool, provided breakfast, and a full spa– all for the low price of $54/night! (I sound like an infomercial).
The Moksha allowed us to check in early, and we enjoyed laying by the pool for much of the rest of the day. For dinner, we ate at a Korean restaurant called Roots, and it was so delicious. I got a bibimbap bowl, and it was one of my favorite meals of the trip– which makes me think that we should add South Korea to our future travel list!
Day 125: A Busy Day of Football Fandom
So I matriculated at the University of Georgia for undergrad and am a second generation Georgia Bulldog. Georgia’s biggest rivals are the Florida Gators (boo), and on the first full day, we were in Ubud, the Georgia v. Florida football game was played at 3:30 PM. In America.
It was played at 3:30 AM in Ubud. Forever committed, we woke up to watch. When the game ended at 7:00 AM, our Georgia Bulldogs emerged victorious with a final score of 36-17.
Beating Florida feels so good, even when you wake up before the sun to watch it.
One of the very best parts of our stay at the Moksha was an incredible breakfast delivered each day. We elected to eat our breakfast in the garden, and I enjoyed a smoothie bowl, coffee, and bread basket.
Then we went back to sleep!
Upon awaking the second time, we spent an hour or so at the pool and then headed inside to crank out blog posts and trip planning, umm, things.
For dinner, we ate pizza across the street.
After dinner, we headed back to our villa for more football. The Philadelphia Eagles played the Jacksonville Jaguars in London, which was an early morning game in America, and a 9:30 PM game in Ubud, Bali.
When the Eagles v. Jaguars ended after midnight, the Eagles had squeezed out a 24-18 victory. Eagles victories being few and far between this season, winning made watching seven hours of football in less than 24 hours totally worthwhile.
Day 126: Salons and Monkeys
As mentioned in our fourth thirty days abroad post, I hold a special place in my heart for Gritty, the new and charming mascot of the Philadelphia Flyers. However, as much as I love Gritty, I did not love that months of being in the sun every day had given me orange hair resembling his.
Time for a trip to the salon!
Hair at Vive Salon in Ubud
So I did several months of research on where to get my hair colored in Ubud, and I landed on Vive Salon. Coincidentally, Chrissie Teigen and John Legend visited Vive Salon in Ubud for spa services in the summer, but we all know that Chrissy Teigen didn’t get her hair done there because only Jen Atkin is allowed to touch her hair.
(I don’t have a job so sometimes I internet stalk Chrissy Teigen.)
Long story long, the stylist Rikke dyed my hair back to brown. A few notes:
- Rikke, from Denmark, was also a spiritual healer. She mentioned the Ubud has always been a place of healing, but that lately she felt that there were many more broken people coming to be healed and that the place just felt that much more sad. I found this observation totally fascinating.
- Despite warning her that my hair was very dry, soaked up color very quickly, and had in the past turned out much darker than anticipated, she went a shade darker than I thought she probably should have and my hair came out very dark.
Could trusting someone other than your own hairdresser be the hardest part of an around-the-world trip? I kid. Mostly.
Visiting the Ubud Monkey Forest
As I shared in the post on Kuala Lumpur, Rich and I foolishly watched a YouTube video where a silly tourist gets scratched by a monkey and has to go to the hospital to get a rabies shot. As excited as I was to visit the monkey forest, I have to admit the image of that lingered a bit in my mind.
Still, a visit to the Ubud Monkey Forest is a must on a visit to Bali. There are hundreds and hundreds of monkeys, and they walk around among the tourists. We were warned that they might attack and that they might steal things, but all of the monkeys we saw– and we saw a lot of monkeys– seemed not to bother the humans unless they were disturbed. I would not call them docile for they were very active and very much wild animals, but they were definitely used to the human company. Note that the guidelines below tell you not to make eye contact with them as it is seen as aggressive behavior. Easier said than done.
Day 127: Yoga + Spa = Heaven
This day was one of my very favorite of the trip– less Chrissy Teigen, more Gwyneth Paltrow. It was quintessentially Bali.
Vinyasa Gentle Flow Yoga
This past spring, Rich and I signed up for a deal at a bikram yoga studio near our apartment in Washington, DC for 10 classes. For the uninitiated, bikram is hot yoga, known as hot yoga because you do it in a very hot (100+ degree) room and sweat like you have never sweated before. I had done bikram on and off for the past five or so years, but both yoga and sweating for 90-minutes without reprieve were a new experience for Rich.
Rich and I both wanted to do yoga in Bali as it totally seemed like a bucket list item. When Rich asked me how different vinyasa would be from bikram, well, all I could really answer was different.
For the first thirty minutes of our 7:30 AM vinyasa flow class, all we did was breathe. I am totally fine sitting, breathing, clearing out my mind peacefully, and even I started getting a bit restless.
Rich has self-diagnosed adult ADD. He told me after the class, he almost walked out during the breathing part. He just wasn’t sure he could sit there and stay still. All of the breathing and sitting seemed interminable.
But then it got better. We did a downward dog, then a cow, then a cat, then python, then child’s pose, and then repeated and changed the cycle several different times. And then class was over!
Yoga in Bali– check and check. Back to the villa for our smoothie bowls!
Spa Day at the Moksha
I can only imagine everyone is thrilled to read about us traveling around the world, enjoying spa day. I hope you aren’t reading this one at work. It was heavenly.
So here’s the deal. When we checked into our villa, there was a list of available spa services. The first one listed was a honeymoon package that for $24/person provided a three-hour experience which included:
- A welcome juice
- An hour-long massage
- A facial
- A body scrub treatment
- A hot flower bath
We are not on our honeymoon but such affordable pampering was impossible to pass up! It was everything we hoped it would be.
Dinner at Ibu Susu
Special thanks to Deena, a friend from graduate school, who recommended Ibu Susu via an Instagram message. The atmosphere was super hip, and everything we ate was delicious. We were able to sit at the bar and enjoy tofu and shitake dim sum, pork belly steam buns, and the beef rendang. Yum!
Day 128: A Visit to the Rice Terraces
Have you ever thought a place was going to be one thing and then it was really something else entirely? Well, that was our visit to the rice terraces for me.
All of the pictures on Instagram from the rice terraces in Bali involved flowing dresses, passionate embraces, and maybe a dramatic swing over the landscape (see here, here, and here).
Welp, I put on a dress…and then got muddy and sweaty.
Turns out rice terraces, in fact, are not an elaborate Instagram background, but instead, an actual place where farmers grow actual rice. They are terraced, they are green ,and they are beautiful. But they are also hot and super muddy. I wish I had worn tennis shoes and saved the dress!
Rich and I had considered visiting a nearby coffee plantation instead (hey, we love coffee), but we learned that the incredibly expensive kopi luwak coffee is produced by feeding Asian palm civets (small, cat-like animals) cherries and then collecting their defecation to include with the coffee blend. We are adventurous, but we were not feeling that adventurous. We like our coffee poop-free.
Final Funny Story from Day 128
For dinner, we headed to Halal Ubud Burger. In case you are not familiar, halal refers to any meat prepared according to Muslim law. For example, this would exclude pork or any cut of meat from an animal’s hindquarters, and halal restaurants typically do not serve alcohol.
As Indonesia is a Muslim country, a halal burger spot is not unusual. It was near our villa, was cheap, and had high TripAdvisor ratings. Great!
We walk in wearing workout clothes (we obviously immediately changed into something comfortable upon our return from the rice terraces), and a young 20-something man looks at my shirt, and says, “Wow! That t-shirt is awesome.”
I’m wearing a City sports t-shirt that says, “Everyday I’m Mustling.” It’s the only t-shirt with writing on it I packed in my backpack, and while I’m not mustling everyday, I probably am sleeping in or relaxing in this shirt at least every other day.
“Thanks,” I reply.
He turns to his girlfriend, “Honey, look at her shirt! Isn’t that great!” The girlfriend looks about as confused as me but nods. He then asks, “Are you <insert word I have never heard>?”
I shake my head no, assuming if I have never heard this word, I’m not it.
He then says, “Oh, you converted to Islam, then?”
I say, “Oh, I’m not a Muslim.” He says, “Oh. Okay. Well, it’s still a great shirt.”
I’m totally confused. They pay their bill and leave. And then it dawns on me.
He thought my shirt said, “Everyday I’m MUSLIMING.”
Final Notes on Ubud
Hopefully, the pictures have reflected this where my words have failed: Ubud was absolutely beautiful. The land was incredibly lush, and there were beautiful temples and sacred places everywhere you turn. It is really clear that thousands of Westerners flock to Ubud each year as it has every food and experience a tourist could want at prices that seem a bit high compared to the cost of other Southeast Asia countries but incredible compared to the west.
Looking back, we had a really nice and relaxing time in the peaceful hills of Ubud. We ate good, healthy food and took great care of ourselves. Isn’t that one reason why you get away? Being in Ubud was truly a treat!
