Walking Around Ubud, Bali and Getting Lost

Posted by Rachel on Jul 17, 2012 in All, All, Exercise, Indonesia, Slider, Travel | 2 comments

Recently a travel TV show I was watching said that getting lost is the real travelling experience. Apparently it’s when you find the real you, whatever that means. I must disagree. I should know since Jimmy and I spend many hours of our travels getting lost. On foot, on a bike, on the bus, we don’t have much sense of direction. Jimmy will try to say it’s me, but I assure you he’s just as bad as I am It’s not often I find it fun. In fact it usually ends in Jimmy and I bickering because we’re tired or hot or hungry, or all of the above. Of course we always laugh about it afterwards, but in the midst of being lost we’re not usually smiling.

Yesterday was one of those days. Having spent three days in Ubud waiting for the rain and cloud to clear we were excited to wake up to bright sunshine beaming though our window. Finally we could get out to explore the green countryside and Jimmy could take some decent photos. We set off early after a good breakfast to prepare us for the 8.5km walk which we’d read about in our guide book. The walk would take us through rice paddies and small villages before reaching a great viewpoint where you can see Mount Agung and then walk back to Ubud through a small town.

It started out well. It was lovely to walk amongst the rice paddies, away from touts shouting ‘taxi’ and ‘massage’ at us. After walking for about three hours we  passed through a village and came to a small crossroads. We almost turned left because we knew we were supposed to be going West at some point, but the road looked so small we concluded that where we wanted to be must be straight ahead. So we walked, and walked, and walked. Probably another hour or so of walking through villages, dogs protecting their territory all along the way by barking at us. At one point I think we had three dogs following us and barking. Luckily most of the dogs were all front. When we actually got close to them they cowered away, glancing at us timidly.

Excuse my eye. A mosquito bit me under the eye the night before!

After all of this walking and seemingly getting nowhere we asked a man on the side of the road if we were going in the right direction. Apparently we weren’t. The look on his face told us we’d be mad to carry on walking the way we were going. It was too far to the town we were trying to reach. The left we almost took at the crossroads was the way we should have gone. Ahhhh! We decided to forget our original plan and walk back to Ubud the way we’d come. With our legs aching we were so happy to reach a lovely little cafe where you can enjoy a drink in your own little hut on the water.

and relax...

I loved our walk around Ubud, even if it was a little bit long (4  hours too long to be precise). However, my favourite part of our journey wasn’t getting lost, but sitting with a coffee, relaxing with a beautiful view of the rice fields.

If you’re interested in doing any walks around Ubud there is some good information here.

This Lean Journey is a travel and fitness blog written by a girl embarking on a journey around the world while still trying to stay fit and healthy. I hope you’ll enjoy my experiences and tips, and maybe even add your own comments and advice.