Occasionally you meet someone who is extraordinarily generous. It doesn’t happen very often, but today it happened to us. We are talking to the Taiwanese woman over breakfast and she introduces us to her sister. We chat a while, exchanging the usual chit chat about where we come from, our travels mentioning we are leaving today for Bali. On learning that we are taking a taxi to the airport, she offers to take us in her car. This is young woman who have only known for about 15 minutes and who asks nothing in return. We exchange email addresses; perhaps one day we can return the favour should she every visit London.
The Virgin Blue flight to Bali is uneventful and arrives slightly ahead of time. We are met by a driver for the homestay we have booked and spend the next hour or so negotiating heavy traffic as we make our way to Ubud, Bali’s alternative tourist hub in the hills north of the capital, Denpasar. Cars and mopeds jostle for position on the narrow roads which are built up all the way to Ubud with only the occasional glimpse of paddy fields coming into view. After the expanses of Australia, there is an overwhelming sense of being hemmed in by the buildings and the encroaching jungle . Just south of Ubud the road is lined with what must be 100s of craft and artisans’ workshops displaying what seems to be an endless supply of stone and wood carvings on display. Posing the question, just how many stone masons are there on this small island?
Jati Homestay is something of a revelation; a short walk from the centre of Ubud village and set back from the road, the long, narrow entrance ginnel opens into a large family compound comprising several buildings arranged in a spacious court yard. The guests quarters run along one side of the compound on the edge of a lush, green rice paddy surrounded by several varieties of palm and bounded by an irrigation channel. The room has only bamboo poles and netting at the window and the walls are decorated with rattan and is surprisingly cool. The faint sound of gamelan music can be heard in the distance somewhere as the breeze rustles through the trees. A veranda provides the perfect place to sit and enjoy this little piece of paradise just off one of the main thoroughfares in the village! By the time we have settled in it’s time for dinner and we go in search of somewhere to eat. We stop at the first restaurant we come to which, we discover later, has a reputation as one of the best in Ubud.
The Virgin Blue flight to Bali is uneventful and arrives slightly ahead of time. We are met by a driver for the homestay we have booked and spend the next hour or so negotiating heavy traffic as we make our way to Ubud, Bali’s alternative tourist hub in the hills north of the capital, Denpasar. Cars and mopeds jostle for position on the narrow roads which are built up all the way to Ubud with only the occasional glimpse of paddy fields coming into view. After the expanses of Australia, there is an overwhelming sense of being hemmed in by the buildings and the encroaching jungle . Just south of Ubud the road is lined with what must be 100s of craft and artisans’ workshops displaying what seems to be an endless supply of stone and wood carvings on display. Posing the question, just how many stone masons are there on this small island?
Jati Homestay is something of a revelation; a short walk from the centre of Ubud village and set back from the road, the long, narrow entrance ginnel opens into a large family compound comprising several buildings arranged in a spacious court yard. The guests quarters run along one side of the compound on the edge of a lush, green rice paddy surrounded by several varieties of palm and bounded by an irrigation channel. The room has only bamboo poles and netting at the window and the walls are decorated with rattan and is surprisingly cool. The faint sound of gamelan music can be heard in the distance somewhere as the breeze rustles through the trees. A veranda provides the perfect place to sit and enjoy this little piece of paradise just off one of the main thoroughfares in the village! By the time we have settled in it’s time for dinner and we go in search of somewhere to eat. We stop at the first restaurant we come to which, we discover later, has a reputation as one of the best in Ubud.
Hello Christine and Hattie,
How are you? I’m Fiona from Taiwan. We meet in Britannia in Perth. Do you still remember me? I’m so surprised to see you mention about me in your blog. That’s just like what I always say that when I was travelling all place, a lots of people are helping me all the time, and they ask for nothing as well. So that’s just a small favor to take you to airport, as I know what you done are such an amazing thing that what I always hope one day I could do it as well. I’m so surprise that you write everything everyday… And so glad I could be a part of journey even just a short ride.
These days it’s so busy since you leave until now, finally I got the time and sit down to check my memory book. Next Wednesday would be my working holiday visa expired date, and that’s the day I have to leave Australia and back home. It’s amazing to meet so many people during these two years. I’m thinking all the time that so many things happened in these two years and change my thinking a lot. Now whatever what’s happened, I believe everything comes for reason, then even the bad things happened I’ll be still happy to accept it. That’s a good lesson for me in my life…
I’m leaving Australia on 14 Sep, and going to 7 counties (Kuala Lumpur, Sri Lanka, Singapore, Bangkok, Macao, Hong-Kong, and Manila) in 1.5 month before I’m back to Taiwan, my home sweet home. Because I gonna travelling by myself, hopefully everything would be alright!! Before I’m 30 years old I want to see as much as I can.
Happy travelling, be safe, be good. Hopefully one day I could see you somewhere in the world, maybe in London or Taiwan. Keep going your journey, take care!! Wish all the best~~ \(^.^)/
Best wishes,
Fiona
Hi Fiona
Of course I remember you! And it is so lovely to hear from you again. It sounds as though you were sad to leave Australia but I’m sure you’re going to have some fun before you return home. (Seven countries in 6 weeks sounds a bit of a challenge though!) We loved Malaysia and Singapore although we didn’t spend very much time there – it’s a country I very much want to go back to some day. Penang in particular was lovely, but incredibly hot! I didn’t like Bangkok very much – a bit seedy – not a place I will be going back to in a hurry. Loved Hong Kong.
But I guess by now you are almost at the end of your trip and will be back in Taiwan soon. If you can I would love to see some pictures of your home town and Taiwan generally. Who knows we may get there one day. For now though, we are back in London after 12 fantastic months. After leaving Australia we spent a month in Indonesia. Bali was gloriously beautiful. We stayed away from the main tourist area and travelled north to Ubud and the north coast doing some trekking on the way. From Bali we crossed to Java on the ferry – which is only a short ride across a narrow strip of water – and gradually made our way to Jakarta stopping at Bromo, Solo, Yogyakarta, Pangandaran on the coast and finally catching our flight to India. Unfortunately a month is far too short to do Indonesia justice, but we couldn’t get a visa to stay any longer.
India was quite a culture shock for us and very different from anywhere else we’ve been. The cities are noisy, dirty and teaming with people – very different from Australia, that’s for sure. But we soon adapted and spent 6 weeks in Rajasthan and really enjoyed the smaller places where the people are incredibly friendly and welcoming.
We arrived home at the end of August and now our travels seem like distant memories and I’m missing the hot weather. It is cold and rainy here and I’m finding it difficult to keep warm after having spent so long in Asia. I think it must be time to start planning our next trip!
How is Mella? Have you left her in Australia still working hard at the Britannia? Do say hello to her from us.
You were both so very kind to us and we appreciated that very much. Who knows, we may meet again some day. And if you come to London do let us know.
Best wishes
Christine