We landed in Denpesar, Bali late afternoon, we completed our arrival procedures here and came out. We booked 2 sim cards on Klook.com for easy access to internet and local calling. We collected them , got them activated and headed to our destination. We had to travel to Ubud as we were staying there for 2 days. It was a 2 hour drive , took longer due to the narrow roads. By the time we reached and checked in our hotel it was late evening and we had nothing to do.
But, the hotel was a stunner, more like a resort with lots of greenery and minimal concrete setup. Our room what we chose was a little sad, I guess it was a low end room, the fixtures were not that great but they had better rooms which are advisable if you are staying there for longer time and not just for the nights. But if you are staying there just for the nights its better to allot the saved money to some other activity.
The breakfasts were good, we had some good time in the pool. The staff here needs a special mention. The hospitality was outstanding. The best you’d ever see.
We relaxed for a bit and started looking for options for dinner. Little did we know this would change the entire phase and screw our limited budget plan. Budget for food was minimal as we were looking for local food options to explore. I alone spent almost thrice the food budget for shopping, souvenir and local ready to eat foods to get back home. Ya, so going to the point we went to Bebek Bengil which is crispy duck. Not taking away that the place was good, the food was good but a bit on the expensive side.
We ordered for a half portion of crispy duck, half of crispy chicken , a few drinks, a nasi goreng and pork ribs. The ribs were excellent. The food was good, the place is huge, it can accomodate 300 to 400 pax easily. They have lots of water bodies with koi in them, a few paddy fields etc. The bill came out to 11 lakh IDR that is almost 6000 rupees.
That was Day 1, the next day started on a pleasant note and pre planned restaurant list that we had. Post breakfast we visited the Tirta Empul Temple. The temples here are more of architecture and nature. You have to wear a sarong to enter. They are given for free outside so that shouldn’t be a problem. You are not allowed to go to the main temple where they shrine is located but you can cover the rest of the temple.
From here our driver took us to a coffee plantation and processing place, its a small place where they show different kind of beans , luwak coffee and others. You get to taste the coffees an teas for free, they have around 15 variants. If you wish to taste the Kopi Luwak you’ll have to pay 50000 IDR that is 250 INR. Then they take you to the store where you end up buying a lot, they taste good but are expensive. So make sure you don’t over buy like I did.
We then visited the Kintamani Volcano view point. It was last erupted in 2000. To visit this spot you have to take entry tickets, you’ll be surprised to see this after visiting the spot. Like , we paid to come in for this, like the point is way too far from the actual sight. The ticket though is not high, its around 20 rupees INR. If you have a DSLR you can get some really good pictures here. You also have restaurants with the view on one side, you can only go in if you dine there.
Terrace farming is a sight to watch, by the time we reached tegallalang rice terraces it was cloudy and showed signs of rain. This place has a lot of groups who take pictures on the swings, some props with the terrace farming on the background. A place for couples who wish to take some good pictures and make some memories. But make sure you check and go to some good ones instead of saving up on some money so that you won’t regret about it later. It started to rain and we climbed back. Sorry, forgot to mention, you have to walk down the hill to get a better view.
It was around 4 and we haven’t had our lunch, we somehow had to visit the place we finalized on. Its a small family run local place which serves fish and chicken. The place is named Warung Kintamani , we ordered for Ayam goreng ( fried chicken), Ayam nyat nyat (chicken curry) , Mujair baked ( baked fish. grilled at this place) , Mujair Nyat nyat ( fish curry). All of these with nasi putih ( white rice) , salad and some sambal. We also ordered for some tender coconut water and orange juice.
The fish has a slight smell to it as its a fresh one, the baked fish was the best followed by the chicken ones. Actually each of them were good on their own. This was a memorable meal as it was open on 4 sides and its was raining heavily. Fresh hot and Excellent food with such ambience surely was on of the best parts of the trip.
We went back, hit the pool for an hour , got ready and it was dinner time. We had some light dinner just beside the resort, nothing much to talk about and that was an end to day 2.