Ubud: First Arrival
11:09:00 AM
I am that kind of guy who prefer to travel solo, and who prefer to travel with no plan. I left my soul in Central Bali during my birthday trip back in 2014. And yes from that solo trip, it makes me keep coming back to the island until now. So how was the beginning?
Reading time: 5 to 6 minutes
For this post, I’d like to let you know how I make my way to Ubud on my very first and I travel solo. And yes that was pretty memorable for me. I tend to believe myself that I’m pretty good at remembering direction, as I previously did during my trip in Tebing Keraton and Belitung. But one thing I have no idea is, it took me around almost 2 hours riding by my scooter bike from Kerobokan to Gianyar area and it’s almost 21 kms.
There’s a little doubt in me at first. But I keep my mind positive as driving for 2 hours it’s like my daily lunch in Jakarta because sometimes, you are only able to travel around 20 kms in 2 hours in Jakarta. So yeah, I Googled all informations. Where should I start, which way should I follow, and stuffs. Not to forget that I have my Google Maps to direct me. A quick direction is: Sunset Road - Bypass Sanur - Tohpati - some areas before Ubud - Ubud. Alright, I think I’m good. Voila! I’m good to go.
I took myself from Sunset Road to Bypass in order to make my way to Ubud, though. I really thought it was pretty easy for me because Bali has less traffic than Jakarta. Until the woman in Google Maps talked to me.. “GPS signal lost.”. And I was like….. No. This is not happening. I stopped my bike and luckily there’s a gas station on Bypass and I asked the crew there for a simple direction, and I keep looking at my GPS. Well, basically I just have to go far away straight and after that at one intersection, I drive myself right and I will arrived at Tohpati. Easy, right?
I continue my journey with still lots of positivity within me, even with no GPS. Until there’s a fork on the road, and I can read from the signage there’s a huge Ubud sign if I swipe right at the fork. I was like okay, I learned some lessons from The Amazing Race: it’s good if you follow the signage. So I followed the signage. At that time, my GPS signal is totally off, it was EDGE signal. And in order to use my GPS, the signal at least has to be in 3G. And if you are asking me what kind of phone operator I’m using? It’s the one with yellow color that I’m not gonna mention the brand, running in my iPhone 5. You name it.
Alright. Turned out I didn’t find my way to Ubud, and I find a way to Jalan Ida Bagus Mantra. Which drives me to Bali Safari and Marine Park. And the condition was, there were all big vehicles, trucks, buses, and high speed motorbike. I had nobody to ask with. I had no hope with my GPS. But yet, I Googled high resolution of Bali map with my EDGE signal, and it helped me. And I started to think that, I turned right before my GPS asked me to turn right. And it is now a never-ending road at Ida Bagus Mantra when I turn right. Logically, I just need to turn myself to the north area, that means I have to turn left in order to make my way to Tohpati and those names of areas before Ubud, right?
No GPS, no peoples, I find a quite big road that drives me to the north. I will fully trust my instinct this time. But sometimes, being lost is a good thing. I passed into a traditional village with lots of Balinese Penjor and it was all rice paddy along the way. I find it beautiful as I don’t see this kind of view on my daily basis. So I tried to enjoy all the moments I had. I drove around 30 minutes, until I ended up in a bigger way and thank God there’s clear signage in where to go to Ubud!
It was around 10 minutes until I see another signage that’ll drive me to the Monkey Forest; Mandala Wisata Wenara Wana. it was one relieving feeling when I knew I’m down to the little village. It was a rough journey. No GPS, bad signal. But at the end, I feel pretty good in how I didn’t went panic with the situation. And I’m safely arrived.
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