I know that quite some time has gone by since Christmas, but this is my chance to finally talk about our special time in Bali, Indonesia. We stayed at Ubud Hanging Gardens the week before Christmas. This was our first time ever visiting a place in December wearing flip flops and shorts.
We chose a resort in Ubud, which is in the mountains and some distance away from the beaches. We wanted a mountain top, jungle experience with the monkeys. When we arrived at the resort around midnight, we were warmly greeted by the staff wearing Indonesian sarongs and embroidered tunics. We were taken to our small villa by a hillside venicular. This fun little mode of transportation carries guests to different levels at the resort. Villas, main pool, restaurants and gift shop were on different levels.
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| Front entrance view looking down toward gift shop |
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| Venicular |
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| Entrance to our villa |
All the villas have their own infinity pool for private swimming, and the view from the pool was nothing but dense tropical foliage as far as the eye could see. While swimming one afternoon, we did spot a monkey high up in a tree near us. We didn't have any bananas to entice him to come down.
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| Our pool looking toward cafe |
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| View from our pool |
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| Kevin relaxing under hut by pool |
Inside the villa was an elegant bed surrounded by white mosquito
netting. I thought the netting was a romantic touch. I quickly found out
that it was there for a reason. I saw mosquitoes trying to get in every
night, and other little creepy crawlies hanging on the outside staring
at us like we were a tempting blood meal. It got pitch dark in the room like no
other darkness I ever experienced. So, when I was tempted to get up in
the middle of the night to visit the loo, I thought twice about leaving
my safe little shelter in the netted cave. In the morning, all the
little creepies were gone. Where they go....I don't know. I don't want to know.
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| Bed with mosquito netting |
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| View looking toward the pool villas |
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| Backside of our villa |
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| Infinity pools overlooking temple |
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| Relaxing at the resort lounge |
We learned about a walking trail on the resort property that we decided to embark on. We love hiking. No problem, we thought. Well, it started off easy by riding in the shuttle which dropped us off at a temple where the trail started. We walked onto the temple grounds, and this little old guy came out of a dark and mossy corner and greeted us. I think he was the temple guard or a relic who lived there. He attempted to give us a history lesson on the temple. There are many Hindu temples in Bali, and this one was right on the resort grounds. Men and women need to wear sarongs (long, wrapped skirts) when entering a temple. Before we left for our walk, we got a lesson on how to put on a sarong from two resort staff members. Tying a sarong is involved and the steps are different for men and women.
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| Temple view from resort |
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| Entrance to temple |
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| Resort view from temple |
We started our decent down the slippery temple stairs to the beginning of the "trail". The little path was covered with wet leaves and moss and was hardly noticeable. We felt like explorers from "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom". So we walked on grabbing tree branches and using umbrellas as walking sticks to keep us from tumbling down overgrown, spider web infested cliffs. We walked down very steep stone steps on a narrow winding path. We passed several little shrines with remnants of moldy fruit and soggy flowers left as offerings by villagers. It was quiet and creepy trying to get down the hillside.
When we thought our hiking adventure was coming to a close while approaching the resort, we spotted one more challenge.....a super narrow
bamboo bridge hanging over the river. We had to cross it. No turning back. Thankfully we both have good balance and don't have trouble with heights. I was a little tense, carefully crossing the bridge with only one handrail, while envisioning jungle people blowing poisonous darts at me from behind. But all is good. We made it alive.
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| Kevin claiming victory after crossing the bridge |
While recovering from our jungle hike, we relaxed at the deck watching local village girls perform Balinese dance. They were in training for professional dance when they get older. They were all so cute, but the girl in pink and white quickly became my favorite to watch. She had such expressive eyes and a pretty smile.
Tune in next time for Beautiful Bali Part 2...
