I haven’t done much the past few days—I’ve been suffering from jet lag and kept getting woken up around 3:00 a.m. by a rooster who apparently was also struggling with his biological clock. I noticed that the jet lag was really throwing me off (despite my split trip), and as a result, I wasn’t feeling very well. That meant I slept a lot at times when I really shouldn’t have, but the fact that massages were available made up for a lot.
I enjoyed my meals and relaxed a lot, but I couldn’t really concentrate on reading. Because I was so tired, I found that very difficult. On the second day, I slept around the clock; even though I went to bed early, I was woken up again during the night and ended up sleeping until 11:30 a.m., so I had to reschedule my 12:00 p.m. massage.
First, enjoy a nice breakfast, create some content for social media, read a bit, and then head to the massage.
This one was really special! Every massage began with a foot spa—a warm water bath with flowers and lime slices. This was followed by a massage and a scrub using a specific type of herb that was yellow in color and had a very pleasant scent. She prepared the spa with great care.
Then it was time for the massage. Someone struck a musical instrument three times, which immediately set the mood—relaxed and serene. And as I lay my head down, I was surprised to find a small basin of water beneath me, so that when you look down through the hole (in the massage table), you have a very serene and pleasant view. A basin filled with water and small white pebbles, arranged in the shape of a star or a heart. On top of that are three large black stones and some green twigs with a beautiful flower. The scent of orchids occasionally wafts toward me. With the sounds of the jungle, babbling water, and the occasional thunderstorm, relaxation here is taken to the highest level.
I’m getting a full-body massage that ends with an oil treatment poured over my head and hair. Unfortunately, it took more than two washes to get it out, but it was a special treatment—a Balinese massage.
I’m going to book a tour for tomorrow. Most of the organized tours last 10–12 hours, but I don’t feel like doing that—I want to spend no more than 4 hours on the road. I’ll ask at the front desk what’s available. I’ve been assigned a driver for tomorrow and get to choose where I want to go! That’s the ultimate in freedom and luxury 🙂 In any case, I want to see some monkeys at Monkey Forest, and then we’ll see where else we end up. The driver is scheduled for tomorrow at 1:00 p.m.
But first, yoga! There’s another yoga session scheduled for 4:00 p.m.; a Balinese woman who looks very flexible will be leading us through an hour-long yoga session. It’s raining really hard outside—there are quite a few thunderstorms—and the room is open with a few windows left open, which is a bit of a problem with the heavy rainfall. Most spaces don’t have air conditioning; instead, everything is open—buildings, temples, etc.—so you really need the breeze to cool things down. I actually like getting used to the weather this way; even without doing anything, you still sweat from head to toe. It helps that it’s the rainy season, so it’s mostly cloudy. That actually makes it quite pleasant.
The yoga session was a wonderful experience. I’d never taken a yoga class before—I’d tried it a bit on my own through an online class, but found it pretty hard to maintain my balance. This woman guided us well, telling us to focus our eyes on a single point and keep our breathing very calm. That did help with my balance, but it’s something that only gets better with lots of practice. I plan to incorporate yoga into my weekly routine alongside kickboxing once I’m back.
I head into downtown Ubud—about a 20-minute walk down a steep mountain road, past the jungle and a few small shops—until I reach the main shopping streets, which eventually lead to a square filled with “markets.” They’re actually large buildings where goods are sold—mainly home decor, handmade bags, and other souvenirs.
I’m going to skip it—I’d much rather grab a nice meal and then head back to the hotel to watch a TV show. Getting a good night’s sleep—that would be wonderful.
