April 22, 23rd on 24th Ubud and on to Gili Air

On Sunday, we decided to check out the local gym and possible longer-term accommodations in Ubud if we decided to stay for the summer.  We walked to Ubud Fitness, which was further than we had thought, about half an hour walk, but we managed to find the place.  It had a fairly large gym with weight equipment on one floor and the downstairs was a squash court and exercise class room, which were open air. Rates were more expensive than at the hotel gym we use in Chiang Mai, and this one had no pool, but that is the only option  in Ubud.  We saw a house we liked on the bulletin board at the gym, so gave them a call but it was already taken. 

Heading back toward Monkey Road, we noticed a small street with the Post Office and many expat's milling about, so we wandered over. The Bali Buddha Cafe, a bright purple color building, is a store and healthy alternative restaurant with a large bulletin board out on the street with all kinds of advertisements, including houses and rooms for rent.  We perused it carefully and noted a few, but generally housing is more expensive than CM, and also air conditioning is not as common, but views of rice fields are very common and lovely. We had an excellent lunch and then stopped next door at a shop called Bamboo Boutique selling the most artistic batik shirts-- and they had two pockets! Yes Two Pockets - the DDB requirement for a shirt!

Bamboo Boutique shirt

 The selection and display are a sight to see and we enjoyed looking at many shirt before purchasing one.  David wore it, and liked it ,and I loved looking at him in it so I looked online for the shop to see if there is another one in Denpasar so I could get another shirt before we left.  Not finding anything on the internet, I emailed them a note as to a shop in Denpasar.  The reply came on Monday and was, "Sorry we don't have any branch in Denpasar--  only one shop in Bali, and no sales by website. If you want to buy our shirt you have to come to Ubud". So we hired a taxi to take us back to the shop and wait while we chose another one, and then take us back to our hotel. The owner, who designs the batiks, has the printing stamp made, and does the batik himself, having one skilled "older seamstress" sew them, was sitting in the store and started talking to us.  On all his designs he insists that the pockets and buttons don't show, and all of his shirts have two pockets.  He does not want an internet store because he likes the experience of meeting and seeing the customers that are buying his shirts.  We enjoyed meeting him and it made our purchases much more personal.

The rest of Monday was spent swimming in the hotel pool and enjoying the view of the rice patties, browsing in the shops, with dinner at the Shisha Bar with the live music. We organized our transport to Gili Air for the following day, and spent time online studying various accomodations on the island without coming to a conclusion, so we decided to go there without a reservation and look for the best deal once on the island.

A full horse cart

On Tuesday we left Ubud for Gili Air at 11 am, via a packed mini van, of which we were the second to the last pickup. The drive was an hour and a half to Pack Beng where we waited half an hour and then got on a 70 passenger "fast boat" (5 outboard motors) to travel to Gili Trawangan and then on to Gili Air.  Most passengers disembarked by jumping into the shallow water at "Gili T" and only about 10 jumped off at Gili Air. We had not booked a room, but had a list of places to check out.  The forms of transport on Gili Air are foot, bike and horse cart.  With all our luggage we needed a cart! We checked 3 places before ending up at Juliantos by the Sea, an option which we had not seen online. As the island has only brackish water wells, if you require fresh water showers and pool the room prices will be high even if you are not on the beach ( $86 per night at Scallywags). We checked on Gili Air Hotel and one other before landing where we did. Juliantos just opened last year and the salt water pool was just filled 3 weeks ago. We have a lovely out door brackish water shower (hot and cold water) and then a daily container of fresh water to rinse with, which is great, good AC, free wifi (when it works), very salty water  pool, wonderful view of the mountains and volcano on Lombok island, and we have been told there is good snorkeling right off the beach in front of us.

We walked to the North end of the island to  have a drink at the Mirage Bar to watch the sunset over Gili Meno. We walked back towards Juliantos and had a nice grilled fish for dinner at a beachside restaurant on the way.