In all truthfulness, I was a tad too excited about going to Ubud again. Something about Ubud that gives me a sense of tranquility; the thought of being encompassed by green and the breezy misty mornings give me an indefinite warm and wonderful feelings. However, i was down with fever and flu a day before we left for Ubud and all i wanted to do was to just lie in bed with a box of tissues or two. That did not happen and i should have taken that (falling sick) as a sign…..
It was about an hour and a half of drive from Canggu that cost us about 300 000 IDR. When we arrived at our villa, we were unsure if that was it. There was only a signage there that says ‘JALAN KUBURAN (Cemetery).’ My heart dropped to my stomach and my tongue froze. That could not be it. I was already picturing long eerie nights and spirits probably dropping hints just to say “hi bitches i am here” and having awkward moments where Syaira is sitting in the corner while i pee. So i turned on my Waze and made the driver drove further up while i was in denial before having the driver calling the villa. Turns out, unfortunately, very unfortunately, we were at the right place in the first place. With not much thought given, we wheeled our luggage and walked for about 600 meters, while i constantly cuss under my breathe, thinking, this could not be it, this is not happening. There was no lobby boy, no trolleys, just us and three massive bags and a couple of small bags of fabric in the midst of the paddy field.
Picture taken from booking.com
It’s called the Ubud White Cubes. Once we reached the villa, after what felt like a million kms, we were a tad disappointed with what was awaiting us on the other end. But on the bright side, i got to do a bit of cardio and strength training. Sure, the villa is so much like the picture but the place is a bit too small and there was not much space for the three of us. Although, i would not recommend anyone to stay there, i must say, it is still a pretty place and if you are a light traveller or if you love secluded places or to put simply, if you are a serial killer, go for it. I just think it is very impractical. Imagine, having to walk for 600 meters, through the paddy field and the forest at night. No thank you? On the bright side, the lady who greeted us was asking if we were Alex because there was no booking under our name on that day but a booking under Alex. Turns out, thanks to my grave mistake (Pun intended) which is truly my first when it comes to this, (it is not so bad to make mistakes after all), we were supposed to check in a day after. We had the wrong villa for that day! We left our bags for a quick drive to Ubud Art Market.
The place is the place for souvenirs, cute kimonos and woven handbags. For those who are obsessed with these bags as much as i do, you shall not fret. You can purchase these bags from Soleil. Anyway, it is a matter of perspective. Otherwise, they have plentiful of wooden male genital, which is odd. Who in the world would buy that…. We fell in love with the bags and we bought a few so that we could sell it under Soleil. I personally love those bags that i have been using them ever since i got back from Bali. I just think it is very classy and chic and it does not even have to cost you your kidney.
After about 1.2 KM of torment ,we got into the car, almost out of breathe and we finally checked into Pondok Wahyu. We fell in love with the view of the green ahead of us once we entered through the door. The villa is so much like the picture. But we did not know that there was not going to be a door and there were uncovered windows if you would like to call it all around us. It was unsafe for just girls to be there. They have an outdoor bathroom and it can be excruciatingly dark at night. And let’s not forget, the bloody frogs who like to stare at you while you pee…… It was pretty chilly and there were a lot of mosquitoes, totally a surprise right. Mosquitoes in the jungle? Seriously?
Taken from airbnb.com
There were two bedrooms. One on the lower ground. It was pretty huge. I guess the place is nice but if you were to ask me, i think i am done with outdoor bathrooms. On the next day, there was no way we were going to go through that hell of going back to that Ubud White Cubes all over again like we were supposed to do. We decided to book another villa that morning itself through booking.com. We got a pretty reasonable place to stay and surprisingly, it was good enough for us. I texted the lady from the Ubud White Cubes, asking if we could at least have a 50% refund and she said, “But you haven’t paid yet.” It was as though a colossal amount of worries just lifted off my chest and i could breathe again.
The best part of our trip was the fact that we rode a motorbike for the first time. Sure, one of us fell and injure oneself pretty bad but it was really a fun experience! We did not muster enough guts to go to the main road, so we just rode around our hotel.
We had our lunch at Pomegranate Cafe in Ubud. The driver had dropped us at the foot of a hill. No cars could go up there, the street was too narrow. It was meant for pedestrians or motorbikes. There is no way we were going to climb up for what it seemed like almost 10 kilometres (joking, i think it was about 2kms) with our feet. At that very moment, i could hardly even stand. I wouldn’t want my fever to get worse. Thankfully, they offered a service where you could pay a person and they’ll send you all the way up there on their motorbike, which cost us about 20 000 IDR each. The view of the paddy field was stunning. To be frank, we were disappointed. Sure, it was nice. Being surrounded by the paddy field but the service was really slow and the food was not that great. But it’s a good place to hang out, i reckon.
That pretty much sums up our trip to Ubud.
By saralisa 
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