REJUVENATING YOGA WITH HEALTHY FOOD AND RICE PADDIES ON BALI
As the last month of our trip reached us, June, we spent quite some time thinking about how best to spend it. Many travellers approach this question by squeezing as much as humanly possible in the remaining time, which we also considered, since there is so much to see in Malaysia and Indonesia! One option we worked out was to focus on Malaysia, mainly Borneo and the paradise islands of the Perhentians, but this required hiking mountain peaks, trekking in the jungle and significant traveling within Borneo. Although a visit to the orangutans in their natural habitat would have been a wonderful experience for the both of us, we felt that with a quite active 5 months behind us we would not appreciate the beauty of Borneo enough when being a bit tired. We felt that Borneo deserved for us to visit it when we are excited about a 2-day hike, the jungle and many more adventures. This time, however, we preferred to relax, rejuvenate and take the opportunity to reflect on the months behind us and the new period that is swiftly approaching.
For this reason, we dropped all the plans we worked out earlier and went to Bali, the only island in Indonesia where we were previously certain that we would not go this time, as we had been there on holiday before. However, when we thought about relaxation and rejuvenation, a Balinese yoga retreat came to mind which sounded exactly like what we needed: not too many new places to visit due to our previous holiday where we had covered most sites, the spiritual atmosphere, the infrastructure for yoga, nice people, good weather (since it is the rainy season now in most of Southeast Asia, with only a few exceptions, like Bali) and good prices so that we can pamper ourselves. We spent 12 days in Bali refreshing ourselves, followed by a stopover in Kuala Lumpur to catch up with friends and then we came to the Malaysian Perhentian islands to finish off our 6-month trip, based on the separate recommendations of two of my colleagues, Liz and Georgie.
Bali – The Magical Island with Many Faces
Bali delivered according to our expectations for the second time! The island has developed considerably during the 4 years since we had last visited, and unfortunately even the less touristy areas have become a lot more commercial, but luckily it still has a unique authentic atmosphere if you plan your trip to avoid the crowd. Balinese hospitality is hard to match anywhere else in the world; you feel spoilt when taking any service, including accommodations, spas or restaurants. Accommodations have generally high standards, and it’s easy to find unexpected little paradises behind street fronts, all at very affordable prices. Many new restaurants have opened since our last visit, and you don’t have enough days to visit all of those with excellent reviews. It’s the same challenge with spas, around Ubud (the city on the main island where we spent our time) you find spas at each corner, and even the ones with the best reputation are within a backpacker’s budget. It’s simply a paradise for relaxation.
The reason why I think Bali is so special is that apart from fulfilling the typical tourist needs at high standards, like hotels, food etc. Bali is also a gem with a very special culture, spiritualism, active religious life that you can see in every step, and a hub for beautiful local art including painting, carving, batik and many other handicrafts.
Bali is a Hindu island, the only one in the predominantly Muslim Indonesian archipelago. Hinduism has its origins in India, but in Bali it developed further with local elements and became a unique version. Religion is a dominant part of everyday life, people make offerings (mainly flowers and food) to gods several times during the day, for some gods daily, for some before each meal. Extended families live together in a compound which consist of several houses within a courtyard for each family unit. In each compound there is a family temple and numerous shrines where the regular offerings happen. It’s also common to place offering on vehicles to avoid accidents, at shops, restaurants or market stands to bring good sales and also on the rice fields for good crops. Events and celebrations where the whole family dresses up nicely and go to the local temple with offerings are also common, these are social gatherings at the same time with praying, traditional music and food. Preparing these offerings is the responsibility of the women in the compound, who take turns according to a rota, since it is quite time consuming – the compound we visited prepared 85 mini offering baskets each morning!
There are several different types of tourists served by the island (you just have to know where to go), from partying backpackers and surfers (Kuta), families looking for all-inclusive beach-resorts (Nusa Dua and Seminyak) while those looking for a yoga retreat and a dose of Balinese culture go to Ubud. It was interesting to see how the tourists self-select themselves accordingly, and a different group of people stay longer in Ubud, other tourists often only make it there for a day trip.
Bali is a Mecca for Australians too, since it’s so close, only 6 hours by direct flight from Sydney! We met and chatted with many of them during our stay, and we learnt that people come to Bali not only for a short a week to chill out, but also for dental and health tourism, since it is much cheaper than in Australia. Some of them have been coming back to Bali for decades and could tell us that 30 years ago there was no tourism at all on the island, only the locals working on paddy fields everywhere, much of which is now replaced by hotels and amenities for travellers (which is by the way a constant problem as rice field vanish due to the still massive development of tourism). At that time there was no bottled water either, so the few tourists who made it here drank coke as the only liquid they dared to consume! The change in only 4 years was already noticeable for us, so I imagine how much different it must feel now compared to the island that time!
Yoga Retreat and Healthy Lifestyle in Ubud
This time we stayed in the heart of Ubud (in a cul-de-sac away from the noise of the main street) in a beautiful guesthouse within a traditional family compound. It was a little quiet oasis 10-minute walk from our yoga centre, so it was the perfect place for us to do nothing but relax. We started the day with a fresh juice then did yoga at the Yoga Barn, continued with breakfast in the guesthouse and then made an easy program for the rest of the day. We spent some time reading by the pool, walking by the beautiful rice paddies around Ubud with ducks swimming in the water and locals working on the fields, visiting a spa to get a relaxing massage, motorcycling to the nearby Tegallalang rice terraces and a secret waterfall where almost no one goes (yet) and witnessing when hundreds of bats fly out from the Bat Cave Temple at sunset.
Along the rice paddies around Ubud:
Spa paradise at each step on the way (pics at Putri Spa - which is not a dirty place despite its meaning in Hungarian :)
On motorbike to the Tegallalang rice terraces (actually we found the way there much nicer than the terraces themselves):
The Bat Cave:
Yoga is very popular in Ubud, there are a wide range of options for classes at schools overlooking rice terraces, jungle or centrally located. The most popular is the Yoga Barn, the one we also chose because of the nice vibe and the great choice of classes at any time of the day. The centre has 4 yoga rooms, some of them open to the incoming breeze, and they overlook on leafy gardens and Balinese shrines lit by candles in the evenings, giving a special spiritual atmosphere. There are many types of classes so we could try out different styles and choose the best fit. We attended mostly the better known vinyasa flow classes (as bikram yoga, what we used to do for years in the UK was not an option), after having tried a few slower classes where we felt less benefit but often fell asleep. For instance, there was a class, called Restoration, where we had to hold postures for 5-10 minutes each for 90 minutes in total, and each posture was a very comfy pose lying on the floor with pillows – perfect for going a bit too deep into relaxation and falling asleep. But we also tried meditation which was an interesting experience. The centre also has a lively café and restaurant serving healthy food and drinks ranging from raw, Ayurvedic, vegetarian and vegan food, all very tasty, where people meet up before and after classes. Although it’s a busy school we didn’t feel that the classes were too packed so it was the perfect choice for us from a guesthouse so close.
Discovering the numerous healthy food options in Ubud also gave us a pleasant challenge. There is a trend of organic, raw and/or vegan food and drinks in the town, so it was easy to find a detoxifying meal with a wide range of pure vegetable and fruit juices. One of our favourites was Dayu’s Warung only a few hundred meters from our guesthouse where the owner learnt to cook healthy food when her daughter got an allergy, and later she opened her restaurant which is now a simple but popular place. Another great place with fantastic views over rice paddies is Sari Organic, which is reachable with a 20-minute track among the beautiful rice fields behind Ubud.
The way to Sari Organic and the view from its terrace:
Health food variations:
Of course, once in Ubud, we could not miss a traditional Balinese cooking course either, now a traditional activity we do in each country with good cuisine. The tour consisted of a visit to a very authentic market in a small village to buy ingredients, then to the kitchen in a family compound where we learned about the Balinese family and religious traditions. Then we made a menu of four courses, all typical Balinese (and not Indonesian) food with lemongrass, chilly, peanut and coconut as the dominating ingredients. While the outcome was delicious, we found the meals incredibly time-consuming to make, so they’re not for quick meals. In some case you even need to start the preparation the day before, which I know is common with Hungarian food too, but to be honest I could hardly imagine myself spending 3 hours at the kitchen, starting the night before!
We spent 8 fantastic days in Ubud which was, without doubt, the most relaxing period of our travel! The only sorrow that we experienced was that both of us had some problems with our teeth (luckily our first and only health issues during the whole trip!), so we needed to visit the local dentist on two separate days, but luckily with a quick resolution we could sort out the issues.
From Bali it is an easy boat ride to Nusa Lembongan and Nusa Ceningan which offers nice beaches, surfing and diving, so this is where we continued our journey. Read about our trip to Nusa Lembongan.