#pecatuguesthouse

[justinbrownphotographer]

Bali - Indonesia

So, after much research about our next holiday we finally chose Bali, Indonesia. One thing that we know can be an issue when being a Vegan is the destination is not Vegan friendly (food-wise, we cannot go into another country and change their culture). Using youtube, Instagram and Google we established the best place for a chilled out vibe and Vegan options in abundance was a town/city (I am not sure if they have cities in Bali except Denpasar) Ubud. 

All set to go, we finished work on the Wednesday, jumped into the car and headed for Birmingham Airport, parked the car, grabbed our cases, ran for the bus. A few minutes later we were in the Airport, we located our boarding area and checked in. Once checked in you finally feel a weight lifted of the shoulders and you can think about getting into holiday mode. Fast forward 17 hours (flights we with Emirates, 7 hours to Dubai, 9 hours to Bali, Airbus was great).

Once we finally got through Bali customs, we were looking out for our driver, we spotted him. Whilst walking through Bali Airport (Denpasar), it takes a while to sink in, but you realise they have trees and gardens within the airport, which was a bit surreal. Our driver then told us to wait in the carpark whilst he went to collect his vehicle. At this point you begin to notice how warm it was, just from standing and waiting, you could feel your forehead starting to gather beads of sweat. After about 10 minutes the driver returned, we jumped in the taxi and headed to Ubud (about 40 min away). I will not comment too much about the roads in Bali, if you are from Europe, you will be confused how it works and how are there so few accidents, but some how it works, so leave what you know about driving back home when you come to Bali. Our place of residence for the next nine nights was Pecatu Guesthouse (via AirBnB). This place was immaculate and the hosts were forever accommodating. 

Emirates Vegan Meal

View from Airbus Window

One of the Best Hip Hop Albums ever!!

Our Room at Pecatu Guesthouse

After a bit of sleep Pecatu Guesthouse we were treated to breakfast, pancakes and fruit. We ate our breakfast on the roof top, where they have a swimming pool also. When you first walk onto the rooftop you realise why there is a garden within Denpasar Airport. For as far as the eye can see, just trees, plants, flowers etc. I think it is safe to say it would be harder to stop things to try and grow here.

View from Rooftop of Pecatu Guesthouse

View from Rooftop of Pecatu Guesthouse

Pool on Rooftop of Pecatu Guesthouse

Pancake with Coconut

I will not go through what we did every single day, so I will summarise the best things about Bali (everything in my opinion). Firstly, the main reason(s) why people choose Ubud over the other places like Canggu, Nusa Dua etc (surfing areas). Ubud offers Yoga and plenty of Vegan options. The main place for Yoga in Ubud was a place called the Yoga Barn, we did not get chance to go here, but from speaking to people who met and spoke to they highly recommended this place. Ubud also has a spiritual vibe about the whole place, you will smell incense whilst walking around as all the residents will burn this during offerings, which take place throughout the day. The offerings may be placed high or low, either way a bird can eat some of the food and stray dogs/cats can eat. There is a balance between giving and taking with the Balinese people. However, they are more inclined to give than to take. The Ridge Walk, which is just towards the north of Ubud offers valleys surrounded with vegetation (coconut, papaya, banana trees). But, again feels quite spiritual, when walking around there early morning do not be surprised if you see locals and tourists/travellers doing some Yoga or meditation. 

Decorations

Host of Pecatu Guesthouse (Ibu)

Papaya Tree

Secondly, the food. Coming from UK where you have to search far and wide, read ingredient lists, and question restaurant staff, this was not the case here in Ubud. Obviously, they had places that sold meat etc, but there was a vast amount of places that served Vegan or Raw food. The foods were full of flavour and oozed freshness. The main difference I think from our short stay here in Bali is the food does not seem to have a processed element to it. Also, all the ingredients are locally sourced. If, you like spicy food (I do), you may find the food a bit tame with heat, so when you ask for extra chilli or spicy, they will provide chopped red chilli in a small bowl, I considered this an inconvenience initially, but then when I tried the chilli, I was like OH!, the chillis are very hot, hence why they do not mix it with you meal. Regarding the cost of food, a typical meal for two people with a drink, main and dessert would vary from between 250-300,000 Rupiah, which is about (at the time) £13-16. When speaking to a local taxi driver, we concluded in Ubud from the market you can buy 1kg of cucumbers for approx £1, I told him for one solitary Organic Cucumber in England this will cost you around £1.60, he laughed!! Even though Ubud has all of these great food places that offer Vegan/Raw food, you would not necessarily see any locals eating in there. I do not know whether this was down to cost or it is something they would not particularly eat.  I will try not to post too many pictures of food. 

Raw Courgette Lasagne @ House of Chakra

Green Fiend @ Kafe

Balinese Curry @ Atman Kafe

Babur Inji @ Atman Kafe

Crepe Dessert @ Creperie

Pulled Jack Fruit with Salad and Lemonade @ Sage 

In this next part I will try and explain the culture and places that we visited around Bali. If, you are not a fan of or have a fear of dogs, I would not recommend travelling to Bali, they are everywhere. From what I seen approximately 5% of them had owners, otherwise they just roam around either by themselves or in little packs. Generally they are harmless and may be a bit vocal. However, one tip I will give you is these dogs do not like it when you run past them. I went for an early run to the Ridge Walk and back to Pecatu Guesthouse (approx. 7-8 miles), I probably past 30-40 dogs on the whole run, the dogs were on the other side of the road or at least 5-10 metres away, on the way back near my hotel, I could see this dog looking at me, whether I got to close (even though I had no choice due to pavement size, approx. 1 metre), the dog bit my shorts. Luckily I did have on undershorts, so the bite did not pierce my skin, but it put a hole in my shorts. Obviously, getting bit by a dog in Bali would be a problem, hospital, vaccinations etc... 

The people of Bali are forever well spoken and polite. They may only ask you once if want a taxi and then wont ask you again until they see you again later on that day. They do not hassle you endlessly, they even say ‘thank you’, when you have declined. The pavements in Bali can be a bit tricky, in the sense not very level, with slabs missing here and there. So, definitely do not try to walk on the pavements and get caught up looking around too much, as you may trip over. People in Ubud, Bali are incredibly talented, they still make loads of things by hand, whether it be fencing, photo albums, pieces of art work, carvings, I think the only time we seen machinery was in Denpasar where they were building new roads. The children in Bali are always happy and dressing up as the Barong whilst playing native instruments and getting donations from tourists. One thing that confused me a bit when first walking around the streets of Bali were these small shops selling fluid in bottles, it was not water or soft drinks, it clicked when I seen a person on a scooter pull up and ask for one of the bottles then started to pour the contents into their scooter, it was a petrol station.

Mosaic

Typical Street in Ubud

Lighting Shop

Blacksmith

Young Kids

Young Kids Happy

Petrol Station

Regarding money we found it useful to exchange money on a daily basis, as we did not spend much, so I think if we were to have exchanged for example £1000 (UK) to Rupiah (at the time £1 = R17,600) we would have been walking around with R17,600,000.00. We exchanged £100 (UK) almost everyday, but some days we did not need to as we had money left over from the previous day.

We visited a Barong Dance, which is a cultural story between good and evil. We visited a waterfall, which I would recommend, due it being so hot in Bali that cool water goes down a treat. We visited a coffee plantation, where we tried twelve different coffees and teas, which were all grown locally on the plantation, safe to say some were nicer than others. We visited the main temple on Bali Pura Besakih on Mount Agung, this temple is massive, it has many parts to it. The local guide explained to us all the ceremonies that take place here, all the past eruptions, the duration of some of the ceremonies, the buildings all have seven parts to the roofs to correspond to the seven chakras in the body, and finally Bali is Hindu, but Buddhist Hindu with Shiva being their main God. We trekked up Mount Batur a previously once active volcano opposite Agung. This was quite a tough trek at 0200, but we had to start trekking this early to catch the sunrise. I am relatively fit and found it quite manageable, however we seen a few people who could not carry on, so I would recommend if you plan to do a trek, try to acquire some fitness. 

Barong Dance

Waterfall

Coffee Testers

Pura Besakih

Pura Besakih

Mount Agung from the top of Batur

After leaving Ubud we went to a place called Amarta Retreat in Tabanan, we thought after being in Ubud we may want to experience a nice chilled out place. The hotel location was on the beach front, which was nice. The staff were so friendly and polite. The menu was very limited compared to the amount of choice within Ubud, the food menu was very European, I do not think there was a authentic Balinese food option. This location was that remote that by the third day we jumped into a taxi and went to the next beach location down, Canggu. Canggu was a bit more lively, full of surfers, travellers and vegan options. There was a definite difference between the type of people here compared to Ubud, a bit more younger and alcohol friendly. We spent the evening in Canggu and walked up and down the main road, one place that stood out the most was a place called Ji, after speaking to a staff member in there, she explained the building within the building was a temple carried from Japan approx. 300 years ago when there was conflict between China and Japan, it is now rebuilt and the restaurant Ji is here. 

Amarta Retreat

Amarta Retreat

Amarta Retreat

Ji

Ji

Ji

Concluding, would we go back to Bali (Indonesia) again? Without doubt!!

What would we do differently, travel to different parts maybe Java, Seminyak, Gili Islands and trek Mount Rinjani. We would definitely still go back to Ubud.