Urban hiking: seeing the sights, character building or budget travel?

It’s a 3 for 1! We’ve found the best way to limit the spending is to stay at our home stay (not really a hardship with the pool and lovely weather) but despite the loveliness of relaxing we do like to have some type of outing, and so with ambitious spirits and optimism on our side we decided to walk to Ubud market, about 5 miles away. This was after having a full down day at the pool and strolling around our “neighborhood”.

Now, 5 miles doesn’t seem that far. It really isn’t but the path we are walking is not, unfortunately a stroll around greenlake. Or even a trot along our neighborhood road. Firstly, it’s hot. Though not really a primary problem, it did really seem to grind on poor Marion.

What makes it extra long is the walking on the uneven roads, attempting to walk on sidewalks, or a least out of the street, while not falling in sewers, stumbling over broken cement and avoiding scooters, cars and food sellers and unchained dogs. I don’t know why it seems so treacherous with the uneven paths, but it was. Is. Still, it was great. We enjoyed seeing the everyday that is life when you’re just walking through neighborhoods and…towns? In the loose term.

Rice chaff and elaborate flower and frond display outside temple entrance.

Rice paddy. Just doesn’t stop being pretty. Think of my mom every time it’s that new, fresh green.

We wondered what the “random” holes in the street were: places for poles for celebrations!

Gas stations. I am so intrigued…amused…drawn in by the curious/differentness of the bottles filled with petrol (mostly old Absolut vodka bottles) or the hand crank dispensers. Marion thought maybe we should try the juice. Now that’s become one of our perpetual jokes “boy I’m thirsty for some of that juice!” “Good one, Dad.” We’re all champions of the dad joke here 🙂

Little warung (shop) baffles me here the sheer number of them. How do they make money with one every 20m? I guess it’s not lots but, like the stalls in the market, how do people choose which one they buy from?

We did finally make it to Ubud, and Ubud market. With the city came all the luxuries of tourism, including it seems the fads of Seattle. Cat Cafe? Really?? Oh my. Ha.

Cat cafe plus reflexology, must be Bali.

Smelling the wares. Alys got her heart set on incense and a holder for herself (the girls are so different in their approach to buying and money…alys careful and practical but very particular and knows exactly what she does and doesn’t want, Marion quick to jump on something that draws her fancy and then her heart will be fixed and rarely swayed…she went home with a new friend “owly” or (maybe it was snowy or nighty)

Another day urban hike to the cave temple was definitely worth it. Especially when a local guy gave us a mini private tour of his temple as they prepared for a huge celebration that evening. He led us through the grounds, showed us their insanely vibrant rice paste displays and the stacked fruit trays and other offerings that all just seemed too much for the eye to take in. He also led us back where more folks were preparing offerings (some of which were little cracker sweets that they gave to the girls) and also where they were burning the old offerings…i think just to clean up not ad a ritual.

Entrance to courtyard outside cave temple. Here we saw (and the girls…NOT me…touched) a giant python! Gag. A guy had it for the tourists I assume, you had to pay to take a picture, so naturally we did neither. We’re so cheap 😆

“There’s just *one* gold koi, Mom! But thats ok if he’s a different color, it doesnt mattrr what color you are, they can still be friends”. Marion was *very* interested in these fish, watching some black ones circling and protecting what we assume were where they had laid eggs, and of course the curiosity of the one gold koi. She spent the majority of her time here as we explored this main center of the temple.

Deeper down you could walk to a further little shrine in the woods past giant banyans and a little creek.

Who is this beautiful, self possessed, not so little, daughter mine

3 stones are to represent earth, wind, fire i think. Also death, life and birth. Also shiva, vishnu and brahma? Ugh, should have done this post a while ago and maybe i could more accurately remember.

The walk was along a busy road for much, but we got to see lots of neat sights, brick cutters making shrines, wood furniture stores, and just the every day. And our every day: walking around, learning, exploring entertaining each other with storytelling and games and songs. And whining. Sometimes we have to reaort to whining. And then we all probably just need a smoothie or some pop ice :). Good living