Ubud

Well I'm done with touring and done with beaches and settled back in Ubud now where I like it best. I planned to stay one night Sanur but it turned into three. Though there wasn't a whole lot to do in Sanur it was a good place to see other things. Before coming to Bali I had an idea in my head that it was this great island for a relaxing beach life with swimming and surfing and tanning. In fact one of my goals before coming here was to taken a surfing lesson. Kuta is supposed to be the best beach for beginners. Well I took one step onto Kuta beach and said hell no. Not gonna happen. The beach was crowded, dirty, and anything but relaxing. I couldn't stand 5 mintutes there. I was there with Xiao Wei and Hong and we left quickly, fighting the crowds and traffic and went to mall, had dinner, and then was very glad to leave Kuta. I found the entire Denpasar area unappealing and much too commercial (not that it isn't here in Ubud with all the Ralph Lauren and Dolce and Gabana stores but its A LOT less).

Hong left the next day back to Kuala Lumpur and Xiao Wei and I hired the Tropical Bali Hotel's driver Komang to take us around for the afternoon. This day also happened to be her 32nd birthday. We had an extra long lunch on the beach in Jimbaran at a seafood warang where they grill up fresh seafood on bbqs. Then we went to Tanah Lot to see a temple on the see which was a cool place but also super crowded. By sunset we made it all the way down south to Ulu Watu which was a beautiful temple on a cliff, with a large monkey population. Komang walked us around the temple and on little trails on the cliffs. A monkey pulled my hair. We made it back to Sanur for another great dinner cooked by Brahma.

My one night in Sanur turned into three. We visited a lot of the beach areas and I didn't find a beach that I really liked, or even wanted to swim in. So I decided to go to a different island for one night. On the day that Xiao Wei left for Singapore I took a boat to Nusa Lembongan, about an hour away from Bali's east coast. It's supposed to be a nice relaxing place for those wanting to get away from Kuta. There aren't even any cars on the island. I got there in the late morning, found an accomadation and took a look around, and there was literally nothing. Just accomadations and cafes. Though my room was a rough step down from the Tropical Bali Hotel it had a nice pool right on the beach that I stayed in all afternoon. I nothing else to do but swim, read, play guitar, and eat. The beach however again was a dissapointment. It was mostly filled with fishing boats with large grainy sand. I think in all this I was expecting something like Goa, India which is the ultimate beach scene. But I did take a short swim which was my only swim in the ocean in Bali. I don't really mind though, since I do live in California and am in Hawaii often enough. And I came to bali more for the culture than beaches anyway. Unfortunatly I couldn't find both in the same place.

Anyway I left Nusa Lembongan early the next morning. Took a boat back to Sanur and then a bus back to Ubud and was welcomed back to Teba House. As congenial as they are (which makes up for any discomfort) the rooms are bare and hot and I was not looking forward to taking another step down from Tropical Bali hotel. A nice as that hotel was I dont know if I should have stayed there for too long cause it I got a little too comfortable and its hard to go from better to worse. But I got to Teba House find that they gave my original room away and upgraded me for free to their super awesome deluxe room that I didn't even know existed. SO NICE. Since it was thursday again I went to the Laughing Buddah Bar to hear some acoustic music. I hung out with Sarahima who I met earlier that day and she introduced me to an Indian writer who immediately read my palms.

I'm going back to Teba House tomorrow for my last 2 nights in Bali but right now I'm staying on Monkey Forrest Road which is more central of where everything is. I've spent the past couple days just wandering around, eating, and shopping. Ubud is somewhat of a hippie place with lots of organic vegan and vegetarian food everywhere. And the BEST smoothies and juices I've ever had. The shopping streets are mixed with small boutiques, ralph lauren stores, convience stores, music and craft stores. Also lots of art around here with dance and music performances. I was going to go to a Indonesian dance performance last night but ended up going to see a reggae band play at a bar across the street from my homestay. I ran into Sarahima again and her friends and met a couple other Californians. Also met a psychotherapist from Eugene, Oregon. It was somewhat like reggae night in Hermosa Beach but with a better band and dancing barefoot.

I'm very thirsty and they dont sell water here here so I'll continue later.