A couple of days in North Bali

After Ubud, I hired a driver for the whole day. I was helped by the hostel owner and picked up by his relative, and we made our way up north of Ubud. The first stop was Leke Leke Waterfall. A muddy hike down the hill - and believe me when I say, muddy. This track is best done in hiker boots or barefoot. Leave home all clothes that you don't want to get dirty.

I had read ahead about the difficulties on this track and just wore thongs (flip-flops) for the route with the intention of taking them off if it starts to get slippery. It did, and half way down I ended up walking bare foot. I saw other people walking in many different shoe choices - fancy sandals, sneakers and hikers. The reward at the bottom of the route was worth it, but on my way up I had to stop a couple who were taking their first steps to the slippery track and seemed a bit uncertain - one of them was wearing white pants with white slightly high healed sandals. I lifted the flip-flops on my hand and showed them my feet that were covered in mud all the way up to my knees.

After the waterfall hike it was time to stop at a local coffee place. The driver asked if I was interested in tasting local teas and coffees and suggested a place he knew on the way. We stopped at a wonderful small coffee spot, and I was introduced and offered so many different flavours to taste. In addition to tasting, they introduced me into the process of making coffee. I ended up leaving with coffee and chocolate.

As we drove more north, we also drove higher. We climbed up the mountain roads and it started raining. The driver told me that it was very common to rain at this height, and I had read about it in advance, so I came prepared and had my rain coat with me. Next stop was nearly at the top of the mountain, on the lake Beratan in Bedugul - The famous Ulun Danu Beratan Temple or the Floating Temple. This Hindu temple is worth the visit. It is in a beautiful place and has much to see and learn.

After the floating temple the driver took me down the mountain on the northern side and all the way to my home for the next two nights. A lovely hotel Lovina Life Room & Cafe offered a great room in a good location. Lovina is the destination to book a boat ride and go see the dolphins, but I had other plans. In the evening I walked the dark sanded beaches of Lovina and looked for a driver for the next day.

It didn't take long to find a person by the beach gates. I had a chat with him about the surrounding areas, and I told him I would love to go to the hot springs a bit further away. I asked for other recommendations, and he told me that I should definitely go see the Buddhist temple that would be conveniently located on the way. We agreed on the plan, and said good bye for the day. I went back to the beach to see the sunset.

The next morning the new driver picked me up from the hotel and we made our way to the Buddhist temple and monastery. It was scorching hot and I was adding sun screen by the minute. The temple was quiet and I enjoyed a long time roaming around the temple gardens and surroundings. There was a hall with some students who stayed at the temple to learn about meditation. I listened outside for a moment and continued my walk. I found an empty hall where you could sit down and reflect. I found it calming to be away from the city and people, and sat down for a moment to look at the art work on the walls.

After the monastery we made our way to the hot springs. I had read about this place and its calming effects. I made my way past the shops and stores and bought a ticket to the spa at the gate. He told me to enjoy myself and not care about the smell. The smell of sulfur was strong, but the place looked lovely. I changed in to my swimsuit and hopped into the pool with some local families enjoying the waters and the warm weather. It was so refreshing after climbing the stairs and walking around the Buddhist monastery. This day seemed to be all about healing.

Not so sure if the next steps I took were still about healing, but I asked the driver if he could take me somewhere to eat something local with him. He said he knew a perfect place but asked a couple times if I was sure, since he knew how the tourists usually avoided eating at local places in fear of the Bali belly. I assured him that I was going to be fine (at this point I had already healed up my Bali belly so the worst thing that would happen is that it would make a return. And I was hoping the local dish would be worth it. And it was.)

He drove me almost all the way back to my hotel but just before we got there, we stopped in a small restaurant by the road. The owner was a lovely older local grandma, and who I thought was most likely her daughter. They brought us some rice and meat in a local sauce. I saw the driver grab some sort of a drink from the fridge and asked what it was. He told me that it was a special Balinese drink, and of course, I wanted to try it.

The food was simple but oh, so delicious. The drink was made from temulawak root, a Javanese ginger that is a medicinal turmeric and it had a some what bitter taste, but I think it had lots of sugar as well to cover the bitterness. It reminded me of ginger beer and toffee.

In the evening I roamed the Lovina beach again and bought some fruit from the local who was walking on the beach. She told me that all of us Nordic tourists always praise the Balinese fruits. I agreed with her as I agreed with the Nordic tourists. The Balinese fruit just were something different - so full of flavour and juice.

I mentioned earlier that Bali doesn't have a very good public transport system, but you can choose to book a spot in a minibus. This is what I did to get back all the way from Lovina to my surf camp in Seminyak. I was the first one to get on board the minibus, and then we picked up a couple of other backpackers on the way.

Northern Bali was much more quiet and calm than the southern parts. It was not peak season so the normally very touristic sites were even more quiet. I think Covid-19 still had something to do with it as well - not many people were traveling yet.

After surfing a little more, it was my time to end the trip in Asia and make my way to Australia with my second year WH visa. At this point, I had no clue on what to see and do, except I wanted to experience Western Australia which was completely new to me. On my earlier trip in 2018 I only visited the East Coast. So next, I'll be in Perth.