After our overkill of beach time in the past few weeks we were both looking forward to escaping inland to Ubud, a hub of relaxation. After arriving and finding accommodation, which was more than we hoped to pay but cheaper than advised in our guidebook, we set out to explore our new town. It quickly became apparent that the focus of this town was on self exploration and healing, with a strong ecofriendly appeal. I was delighted to find so many places advertising vegetarian food.

Our hope in coming to Ubud was to be able to further our knowledge on Balinese culture, as well as getting the opportunity to participate in some yoga and meditation classes. It seemed this would all be achieved with relative ease.

We booked ourselves into a cookery class the following morning. This would enable us to learn how to cook some of the dishes we had been enjoying since our arrival, and also to learn more about the ingredients used. The morning started with a trip to the market, where we were shown the different produce we would be using in our dishes. We were told the food market begins at 4am and finishes by 11am to avoid the heat of the day. Then it was back to the restaurant to make our food. In total four dishes were prepared, Gado Gado (cold vegetable dish with peanut sauce), vegetable curry, vegetable soup, Nasi Goreng (traditional rice dish) and tofu and tempe (soy curd) satay. After making the dishes we were able to eat them, they were all absolutely delicious and we had so much I was able to take away a ‘doggy bag’ for my dinner!

That evening we went to watch some traditional Balinese dancing. The particular show we went to see had a back story which was quite inspiring. The performers were all from the same village and were performing within their temple which had been newly renovated in recent years. They had spent six months with a master of this dance (which was actually a tradition from an out of town village), so they were able to perform and earn money for their neighbouring village to afford the renovation of their temple. This act seemed so selfless, and would not have been without great effort from all involved. The music was created by a choir of men, dressed in traditional Indonesian cloth, who also participated in the dance. The main dancers performed in extravagant, colourful, costumes, some also wearing masks, and depicted a love story of sorts taken from Ramayana, a Hindu epic often expressed through dance, paintings and carvings.

Kecak Dance Group

At 1:30am the next morning we were rising from our beds to ready ourselves for a morning trek up Mount Batur to watch the sunrise. By 4am we were setting off from the bottom of the mountain, torches in hands, casting circular light on the ground. The ground was uneven from the offset, becoming steeper and rockier as time went on. As the sun began to appear in the sky we climbed the last distance of the 717m volcano, settling down on the floor to watch as the sky brightened over the lake and land below.

Our final day in Ubud was a more spiritual one, as we started the day with a Falun Dafa class, and later took part in a yoga class. Falun Dafa is a movement which originated from China, and is a practice to improve mental and physical wellness. A series of straight forward exercises and meditation are used as the main tools of this practice.

My first real yoga class was fun, I was able to demonstrate just how inflexible I am, and my back was given an excellent without, which was just what it needed to recover from the Thai massage I’d had the previous week!