Ubud to Denpasar

Heading back to Australia tomorrow. Not home, but the place where my home is.

I’m sitting in the Novotel Denpasar Airport Hotel, eating their complementary snacks and having a glaas of wine. We had some beef floss savoury biscuits, a small chocolate biscuit and then Mick offered me something called lumpia, a little tube of something. Well it was fucking dried shrimp floss. Mick showed his love to me, holding out his hand so I could spit the said shrimp floss lumpia into at. That really is true love.

Anyway this morning we had coffee and some small brekky stuff in the villa, then the plan was to take a walk around the rice paddies. I had woken up early and saw a pink cloud sunrise – last day in the rice paddies. After a bit of drama where Mick slipped on one of the moss-covered stepping stones around the side of the villa and face planted in the garden (not funny: very scary for a few seconds) we shakily headed out.

We had rain last night so we had to be so careful on anything, also because there’s a gazillion different footpath materials – bitumen, dirt, pebbles, concrete pavers, motor bike speed humps. We turned right at the end of our villa and took the path to the very end – not far – until we came to a little viewing platform that looked out over the beautiful green paddies. We saw several farmers hand-scything their fields, and also a younger woman heading out with a scythe over her shoulder. Such hard work. It was sunny, steamy and stifling. When the path terminated we walked back, past our villas and did a random right turn that took us along another pathway.. Very much the same, but not, with the different directions, light and heat. Always different sounds as really the only thing you could hear were occasional motorbikes, insects and soft Balinese chat when you walked past a stall or warung. Saw a large flock of ducks nuzzling for snails in a rice paddy. They looked so cute when they pooped up their heads and then went back down again. What was also interesting was there were lookout ducks – poor buggers, looking out for random strangers wandering by with daypacks and mobile phones when the real danger was in their own backyard (rice paddy farmer = duck dinner).

We could have circled around I think but we backtracked as it was time to think about packing for tomorrow’s flight. We did that pretty quickly and then went downstairs to have a breakfast beer with Jackie and Steve. We headed off just before 12 noon to the Sweet Orange warung where we had beers and some bloody delicious lunch. Mick had juicy, meaty, saucy pork ribs and I had red rice and a slightly tangy salad of charcoaled chicken, lemongrass, chillies, makrut, garlic, eschalots and lime juice. It could have been a bit spicier for me but it was light, fresh and delicious.

We walked back to the villas, advising the manager we were going to be leaving at 1.45pm and walk to our transfer in the Ubud carpark – a 10 to 15 minute walk along rice paddies, then down a very steep hill, sharp right at the school, up a bit of a hill to the beginning of the art market, then left up the smelly alleyway. Easy right??? Nope. A small sprinkle of rain turned into an absolute deluge. Squalls and rain and thunder just seemed to circle around and around and around the rice paddies and villas. Water was water-falling off the roof. All our used towels and pool towels we had to use to mop up the water flooding in under one set of doors. It was insane. Like, we couldn’t even get down the stairs to Jackie and Steve’s to at least have a chat while the storm raged. And it lasted for an hour. And by the time we were able to leave it was just a very quick goodbye to Jackie and Steve before we stepped very tentatively through the squelchy garden into a pathway that was halfway up our calves (well, mine anyway) water rushing like stream. Some of the villa’s pathways were OK, but sheets of water cascading over them and a few detours to avoid a foot of water. Thank god we walked to the carpark without incident. I recon I’m gonna be sore tomorrow because of clenched butt cheeks and I was also carrying my precious cargo of the great green plate purchase of 2025. Big fucker.

After a snail’s crawl drive from Ubud to the airport hotel with Mr Have-a-chat driver. Typically anonymous Novotel. I don’t have a problem with that.Baca lagi