Day 137, Year 3: Recovering in Ubud
Date: Hari Selasa (Tuesday), Bulan September 23, Pada Tahan 2008
Weather: Broken Record . . . Another Beautiful Day
Location: Lovina Beach, BALI, Indonesia
We got up this morning and Justin was worse than he was last night. He had not slept much and was miserable, but we decided to head on to Ubud and hope for a miraculous recovery. By the time we made it to Ubud, Justin was feeling so bad that we changed our plans. We were going to visit the wood carving village and walk in the Monkey Forest before lunch, but there was no way he could do that. So instead, we drove up Monkey Forest Road, found a place to eat lunch, and made the decision to stay here an extra day in hopes that he can recover. I am also feeling worse than I did a few days ago when I first got whatever it is we have. So an extra day of rest before we head out to sea sounded like a really good idea and Ubud is a nice place to just sit still and recover. Ubud’s streets are filled with galleries and stores selling everything you could ever want, but its saving grace is the array of wonderful, relaxing accommodations.
On our way to Ubud, we made a stop in a monkey forest to play with the little critters and then stopped at the temple on Lake Bratan where Mark and I had witnessed the beautiful Hindu ceremony on our way south last week. Our driver ended up to be another Komang, older than our other driver named Komang. He spoke very good English and was very helpful and patient with us. It was almost 1 o’clock when we reached Ubud and as I mentioned above, we went directly to have lunch. While we were waiting
for the food, I walked down the street to try and find a place to stay. Komang had mentioned the Ubud Terrace Bungalows, so I checked that out first. There was just a very small handmade sign on the street, but I stopped when I saw it and a gentleman immediately came up to me and asked if I was looking for a room. He invited me to follow him just a few feet away from busy Monkey Forest Road, and all of a sudden I was in a very nice garden with a great swimming pool in the center, all surrounded by rooms. He took me to a room right beside the pool and it was really very nice. It had a four-poster bed painted with intricate Indonesian designs, a brand new stone-tile floor, woven bamboo walls, and a bathroom with a bathtub and a shower. There was air-conditioning if needed, and it was just charming, all for the cost of $20US. It looked like a great place to recover by the pool, so I told the gentlemen I was interested. He said there was one more room on the other side of the pool that was available, but that those were the last two rooms available. I told him I had to check with others, but that we would return and have a look. On my way back to the street, I saw our Komang sitting near the street and told him I thought we had found our place to stay. When I got back to where we were having lunch, everyone thought the place sounded great, so as soon as Mark finished lunch, he headed down the street to pay for the rooms.
We swam and sat in the sun and the shade, and then Justin took a nap while Mark and I explored the area from where we are staying to the center of downtown. Jo took off in a different direction to check out the shopping and to make arrangements to attend a silver jewelry making class tomorrow morning. All of the energy that we had for going to dance performances tonight just slowly drifted away the closer we got to evening, so instead Justin and Jo walked a few doors down the street to get a massage.
When they returned we walked across the street to a great little restaurant for dinner. The food was really wonderful and as we ate, Justin and Jo told the story of their “$10” massages. The massage was an hour long and was great, but then they decided to spring for the after-massage treatments. Jo chose the tropical treatment which was to have honey rubbed over her body and Justin chose the tropical spice treatment which he described as being rubbed down with dirt. After the treatments were applied, they were both wrapped in sarongs and left for 30 minutes. Jo was put in a chair where she felt like she was at the hair dressers and Justin was lying on something like a board. It was so far from the romantic vision one might have of a Bali spa that Jo got uncontrollably ticked. It got even worse when Justin went in the shower to rinse the “dirt” off and found that only the scalding hot water would work-no cold. Jo’s bath was not in a plush bathtub but rather an old white tub. And then she was served papaya that way too ripe. You’d have to hear them tell the story to really appreciate it, but the bottom line is probably that a Balinese massage of the type you dream about is probably more expensive than $10.
Hopefully both Justin and I will feel better in the morning and we will have some energy to visit some of the galleries and dance shows. If not, we’ll just sit around the pool. We will return to Lovina the next morning, making stops at a fruit and vegetable market and the grocery store in Singaraja. Once we are stocked up, we will return to Windbird and sail away in the middle of the night. For now, however, we will just concentrate on feeling better.
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| 080923 Day 137 Bali Indonesia–South to Ubud II |
