Sunset tour - Bali Blog 6

Monday 9th February

A few days ago we had booked a trip to visit a few sites in the west of Bali with Tagel's nephew. He can be hired as a driver for the day at a price of 500,000 idr (approx. £26). As the tour we had booked ended with sunset at Tanah Lot, we didn't need to leave early and could have a lazy morning. 

Breakfast! Rob enjoying his White Koffie!

We savoured our breakfast, used the WiFi and I read my book for a while. I enjoyed two cups of coffee, which I later regretted because as soon as we got in car I didn't feel well and my heart was beating too fast. From now on I will only have one coffee in the morning! Anyway, we got in the car and headed to our first stop, it was a temple not to far from Ubud. I honest can't remember what it was called! :(

On the way there roads seemed quite busy, so Rob asked our driver "Is it always this busy?" to which he replied "This is quiet, it is busy in July and August!". It was quite funny, however the roads were no where near as busy as Kuta, that was too busy for my liking. 

Anyway, Tagel's nephew spoke quite good English, he said he is still learning but he seems to have understood most things I said. :). He walked us to the entrance of the temple and then waited for us back at the car. 

Personal sun shade!

Happy at the temple.

The temple was quite large with grand gardens surrounding it. When we entered we paid the entrance fee, which was cheaper for locals than tourists. We were also offered an umbrella to borrow, so I used it was a sun shade. I think we spent less than an hour here, just walking around and taking photos. I found the rooves of the temple fascinating. They look as though they have been thatched, which is quite possible. ;)

Temple

Whilst walking around we came across a pound where quite a large lizard was swimming. I think it was a type of monitor lizard and I tried to film it but could hardly see a thing. It must have been too far away for my camera to recognise what it was. Oh well, I tried.

After buying some water and an ice cream from a small shop outside the temple we got back in the car and headed on to the rice fields. This drive was a little bit longer that this first. It must have taken over an hour and offered some interesting terrain, at some points I didn't think our little van was going to make it up some of the hills. In the end it was worth it though as the drive to rice fields provided some stunning views, especially with the mountains as the backdrop. 

Ubud rice fields

We parked the car at the top of the rice fields and we set about walking through them straight away. Again, our driver waited at the car for us. He told us if we wanted to walk all the way around it would take about two hours. It was around 1-2 pm when we started our walk, so it was fairly warm and we made sure we had some water with us. It was so beautiful walking around the rice fields. There were so many dragon flies. They were everywhere but yet so hard to photograph. In the end I resorted to filming them but then you could hardly see them. 

Rob was loving the rice fields, he loved the lines and the patterns of the land. I loved all the people working there and travelling around. And he loved the colours, the greens were so vivid! He had so many photo opportunities! 

At the bottom of the rice fields there was a temple and you were suppose to carry on the walk back up through the rice fields around the other side to which we had just come. But we go a bit lost and started walking along a road rather than a path through the rice fields, so not to waste time we returned the way we came but at a much faster pace. We must have been out for nearly two hours already, so we headed back. 

Close up!

Selfie at the rice fields.

When we got back to the top of the rice fields, we stopped for lunch in one of the cafes. The waiter was nice and spoke very good English but had one weird long finger nail. I am not sure why he just had one! For lunch I ate veggie Nasi Goreng and Rob had chicken Mie Goreng, I think we both enjoyed our meals but didn't stop for long, as we were off to the next place.

Lake Bratan

Our next destination was Lake Bratan, this was one of the places on my list to go whilst I was in Bali. I had seen many pictures of it and thought it looked beautifully tranquil. When we arrived the clouds had descended and the lake became very foggy. We only had 20 minutes here to insure we arrived at Tanah Lot before sunset. I think we managed to see everything and took some good photos. We were back at the car within 18 minutes almost managing to beat the rain. We only got a little wet so it wasn't too bad. 

Pura Ulun Danu Bratan.

Arriving at Tanah Lot just before sunset was great! We didn't need too much time there anyway, Rob was only here to get some good photos, so sunset was all he needed. Some of the photographs he obtained were fantastic! We will definately put some on our walls at home when we get back! :)

The sky looked beautiful in the sunset almost pink and we saw a couple having there wedding photos taken on the shoreline. They must have looked fantastic!

Tanah Lot

We arrived back at the hotel at around 8:30 pm after an hour and half drive back from Tanah Lot. We pretty much just dropped off our stuff then headed out for dinner at Bali Buda cafe. It seemed like a great place with seats upstairs overlooking the side streets of Ubud. However, it was shutting at 10 pm so we had to order quick. We both had the vegan curry, it was really nice but a little too spicy for me and I couldn't finish it. Afterwards, we headed straight back to our hotel to get some rest, it had been a long day! Tonight was the first night we managed to sleep all the way through since we'd arrived, finally! 

Sunset at Tanah Lot.

Sam x