This morning I was in my shower at 7.30am getting ready to shoot downtown for a trip to Ubud. As I finished showering, the handle of the faucet broke, meaning water was gushing out, nothing I could do about it. After a moments thought, I carried on getting ready, knowing the pembantu would be along later and maybe she could fix it.
In Kuta I met up with Toby, who was getting daughter Maya ready. Across the street was an old Kijang 4 door, available for 90,000rp per day, so I took it. Ollie & Asia had stuff they add to do, so after a while we got on the road to Ubud, arriving around 11.30am. The drive is around 90 minutes usually. One of the reasons the guy was renting the car so cheap, we found out, was the AC unit barely worked. We ended up using the 2/50 AC con (open 2 windows and drive at 50kmh).
Once in Ubud, we checked out places on Jl. Kajeng. This street runs north off of Jl. Raya Ubud. I chose this street so Ollie and Asia could go jalan jalan by themselves, without me having to drive them. They chose an AC room at the Prahda, at the bottom of Jl. Kajeng for 250,000rp. It has a restaurant, nice rooms and a pool. I got a room at Shanti guest house up the street for 40,000rp, large bed, cold water shower, ceiling fan. In the day Ubud is hot, but its had just started raining and will be cooler tonight. Westerners coming to Bali in the wet season will need AC, to feel comfortable and the AC places double the prices.
People often worry about security in hotels and guest houses. I am never that worried as I always keep my money on me. Five minutes after checking in I left with my small bag containing the wallet, camera and keys. My keyboards and GPS still in the room. How likely is it to get stolen? Very unlikely as its a family owned place. Guest houses do not have safes, hotels do. if you stay in a hotel you can ask the reception staff to put your goods in the safe. Best thing is not to bring stuff you can’t afford to lose.
Shanti Home Stay
Jl. Kajeng #5
Ubud
Bali
(0361) 975421
(I am at an internet cafe in Ubud, that has brand new machines, with a new operating system. Gone is Windows Explorer and Photoshop. In is the world’s most complicated operating system, and a file resizer that took me 15 minutes for 1 photo. So no photos on this Ubud trip.)
