Afternoon in Ubud
Now, that we are more and more settled in Ubud, it already feels kind of home, like when we are driving into town, crossing the river at Blanco Museum and The Bridge, going up through all those hanging branches and hitting the Jalan Raya where it get’s so busy. Trying iMovie first time, I have put together this short clip (of course life is faster here when it comes to real time).
Ubud has changed a lot since last time we were here, six years ago. I remember that we were having dinner sometimes at Nomads in Jl Raya, that at the time was such a quiet place. Or Campuhan Road where we live now: Six years ago it was pure countryside, now there are houses, shops, super markets and it really takes a while to leave Ubud.
Anyway, we are also welcome here, so there is no complaint. The thing about Ubud that I really love, is that even when it is crowded and has way too many scooters, you just have to turn left or right on the big streets (Raya, Hanuman, Monkey Forest) and it get’s quiet almost immediately. There are so many temples and peaceful areas where people live or where you find hidden spa’s, small walk throughs; and suddenly you find yourself back on a busy street, like Goutama, where tourists can find everything they need.
Sushi Restaurant in Jalan Goutama
Also there are so many nice restaurants, as he Balinese seem to have found the right overall atmosphere that matches the spirit of the town and also is exactly what the people are expecting to find here. Like they have told me in my first Yoga class, when doing Hatha, it is about opposites, sun and moon, tension and relaxation — Ubud seems to be stressful and crowded, remarkably busy, but also super quiet, if you just take a left or a right, or if you enter a restaurant and have a seat in the back yard, or if you come to a rice field. I really enjoy the mixture, wouldn’t complain if all those scooters are using electricity instead of petrol, though, but one thing at a time. Six years ago, plastic waste was already all over the place. When we planned this trip we saw terrible pictures on the internet about the remains of plastic bottles on Kuta beaches; today in Ubud, it seems that there is already another spirit: a coconut juice or any drink, wherever you go, comes with a wooden or metal straw, instead of plastic, everybody seems to be using own bottles for water, so many restaurants and accomodations are refining their own water to make it drinkable (six years ago this seemed to be impossible, also in the Hyatt hotels); they collect organic garbage instead of just throwing it to the rivers.
All those coffee shops where you can just stop and linger, talk to people, have a tea, a coffee or a beer, are nicely decorated. The owners relaxed and easy. Ubud surely has profited from the hype that Eat, Prey, Love has brought upon the city, like our driver Ardi told us recently. Since then visitor numbers have been going through the roof, and of course the balinese people know how to do business. I am sure that in the meantime you can do whatever holiday or longer stay you want to do in Bali. Like top notch luxurious vacation, that goes up to thousands of dollars the night, being picked up with a helicopter, playing golf or doing whatever these people do, but still, the spirit of the old Bali is not easy to remove. Sitting in a cheap, but easy Warung, having some chicken satay with peanut sauce for 2 $, enjoying a chilled Bintang beer, chatting to backpackers… still there!
You can get excellent coffee these days in Ubud!
But for now we have to quickly get an excellent coffee, because at Hubud’s we have signed up for a skill share talk that one of Hubud’s co-founders is giving. It is about changing the job more often, exploring soft skills, getting hard-skills on the fly, becoming the performer of your own life. Sounds a little hedonistic in the ears of a German entrepreneur, because back home we are still celebrating the fact that employees stay long within the company and help bringing up company skills to a very high level (and it takes more than 1 year to get a new employee “shaped up” properly), but anyway, the folks back here in Hubud are self employed, mostly, are performers of their own paths in professional life — therefore it is the right speach, helps removing panic about money, existence and future. Quite a good prep talk. The next skill share is already scheduled to be hold one of the next days: It is on emotional leadership — very much looking forward to it. I like a lot about Hubud, that they are definitely not lazy! They offer so many exciting events, they really groom the community they have established and they are really helpful. I already received tons of contacts from them via Facebook upon my request for somebody who might help me with video editing or filming for the Kickstarter clip I have to do soon. Love the place! Thanks Hubudians, thanks Hubud, carry on the good work.