We were moving on today. We had booked a private van to take us from Kuta to Ubud and he was to arrive around noon. It was a great deal for IDR Rp 150,000 = Cdn $13.25

We enjoyed a leisurely breakfast and then wandered around the grounds taking pictures for a while. This was our balcony where we hung laundry and actually did relax a couple of times.

Our view

If you look really hard you can see the ocean.

We checked out, paid our bill and waited for our ride. Still owed quite a bit, even though we had purchased their upsell offer. Pay IDR Rp 1,000,000 (Cdn $88.50) and get IDR Rp 1,250,000 (Cdn $110.50) credit. We should have bought a few of those upsell offers! Mind you, we had been here for 5 nights and had eaten all our dinners here.

Couldn’t leave without checking out the public washrooms, now could we?

It was a nice drive and I tried to take a few pictures along the way. The closer we got to Ubud, the hillier and curvier the roads got. Some of the sculptures that we saw in stores along with road looked to be amazing. Can only imagine what they would cost to ship home.

We turned off the main road and proceeded along a very hilly, rough ‘road’. We came to where we thought the road to our hotel was, but the driver was not going to risk driving up it. It was narrow, steep and curvy. We couldn’t tell for sure if our accommodations were even on it. We unloaded and proceeded to walk up the ‘road’. For every down hill there seemed to be an up hill also. 100 M sure can be far at times. We had made good time and had arrived in Ubud by 1:30. We have to laugh now as it is approximately 26 km (16 miles), but seemed much further when driving over here. Can you imagine taking 1 1/2 hours to go 26 km back home? And thinking you had made good time!!

We were welcomed with drinks and got all checked in. They sure make the room keys large enough. Don’t want you loosing them. The room was quite large and really nice. There was a welcome letter and flowers laying around that instantly kicked my allergies into high gear. Thankfully the flowers were gone the next day.

We decided to explore a little and found the restaurant. What they serve Bintang? We figured we deserved a rest and an adult beverage. After all it was really HOT here.

Couldn’t go wrong with the price of a large Bintang here. With tax and tip it was IDR Rp 35,200 = Cdn $3.10

We were rested and hydrated now, so decided it was time to head into town. Yup, that meant we had to walk down and up the hills again. At least this time, we knew our hotel was actually here. We walked by rice fields that lined our little road.

We got to town and stumbled upon a barber shop. Doug had been wanting to get a haircut for a while now. He was going to chance it. Really, how can you mess up a man’s haircut? There was an Aussie guy in the seat next to Doug that had the most beautiful long blond curly locks. I really wanted to take a picture of him, but that probably would have been a little weird, even for me. He wanted ALL the curls cut off. He wanted his hair short. His poor barber was terrified of cutting his hair. The client kept telling him to cut more and more off. Doug’s barber just took the shears to Doug’s hair and sheared away! The sign on the window was amusing. GOOD Haircuts ARE NOT Cheap, cheap HaiRcuts ARE NOT GOOD

They are everywhere! We didn’t stop in, but I am sure we probably will at some time.

We were now in search of food. We found this place and decided to give it a try. When I saw Ginger Ale on the menu, I had to have one. We don’t drink pop often, but a good Ginger Ale now and then is great. We ordered shrimp of some sort and I also ordered the Tian Avocado Shrimp Cocktail. Wasn’t fond of all that stuff on the top. Meal wasn’t bad, but I won’t hurry back. A bit too fancy for my tastes.

Here are a few pictures of our walk to and from town. There are a LOT of hills here.

Another part of the road we had to walk everyday.

We stopped at the local Mini Mart to pick up a few snacks and headed back to our accommodations. Saw a good sized gecko in the gardens, but didn’t get a picture of it.