Ubud, Bali: 35, Hot and Humid, 18 kms

A Bali Walk:

Today is our last full day in Bali as we head home tomorrow afternoon. So the plan was to make the most of our last day. Annemarie decided to spend the day learning to cook Balinesean style, and while that appealed to me, I decided to take the last opportunity to walk and see some of the area. After a nice breakfast together I headed off fairly early to beat the heat and the humidity. Our time in Queensland and Bali has fully acclimatized us, but early is definitely best if one plans to walk for an extended period of time.

I headed off along a side road that skirted the edge of town and afforded some beautiful views across recently planted rice fields. The early morning light and calm air left the paddies very reflective. 

A rare quiet moment without the constant noise from the motor bikes which is so prevalent much of the day. 

The road turned into a trail which turned into a muddy track, but I was leaving the tourist zone behind.

I had set out in the direction of the Monkey Forest and arrived there just as they opened the gates to the park. Yes, there were monkeys...lots of them. Some goofing around like this youngster,

Others snoozing like this large male...I kind of had them all to myself as I was first in, so they were pretty mellow initially. 

Then he yawned full on...

Then feeling rather pleased with himself, he looked me square in the eye. I suspect we were mutually admiring each other's beards!

There were two temples in the forest, both different, both quite beautiful, but always there were the monkeys.

From there I walked onwards heading out of town and into the rice paddies.

Initially the road was fairly defined, but then it downsized substantially into a trail along side the water channels.

Lots of lizards of various sizes as I walked deeper into this forest...this one is typical and about a foot in length.

With the water running just beside me as well as far below and with the sounds of the birds, for the first time since walking the Great Ocean Track I had found the peace that comes with walking alone. It was a pretty nice feeling to have finally found myself completely alone for a time, permitting me to just listen as I drifted along. The scenery helped considerably too.

At some point I found myself in someone's back yard complete with ducks and drying rice...

I managed to not startle a young woman who came out to shift the drying rice, and I asked her the correct way back towards Ubud. She was very gracious as we sorted this out (me standing in her back yard) and I retraced some of the trails through the paddies that I'd been following.

From there it was about 7 kms back to town, and a lovely walk it was through the green, green rice paddies. 

I bumped into these women on the edge of town and they graciously smiled and let me take this photo. That's rock in those baskets! They must each have weighted some 20kgs and they had a huge pile of it to move. Strong necks and strong backs!! 

And they wore only light sandles. Tough ladies!!

A very nice walk today. I returned to our digs and washed my clothes, plunged into our small pool and then ordered a brilliant Indonesian meal which I consumed together with a BinTang beer beside the pool. As the afternoon rains pounded down I began the job of again re-packing my bag. This time for the trip home. We depart at 16:15 and Ari will drive up to pick us up at 11:30 for the two hour drive to the airport. 

"I'm pretty sure that I used to have a tail just like this one?"

Ubud, Bali, Indonesia: 36 Hot and Humid

We decided that with all the driving, sitting, eating and drinking that we have enjoyed in Bali that it was time to pay penance and get out for a walk. Forget the heat. Forget the humidity. Time to walk! 

We warmed ourselves up by first having a hearty breakfast...after all we were going to work hard today. This was followed by the decision to get some of our end of trip shopping done, which we did.

But finally, sadly, we couldn't come up with any more excuses. It was time to trek to Campuhan Ridge. We had unfortunately selected one of the hottest days of our Bali visit to undertake the trek, but it had to be done. Our bodies demanded a walk! So off we went. Actually, once we started walking the shady parts were pretty nice. There were some locals swimming in the river...pretty ugly water, but we have watched many times as the locals bath in worse water than this. At least the water was flowing and there were some small falls to help rejuvenate the water.

Early on there was a temple on the trail that was quite nice.

I peaked over the back wall and found a very calming scene.

As we walked there were huge bees in the flowers...

And butterflies and other colourful insects. I messed this shot up, but you get the idea...

The trail was mostly made from bricks that re-radiated ridiculous amounts of heat. It was pretty hot as we tackled the ridge.

The scenery was very nice and sort of compensated for the heat.

Complete with rice terraces.

Towards the end of our trek we happened upon some Balinese carvers or wood workers. Not sure what they were making?

As we came closer into town we passed a beautiful temple that we were not dressed properly to enter. I had left my Bainese head gear back at the hotel!

If that wasn't good enough, as we passed one of the entrances I dound preparations underway for some type of festival. Very colourful!

All in all a good experience. By the time we finished we felt like we'd dropped a couple of kilos off our bodies! However, we remedied this by stopping at the small grocery down from our humble abode to pick up a couple of cold beers and some seaweed potato chips! After all, we'd satisfied our goals and it was time to retreat to our borique villa for refreshments. Wish I could find these sort of water holes to cool down in on Camino. 

Do I feel guilty staying in a place like this? Yes, a bit. This was Annemarie's retirement gift from the family. I just carry the bags and fetch the beers!

Time to return to the grind that is Bali. Buen Camino to our friends who are presently walking in Europe. We will be there soon enough...just need to wash our laundry and train up a bit first:-)