Back to Bali: Ubud, Indonesia

Well we booked a cheap place called Ubud Hideaway, naturally you'd think that was in Ubud..
NOT!

It was a pretty awesome place though.. it was our own mansion Villa!! I had my own room! Though, there were ants everywhere, the toilet had a messed up flush, and there were stains all over my mosquito net, BUT it did have a pool... Which we never used. And a free shuttle into town, which we did use, and they cooked us breakfast in the morning, which we definitely ate! But we decided to only stay for a night, and then move to a place more in the center of Ubud.

One good thing came of Ubud Hideaway though.. we met Anina! She's from Switzerland, and she was the only other person staying there other than us. So she came into town looking for another place to stay as well. When we started looking around, we found a bungalow for 4 right in the center of town. Sonne, a girl we met in SixDegrees Hostel in Jakarta, Anina, and I shared a room while Christina (friend from the Lounge in Samui) and Karim shared the other. Cody and Sammi found a cheaper one for themselves at a different place nearby. Unfortunately, none of them had a pool.. BUT they both had AMAZING free breakfast!

On our first day in Ubud, we walked all around the market and saw these really beautiful dresses, you can tie up to make shorter, and both Sammi and I LOVED THEM!! Cody asked, and we definitely will not get 2 for 50,000 rupiah! The one lady literally laughed in his face when he asked, and said 1 for 150 rupiah... But! We kept walking... I find that the trick is to go to a seller a bit far away and one that has a lot. We went well past where many tourists would walk, and we found a lady that we talked down from 100 each to 2 for 80,000 rupiah, which is equivalent to $4 per dress!! We were literally half way down the street walking away because she didn't agree to 2 for 80, when she finally called us back! She even grudgingly said we got a good deal after we payed. We felt soo accomplished!! We're awesome.

The next day, we rented motos and took them all over the surrounding area. Anina was driving the bike I was on, and she had an international license, but the other people I was with didn't... and apparently in Bali, they actually check! We headed to the volcano, and as we were driving, we look to our right, and there were tons and tons of beautiful green rice terraces!! It was a seriously beautiful surprise that we weren't expecting. We stopped to take photos and just enjoy the view for a bit, then we were on our way to the volcano. As we were driving, this guy came up next to us on his bike and may or may not have helped us get past the police where they make tourists pay money and check drivers licenses. He just took us a different way from the main road and we got there just fine!! Though.. in the back of our minds, we all thought, how is this guy going to eff us over?

Well, he never made us pay anything.. but he took us to many places. First was his "mother's restaurant," and we thought, oh that'll be a nice way to support him.. little did we know that his mother's restaurant was huge, crawling with tourists, and everything on the menu was insanely expensive.. so we didn't buy anything there.. it was packed. He then led us to a temple that was at the base of the volcano and mountain, and to see the lake down there.. that was nice. Then he took us to his "family garden." It could have been someone related to him.. but I don't think so. He let us try the fruit and a guy there let us sample all of the tea and coffee. Then they wanted us to buy some, but we didn't our little (what ended up being) guide for the day seemed a bit mad, I felt a little bad, but at one point Sonne said, he has to remember it's not always going to work.

As we were heading back, Karim didn't wait for us lol & went ahead, so Anina and I were on our own. It turned out to be one of my favorite moments though, but unfortunately after, it rained on us! Which is not fun when you're on a motorbike with no rain jacket or poncho. Luckily it was only a sprinkle, and it stopped rather quickly. But as we were driving we passed through a little town and decided to stop and get a Popsicle! #BestIdeaEver! As we were walking to the shop, there were these little boys who started talking to us! Just simple talk, but it kind of made our day. Also, as we were having a chat and screwing around with the kids, I looked over to the policeman/security guard, and he was just smiling ear to ear. :) It was really sweet. Then when we got to the shop, we paid local price! That was super exciting. lol. As we were leaving we said bye to the kids and left. It was simple, but it made us really happy. :) Then we were on our way back into Ubud, as we were driving there were these 2 girls on a motorbike, who drove up next to us, and we had a chat for a bit while driving. hah! Oh Asia.. I love you.

I can't forget to mention Monkey forest. There is this forest in Ubud that is just FILLED with monkeys!! We went there one day together, Anina, Karim, Sammi, Cody, Sonne, and me. It was really funny. there are adults, babies, grandma and grandpas... They say to not let the monkeys find out where you are putting food or drinks.. because they will find it... and they do... and they go through any means to get them. Unzipping your bag, grabbing it out of your hands... they are not afraid at all lol. These things will climb all over you! It's fun!! After, we went for a swim in Sonne's pool.

Speaking of pools.. Indonesia was really hot lol.. Cody, Sammi, and I may or may not have snuck into a different bungalow's pool. It was awesome. The workers saw us come in and didn't say anything so we just went with it!~ On the way back, it started storming.. maybe it was karma.

On our last night, we all ate at this cheap local place, that Sammi and Cody found, down an alleyway. It was by far the best place we had eaten in Bali.. AND the cheapest!! A great find.

Then it was goodbyes; back to Singapore, on my way to Cambodia to travel with Ally!

<3 M