Travel Day 663 – Driving on a Scooter around Bali, INDONESIA
08/09 Padangbai via Blue Lagoon to Ubud
After the shady beach experience yesterday, the day today had to start a whole a whole lot better and in this case with the combination of beach and sun…
Blue Lagoon Beach by Padangbai on Bali, Indonesia
The Blue Lagoon turned out to be the perfect place to enjoy the early morning, not only because of the sun exposure but also because the lovely strip of sand was absolutely deserted. And so I could enjoy myself for quite a while on my personal beach before the first tourists had woken up and made their way down to the Blue Lagoon. By the time the small beach was starting to slowly fill up, it was already time for me to pack up, vacate my little straw hut on stilts and jump back on the scooter to hit the road again…
The goal for the day was to reach Ubud, dubbed the cultural capital of Bali, and set on the lower slopes of the central foothills. The whole area was supposed to have some nice villages and I really wanted to explore them while driving around on the scooter. But unfortunately this stretch of the road between Padangbai and Ubud was a newly constructed highway with plain views and the ride was, admittedly quick, but not nearly as enjoyable as the ones before had been…
Touristic Monkey Forest Road in Ubud on Bali, Indonesia
On top of that, it was really quite surprising to see how developed and touristic Ubud appeared. Expecting local culture and finding Starbucks at the corner seemed quite disappointing and it was obvious that this sprawling little town had become quite a popular tourist destination. Ubud seemed basically like a Kuta for the older generation with families. And all the many arts and craft stores or souvenir shops lining the main drag, Monkey Forest Road, made this apparently the perfect place for vacationers with money and looking for a way to spend it…
Actually, how many of these arts and craft places existed in Ubud, I really only realized when driving a good 30 minutes north into the mountains. Literally the entire distance of the drive these stores kept lining the street. Since they seemed to be selling all the same kind of carved statues, it was really strange to imagine how they could all survive from the tourists in the area. But apparently a lot of people were actually stopping to buy, making me once more aware of the fact that Bali was not so much a backpacker destination, but rather a place for holiday makers with deep pockets and space in their suitcases…
Delicious Warung Restaurant in Ubud on Bali, Indonesia
Feeling slightly out-of-place, it seemed I joined the street life rather as a spectator while avoiding all the tourist traps that came with a price tag. Realizing that Ubud was not my kind of destination, I made the best of my time and looked through a nice little book store to find a small pocket guide of Practical Indonesian. The basics of the language seemed to be easy enough to learn and I had already noticed how much friendlier people were here when you could say at least a few words in their mother tongue…
Besides the new resolution of learning a bit of Bahasa Indonesia, Ubud seemed to be only good for one other thing, great local food. It obviously took leaving the tourist center, but then there were amazing little restaurants, so-called warungs, with delicious pre-cooked food in their window display. These selections of food here in Ubud were not only the best I had seen on Bali, but they also allowed me to pick and taste every non-meat item that looked appealing to me. And best of all, everything was really delicious, especially the local tempe…
Find all Padangbai – Ubud and Padangbai to Ubud photos here.
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