Bali - The Ubud Story Ep. 2/2

This will be the last of our full-day tour. The next day we’ll have to check-out and head for the airport. Therefore our schedule for the day was also fully packed.

Bedegul Fruit Market
We started Day 4 with a long trip to the Bedegul Fruit Market. It took us about an hour’s car ride… and I was taking every opportunity of it to sleep.. Zzzzz…. Travelling IS tiring. The market is similar to the ones in Kuta/Ubud Market but just a bit smaller. The crowd wasn’t too big either, maybe because it was still considered early. As soon as we hoped down from our ‘mobil’, Harby and I went to buy some strawberries and Markisa (Passion Fruit). The strawberries are nothing compared to those in California but just similar to the ones we have in Cameron. The buah Markisa is something new because I don’t recall ever eating a fresh passion fruit before. Well the taste? The consistency is a bit sticky like semi-dried tapioca starch. It’s sweet sour and as you bite the flesh it’s crunchy because of the seed. I’m assuming that we should munch up the seed altogether because there’s no way we could remove those. It’s easily hundreds of those in each fruit.

Flower stall
photo by Harby

Wood handicraft

Spices!!! Fresh Vanilla.. Mmmm

A local boy playing the miniature musical instrument

More crafts

The strawberries and passion fruit that we bought

Pura Ulun Danu

Another day, another pura. I was getting a bit saturated with pura's at this point. But this pura is really one of a kind. I would easily say this is the most beautiful pura among all the pura’s we went to in the entire trip. The main prayer area is actually surrounded by water making the area a little island. Like all other temples in Bali, only worshippers are allowed to enter the main prayer area. I’m not about to break this rule out of respect, and therefore we just walked around the other parts of the temple.

The main prayer hall

Pushing daisies?!

Harby and I

Surroundings around the pura

Dat's ME!
photo by Harby

My dear Harby

Taman Ayun

I was uneasy throughout the tour here because we didn’t pay for the entrance ticket!!!!! Well, it’s not that we did that on purpose. There was nobody at the ticket counter and we are see everyone else walking inside just like that. So we just ikut only lar. Then mana tau in the inner part of the temple, they actually have a ticket checking counter at the entrance! I was thinking die-lar.. Harby was already inside that inner temple, taking pictures, as though nothing happened. I was pacing around the entrance trying to signal Harby to come out but he just wasn’t noticing me. The guards checked the tickets of the 2 Japanese tourists that were behind me. Tension already. Seems like there’s no other option for me. I hold my breath and walked calmly into the inner temple, grabbed Harby to the corner and told him about the guards. I thought he didn’t know about it because he was so calm. Anyway it must be our lucky day because the guards miraculously didn’t request us to show my ticket. (Or maybe because we look like locals??) Phew… luckily the exit was using another way and we didn’t have to walk past the guards again.

The main prayer area which is strictly for devotees only

Wall of the inner temple

Main prayer area behind us.

Zen Spa

Yippie. Spa was actually something I was looking forward. Before the trip Harby agreed to do it together but he backed out last minute because he said that he’s afraid of “geli”. How could he “ditch” me on the last minute like this??!! “Not buddy” right? Hmpk. Anyway I’m still going ahead. I spent 1.5 hours for the spa. It’s my first experience with SPA so I was awkward a bit. But things got better after a while. While I was having my spa, Harby ventured into the nearby areas.

Zen Spa
photo by Harby

The interior display of the Spa. Artistic isn't it?

Prayer offerings

This topic is a bit out of place but since this is my last post on the sights of Bali, therefore I'll just wedge it over here.

The picture above was actually taken in the Bali airport. Offerings like this can be seen literally EVERYWHERE in Bali. Balinese are a pious lot. Bali Hindu's pray every morning before heading to work and every night after coming back from home, and offerings like this is a must. You can see this in every nook and corner, kampungs and high class buildings, residential and commercial areas of Bali.. you name it!

Alright folks, that's a wrap for the sightseeing experiences we had in Bali.