As hard as it was to leave Hoi An, Viet Nam, which we loved to the point of being ready to declare it our new home, it now seems incredibly obvious that Ubud is a natural habitat for us. So quickly, before life deals us another surprise, we should take stock.
Here is where we are at…
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| Time to hit the language books… Bahasa it will be, a hell of a lot easier than Vietnamese… |
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| Too early to actually look for a house to rent long term, because we have some work obligations “on the road”, but unless something surprisingly dramatic happens, we are bound to return to Ubud and make it home for a while. |
So why are we ready to declare Ubud home? Here are Ben’s “top 10” reasons…
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| #1: The food source. So much healthy, good food… no MSG, lots of options for vegetarians… A gzillion restaurants to try… (True, Vietnamese street food is unbeatable, but the MSG situation… it’s like playing Russian Roulette every day…) |
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| Breakfast at Yoga Barn Cafe – “sprouted raw granola” and spinach omelette. |
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| #2: The culture of Hinduism/Buddhism that pervades all… |
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| Hindu culture which permeates life, in the form of daily, weekly, monthly ceremonies… the sounds, the scents, the beauty of it all… |
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Reincarnation is very much core to the Balinese religious and cultural belief system – here, the reincarnated victims of 1965, in heron form
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| #3: A plethora of really good yet inexpensive massage in beautiful settings, flower bath optional… |
Healing doesn’t stop at massages and yoga; Ubud offers also an array of interesting workshops – (Ezra – this is for you!) – Sound Healing.
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| #4: Interesting expats ~ from artists to environmental consultants… Here, Jim, one of our home exchange partners, who has a wealth of information and expertise about forestry… cooks dinner for us in his kitchen. |
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| Noelle and Ken, also home exchange partners, artists and jewelers ~ awesome “connectors” into the Ubud art community. |
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| #5: Babes all around… Good sign for when I have time to get back to sculpture… |
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| #6: Adorable monkeys living in the Sacred Monkey Forest… |
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| #7: Cappuccino for Ben; Green drink for Peta… |
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| #8: Daily English language newspapers… Indonesia’s geopolitical position is fascinating – sitting in the Southeast Asian theater, where the coming clash between the United States and China is palpable and is reported on almost daily… |
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| #9: Gorgeous nature all around, from rice fields to jungle forest… |
#10: Being able to be barefoot as most places require you to take your shows off when you go in: stores, restaurants, homes. Many restaurants have floor seating with huge cushions to relax on. Pretty chill!
Looks like a big piece of heaven to me:-)
It definitely is. Resonates with both of us ~ Can’t wait to go back!! You can read a bunch of other entries on Ubud, if you go back to the last month. Thanks for the feedback!
Cappuccino and green drink has been my breakfast every day in LA. I can see why this place is the one to beat!
Ben = cappuccino.
Peta = green drink.
Both our ideals in every other restaurant here!!