Giovanna, Lais, Gabriella, and I went to Honeymoon Guesthouse in downtown Ubud for a 90 minute morning yoga flow. I’ve been to dozens of yoga classes back in America, but in Asia you can feel the tradition and experience of the instructors delicately woven into the practice. After yoga, we went to Gabi and Lais’s hotel for breakfast and a late morning dip in the pool.
Lais and Gabriella arranged a tour visiting a few spots in Ubud, but Giovanna and I elected to do our own sightseeing and meet up with them later. First, we visited Saraswati Temple and Ubud Palace in the heart of Ubud. Sadly, the Temple was closed and the visiting areas of Ubud Palace were restricted, but that didn’t stop us from admiring the traditional richness of the ancient architecture. Then, we paid a visit to the Sacred Monkey Forest Sanctuary. Immediately upon entering the sanctuary, we were surrounded by monkeys everywhere. There were three monkeys that were jumping off a bridge into a pond, where they bathed and played in the water. We ventured around the sanctuary, where the monkeys roamed freely and without fear of humans. At one point, I rested against the railing, and a monkey walked across the railing and touched my arm, then gave a playful or warning “bite” where it tried pressing its teeth against my forearm. Luckily for me, I was wearing a plastic bracelet that prevented the teeth from breaking skin, and I continued through the sanctuary with a heightened sense of caution.
We rode to Tegenugan Waterfall, where we met up with Lais and Gabriella for dinner at Omma, a fancy club sitting cliffside facing the waterfall. After enjoying a delicious meal, we swam in the pool of water beneath the waterfall. We could feel the power of the waterfall pushing downstream as we swam up to the safety rope in the water. We also went to a smaller waterfall nearby, where we let the rushing water shower us as we sat underneath it. Then, we rinsed off in Omma's pool while taking in the astonishingly beautiful views.
Following the waterfalls, we went to the nearby glass sky bridge, where we could walk across the large valley and enjoy views around and beneath us. I’ve never been overly fond of heights, so getting out of my comfort zone and walking across a glass bridge suspended high in the sky felt accomplishing in a way.
After a dip in the pool back at the homestay, I returned to the main area of Ubud. We revisited Saraswati Temple, where we had must missed the dance performance but still could appreciate the night lighted ambiance of the temple we had visited earlier in the day. After getting a drink at the cafe sitting in front of the temple, we went for dinner at Oia, where we had delicious Greek cuisine. Shortly after dinner, tired from an eventful but exhaustive day, I answered my bed’s call and returned back to the homestay.