This is the view we woke up to this morning.
Even though we got in super late last night we were still up and about pretty early. The hotel we are staying at does complimentary breakfast so we decided to get up and get some breakfast before starting the day. The breakfast was pretty good we had french toast and a jaffle with some pineapple juice.
Back at the hotel we got ourselves ready to go out in the heat. Our first stop this morning was to see Ubud town centre and check out Ubud Palace. It was quiet hot out and we got to experience the famous Ubud side streets. The fact is sometimes there is not side street or sometimes there is just a hole in the street. I did see a pot hole that was filled in with a coconut.
Ubud Palace is also known as Puri Saren Agung. It home of Ubud’s royal family since the late-19th century, they still live here today but it is also functioning as a museum and holds many functions with important people. Entry is free and it was quiet which was lovely. Its also the first time we have been up close to any Indonesian architecture and it is very stunning. It was a beautiful place to wonder around a lot of it is off limits but it was a cool place to see. We did a quick duck in to Starbucks afterwards to enjoy the airconditioning.
We then had a booking at the Ubud Silversmith to make our own silver rings. You get to choose a rung design that you like out of many many options and then you work with the staff to complete all the steps. You melt the silver down into a bar and then using various tools and hammers you forge it into a ring. Anthony and I chose very different designs so we spent our time at different steps. We were both pretty thrilled with the experience and final product.
We headed back to the hotel after silversmithing to cool down and relax before lunch. We had seen a cute local restaurant on one of my favourite youtubers so we decided to wander through Ubud to get there. Its called In Da Compound and it is a small restaurant in the middle of a family compound. The food was amazing and definitely worth a visit if you are in town. Also the meal only cost us only $7 AUD each which is crazy to think about.
I has also heard some really good reviews about this little area of rice fields behind Ubud that have not been taken over by the tourist boom in Bali. Off the beaten path. I really wanted to go here and see the local farmers and how they live and work the rice fields. The trail starts in the most dodgy looking alley and walkway but we were told to trust the process.
We were rewarded as we appeared in the peace and quiet of multiple rice fields behind Ubud and not a tourist in site. The rice fields were all at different stages of growth and some of the locals were out working their fields. It was such stunning walk and then at the end of the walk we found the rice ducks that do pest control. There is a cafe at the end of the walk called Sweet Orange Warrung. The have cats and really funny coconut faces. We were so overheated at this point we dropped in for a drink and to get out of the sun.
By this point I was super overheated. I hadn’t been feeling 100% anyway (I do not fly well) We headed back to the hotel to take a cold shower and try and fix my migraine. Anthony ordered dinner in and I had a nap to try and get rid of my migraine. However my last note in this blog is I am so thankful we went to the random rice fields with no tourists compared to the big ones further out.