Day 82 – Indonesia

December 26, 2009 - Anturan to Ubud, Bali, Indonesia

Although we’re sorry to say “good-bye”, on Boxing Day we travel from Anturan to Ubud in central Bali.

The trip is luxurious compared to our previous travels, as we pretty much have no other choice but to hire a car to take us there.

The options are either: a) spend a bit extra on a 2 hour private ride or b) spend 6 hours and countless transfers using the public system.

So we split the cost with 2 other travelers and drove the mountain roads in a stylish SUV.

We knew heading in that Ubud was going to be very “touristy” – it’s a cozy artistic community and it’s always had a strong following. However, recently it’s seen a boom in visitors thanks to a famous, yet crappy book called “Eat, Pray, Love”.

But as we roll into town, Eric and I nearly have seizures…

Instead of just countless stalls selling tacky souvenirs and banana pancakes, the place has Dolce & Gabana and Ralph Lauren as shopping options!! We look at each other thinking “what have we gotten ourselves into?”


Thankfully, we’ve pre-booked our guesthouse in a nearby village, so we can avoid most of the hub-bub, yet still be close enough to swing by and people watch.

And people watch we did!!

NOTE: A word of advice to guys out there… after the age of 21, faux-hawks and blond highlights just look pathetic.

We spend the afternoon and evening exploring the area and eating pork…

Ever since watching the Indonesia episode of his favourite show “No Reservations”, Eric has been dying to visit “Warung Ibu Oka”, a restaurant in Ubud, famous for its “Babi Guling” or Balinese suckling pig.

Seriously. It’s all he’s been talking about since we arrived in Indonesia.

The place is pretty easy to find, as it’s just up the road from D&G, so we head in and both order the “special”. The “special” is a little bit of everything, from straightforward roast pork & crackling skin to pig ear & blood sausage.

It is DELICIOUS!!!


The coolest thing about it is that since the place is so popular, they’ve recently had to move to a bigger restaurant, down the road from where they actually cook the pork. So when a pig is ready, the delivery guys bring it over by motorcycle, balanced on their heads, which is pretty amazing to see.