Travel Diaries 10: Ubud, Bali

I've been to Indonesia three times in my life and the most striking thing about the country, to me, was its people. They are warm and hospitable, and have given me many wonderful memories about the place.

Bali felt like an all-in-one package for me as far as holidays went, because I always loved cultural tours, I love food, and I love shopping for local hand-made artifacts. Ubud had all of these things. On the other hand, I don't mind skipping natural sceneries or beaches as I wasn't a fan of these things. However, I got to experience a sunrise at Mt Batur, which was a bonus. (Much better than seeing a sunrise on PIE because you wake up at dawn everyday for work!)

Getting Around

I highly recommend booking a tour or getting private transport while in Bali because the attractions are so scattered around Ubud, it takes you upwards of an hour to get from place to place. Traffic is not the best and I had not seen any buses around the city. My friend and I got a private car hire on Klook (the driver doubles as your guide). Hassle free, safe and the guides were knowledgable. I must caveat, however, that I do not know how differently this would turn out had I travelled alone. Please do your research and book private cars at your own risk. I suggest booking with a Singaporean tour group if you don't feel safe.

Travel Admin

There is no longer a need for masks or health declaration upon landing in Indonesia, even though Singapore Airlines still sent me these reminders when I travelled to Jakarta in March. 

Currency wise, a simple way to convert from IDR to SGD is to note that 10,000 IDR is slightly less than $1 SGD. If you are travelling in a group, I recommend using the Splitwise app for efficient accounting of trip expenses! My friend and I used Splitwise and it is extremely easy with minimal need for brains (because nobody uses brains on a holiday)- simply create your event, like "trip to North Pole", and when the bills come up key in the expenses into the app and who paid for what. The app calculates who owes who money and exactly how much.

Weather wise, please don't be fooled by Bali's proximity to the equator. While in the day temperatures can go above 30 deg C, due to the mountain winds, it can drop to 19 or 20 deg C in the night. (This is in Aug but I don't expect it to vary much around the year, unless it is monsoon season) If you go up the mountains, temperates can be 15-16 deg C. It was bearable for me in short sleeves and shorts with a cotton sarong as a blanket, but do prepare a jacket.

Cultural Tours 

Indonesia is so vast that you can experience diverse cultures in different parts of the country. It's a bit different from Singapore, where different parts of the city are deliberately kept as heritage areas (like Chinatown, Kampong Glam, Tanjong Katong) and everywhere else is essentially one Singaporean culture. Balinese culture is different from Javanese culture, or from different parts of Indonesia. 87% of Balinese identify as Hindu (while the rest of Indonesia is 86% Muslim) as a result of Indian merchants bringing the religion into Bali in the 1st century. Compared to the high-rise buildings in Jakarta, Balinese buildings are not built higher than temples. 

There are some universal rules before entering their temples. Firstly, sarongs are almost a must before entering temples, even if you are wearing long pants. Most temples allow tourists to borrow them, but you can bring your own if you want your photos to look good on IG. Secondly, women with long hair must tie your hair up in some parts of the temple, so do bring rubber bands espcecially if you have a hairfall problem like me. (The reason is because it is considered disrespectful to drop hair on the temple grounds) Thirdly, if you intend to visit the temples do refrain from planning your trip during your period, because many temples bar female visitors who are on their period. Anyway, you would want to have clean toilets available during that time of the month too, which most toilets in Bali are, but not all have amenities or flushing systems (i.e. you must bring your own tissue and use water to manually flush).

I'm sure those who have been to Bali have realised what an absolute scam Instagram pictures of Heaven's Gate at Lempuyang temple is. Apparently, you need to be there at 5am to start queuing for a photograph at the location. If you arrive at 7am, or later, which we did, the waiting time will be around 2 hours. The photo, by the way, looks something like this:

Pic credit: New York Post. Btw, the "water reflection" is a mirror trick. That's what you'd be sacrificing sleep and wasting your time waiting for.

I say don't bother, get your beauty sleep, you are on a holiday. The temple itself is beautiful and you can take loads of photos of that with a much shorter queueing time, plus, here's a bonus hack. The gate you see in the picture is at the top of a (not very high) hill. If you go to the bottom of the hill you can get the exact same pic, using the exact same mirror trick, from the back of the gate. Of course the downside is you'd have all the people who are posing for the photo on the opposite side photobombing you, but I'm not an IG perfectionist so I am ok!

I also enjoyed the rice terrace views and being atop Mt Batur to watch a sunrise. I would have loved to wander the rice terrace but many of the paths were quite narrow and dangerous. There were some ladies walking around in flowing dresses and heels. I was scared for THEIR LIVES. Nevertheless, rice terraces were made (apparently, as our guide told us, by manual digging because the use of an excavator would destory living organisms in the soil/water underneath) to increase land surface area and to optimise irrigation, and are a magnificent sight.

After being treated to a sunrise atop Mt Batur via a jeep (terrain is quite scary but the drivers are skilled, you will survive), our tour included the Black Lava area. There were locals who collected these volcanic rocks and made them into bracelets to sell to the tourists who visit the area.

Btw for swakus who have never watched a sunrise from a mountain before and want to take a timelapse, please don't make the same stupid mistake I did which was to stop the timelapse the moment the sky changed from completely black to completely blue. You should see this (pictured above), and you hold and wait a bit longer till your surroundings are completely bright before cutting off your timelapse.

Btw our tour guide introduced us to this cafe, Akasa Kintamani, which is halfway down Mt Batur, for breakfast with a view. Be warned, it is chilly up here!

The one thing I was most excited about were the coffee plantation tours. The soil in Bali is nutrient rich due to volcanic activity, which made it perfect ground for coffee planting. Kopi Luwak (cat poo coffee) is a signature in Bali, and is the most expensive coffee in the world. I swore off it in the past because I didn't like cats and certainly don't like poo, but after trying it I wouldn't reject it outright. I quite enjoyed the Balinese coffee that I tried at various plantations, though I must say Javanese coffee is still my favourite hands down!

An assortment of coffee you get to taste test at Coffee Plantations, from ginseng coffee to almond and saffrom coffee, to just plain tea

Another highlight of Bali would be swings that allow you to fly over the vast rice terrace or coffee plantation lands. I have a phobia of heights so I didn't bother going on any of them.

Waterfalls

If you are going to visit one of the waterfalls in Bali, please pack slippers and a swimsuit, or at least a pair of shoes you intend to throw away. You will need to wade in water to get to the picturesque parts, such as at Tukad Cepung. Waterproof tights are recommended, lest you accidentally cut yourself on one of the rocks like I did.

Food

How can I forget the most important part of the trip? Indonesian food is on another level. I am fucking Singaporean so for me to say this, food in Indonesia has got to be really quite impressive. I was treated to Indonesian Yong Tau Foo in Jakarta and I was so mind blown by how all the flavours blended in together. 

After trying soto ayam (chicken soup) here in Bali, I think I may have cracked the secret. Chinese soup is often prepared with just the bones and flesh of chicken, fish or pork etc, but soto is prepared with additional herbs, such as turmeric, cumin seeds, garlic, ginger and peppercorn. Fried shallots are used too, and in my opinion, it really makes a whole difference in soup.

I would not normally pick mee goreng as my first choice if I were in a hawker centre in Singapore, but I thoroughly enjoyed bakmie goreng in Bali. (I'm not quite sure if they are even the same thing so enlightened souls please leave a comment!) Maybe it was just the way it was prepared? But less oily here and the taste of MSG is not as strong.

The one thing I was personally not a fan of is Babi Guling, which is roasted suckling pig. In addition, Balinese love their food extremely spicy, so do with that what you will and be prepared to ask for less spicy or even non-spicy food. Our grab delivery was a ayam penyet that was so spicy it gave us digestive problems.

All in all, Bali is a popular tourist destination for very good reasons. I highly recommend everyone visit the city at least once! Even if not Bali, at least visit Indonesia once. It is full of amazing people and wonderful experiences.