Day 3 - Ubud, Sangeh Monkey forest & Sideman

This morning after breakfast, we start at 9am & left Ubud for bike ride to Sangeh monkey forest. would take about 2-2.5 hours biking.

I le the group know  we do not race but we would like to enjoy of the countryside, so we didnt need to be fast to ride and any time when we show something  interesting we could stop anytime we want. It is not a race!

All my group were confidence to ride, so we then we ready to "rock and roll"! It was nice, they love it but when we just ride for just 10mins, we had to stop as suddenly rain really heavy! (ah Bali!)

My group loved it as we showed so many things and the view of rise paddies was amazing. I explained how the rice was growing up amd along the way we saw also the heron bird -  it so nice to see those bird when there alot together. We saw one lady carry the bamboo bucket on her head without her having to hold onto it & it did not fall. What good balance!

We then drove to Sangeh Monkey forest where we had lunch at Local Warung with very simple food but it was so very nice! We then headed to Sangeh monkey forest where there were so many Macac monkeys. It was fun as some of the group were trying to sit in the ground and the local guide was trying to make the monkey hope onto my group members! We headed onto to a weaving sarong home industry to see how they make the sarongs. They were making the Ikat sarong which is the most expensive sarong in Java.

It was then onto Sideman  & group just loved this place. The village is very quiet and the view of the rice terrace is stunning. When there is very clear weather we will be able to see  Mt.Agung which is the highest mountain in Bali. It is about 3100m above the see level - impressive!

Day 1/2 - Bali Adventure Trip!

Today is the 2nd day of the Bali Adventure trip! At 9am we had the group meeting where I gave information on what the travellers are expecting during the trip and what they they can do to respect the local culture and every thing what we need to know during the 9 day trip.
This group has 6 people. I have three Americans, one British, one New Zealander and one Japanese traveller on this trip. Seem they be fun group as even in our meeting they always smile and laugh when I told them about what to expect in a funny way!

Let me tell you what we did for the last two days:

Day 1: We went to the night market where we could try the local food with very cheap prices! So many choices of food here at night market: vegetarian, chicken, beef, satays and some of the fruit salad and other amazing sweets. This is the place where mostly only locals come for dinner if they have no time to cook. Some of my group were trying the chicken satay with rice and after just decided to wonder around. My group all tried the suckling pig and MOST of my group love it!

Day 2:

After our meeting, our local guide 'Made' was ready to take them walking around the city of It takes between 2-3 hours and is an easy walk. The weather was lovely and the panorama of Ubud countryside is beautiful.

We pass the Alang Alang area (wild grass which some local people use to make their roof ), the artist village where they make handy craft and paint to sell later in the central of Ubud. Our guide 'Made' was explaining so many thing while we walking around. Two of the group members were interested in doing whitewater rafting so off they went! The rest of the group just had a relaxing afternoon in the sun.

At 6pm, I met with all of them and we went to see the Kecak dance which is one of the most famous dances in . We have a local story about the dance which is what we call 'Ramayana'. Its kind of Romeo and Juliet in a Western country but this is actually a happy ending! There is no orchestra here but they use their amazing voices as the orchestra. All of my group were so impressed with this dance.

The performance was about 1.5 hours than we went out for dinner where I took them to local 'Warung Padang' - this food is originally from  They enjoy the food but it was bit spicy as this food very famous for its spice! Went back to hotel about 10ish had a drink and headed to bed. Tomorrow will be the big day that we will get to go deeper into Bali!

Welcome!

Welcome to Maman’s trip blog. This blog is your chance to get the low down from Maman as he leads his favourite trip through Bali, Intrepid’s 'Bali Adventure'.

Maman will begin blogging on May 1st - make sure you follow him to get a local’s insight into this gorgeous part of the world and to witness the group’s adventures along the way.