After an entirely nutty night of drinking with the locals, and then going out with the insane Americans we were all feeling a little worse for wear...
We were asked if we wanted to go out early to go dolphin spotting, but as it was a 5.30am start, plus I've already seen dolphins in Bunbury, I opted out. And also as we got in at 3.30am the night before!
So... our group split - some wanted to do the rice paddy trek and waterfall jump, and we went to the famous Temple by the Water Pura Ulun Danu Bratan (The Floating Temple)
Our American friends Fred and Danny however couldn't face the walk, so stayed in the minivan as us hardcore lot went to the temple! (Poor boys, we did party a bit hard for a while!)
I've been looking at a lot of tropical flowers, for my next tattoo and this one will definitely feature in it! Gorgeous.
The beautiful temple grounds
Don't break the rules, k?!
Yet another gorgeous selfie... You'll never be tired of seeing my mug on here haha!
Panoramic of the Floating Temple
More of the Floating Temple
And this here is why I prefer the Buddhist temple we went to yesterday and not this one. Yes it's pretty, but far from as peaceful! Too many tourists...
I love the amount of statues they have, we saw some being built by the road on our route - there are so many different ones made all the time - I was told there's even a temple that has car statues in it! How cool is that?!
This is clearly my happy selfie face... Or maybe its just my "I've only had 3 hours sleep" face... But I soldier on!
The mosque high on the hill
This was the most peaceful I found this temple to be... Just out of the way, not too far from the exit shops and restaurants, there's a few boats in the water and not many people around. I spent a happy ten minutes just sitting and watching the water.
Next stop was home (well, Kuta) for the American boys and my delicious friends Delissa and Nate, but I was being dropped off in Ubud.
I desperately needed a break from the craziness that was Kuta, but also from everyone! Just a little time to myself was the best thing. I only stayed one night in Ubud, only got a taster of what it was about, but I definitely would go back again!
I stayed in a lovely little hostel tucked away from the main street in Ubud... Called In Da Lodge. Reviews are here - (Tripadvisor)
I found the dorm room to be clean, the whole place is beautiful and the bed... the most important thing... was SO COMFY!
Everyone is relaxed, it was a stark contrast to Kuta, nobody really bothered with me, but I think the relaxed, chilled out backpacker vibe was very strong here!
The staff were great, I spent a few minutes chatting with the very sweet Edward and settled in well.
Clearly really tired. Glad to be here in such tranquility!
Caught a bit of the sunset through the trees!
Just outside our room was this lovely little effigy, little Buddha-elephant!
Ahh go to bed will ya!
You can just see this rice paddy out there!
Catching the last of the sunset
How pretty is the communal area here?! So... relaxed!
I am aware I'm running out of ways to say that. I should get a thesaurus! But it is true. If you need somewhere tranquil and calm... then Ubud is your place. There's lots of yoga and meditation that goes on here. Next time I come, I'm definitely going to do some of that!
My lovely breakfast of a fresh coconut, then I'm off for a rather quick visit to the Sacred Monkey Forest!
I had a nice little wander down the wrong way to the Monkey Forest... but this is just beautiful, even if it is in the road!
Lovely little temple on the way
And then I finally get into the forest.
It is truly breathtaking in here! So tranquil, and stunning views!
No less than 2 minutes after I'd taken this shot, I get accosted by a rather aggressive monkey that decided he wanted my water bottle, and I couldn't keep it! So... we had a little fight, him having jumped onto me and grabbed the bottle, me telling it in a stern voice "Get off you git" and when he realised he wasn't winning this tug of war game, he BIT into my bottle. Thanks mate. You can have it now! Of course, he didn't want it after that! Cheeky bugger.
After hearing some horror stories I was a bit relieved that this incident was the only thing to happen to me!
And this below was a re-enactment of what happened to me... (Just caught the offending monkey after he'd bitten the bottle)
Me and my dragon friend!
It's only a monkey!
And my two pics a lovely lady did for me... I wasn't getting any closer than that!
And now we have some last minute photos of In Da Lodge just before I departed back to Kuta (I know...)
And here concludes my little trip within a trip to Lovina and Ubud.
Back to Kuta to make more new friends and have more adventures!
Big hugs from London... well jell xxxxx
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