We have breakfast at our hotel next to a small swimming pool (included in the price of the room).
At 9:00 am, the driver sent by the Rafting company picks us up and drives us to « Toekad Rafting » (Jl. Raya Kedewatan). The return transfer to the Rafting site is included in the $ 25 / person we paid the day before.
We arrive around 9:30 am at the Rafting club. There are lockers available: you must leave everything. You can possibly keep a smartphone to take photos. Make sure they provide you with a waterproof phone pouch if you don’t have one, otherwise forget the phone if it’s not a waterproof one. We are equipped with helmets, life vests and paddles. Then, we board a small van (in groups of 6 people). It left towards the starting point of Rafting. The journey takes around 10 minutes.
Around 10:00 am, we are dropped off in the fields that we have to cross, go down the steps before arriving at the starting point. The decor is magnificent: green everywhere. We don’t even dare imagine the same place during the rainy season. After 15 minutes we arrive, we wait for our turn: the excitement is at its peak.
We start around 10:30 am. We were 7 people on the boat: us, a Russian couple, a Chinese couple and an instructor who sits in the back. He explains that he is the one who will lead the raft, and that he will give us 3 types of instructions throughout the descent: Paddle forward, backward or stop paddling. Let’s go 🙂
First rapid, first problem. The raft is blocked between 2 large rocks. We have to go down, being careful not to get carried away by the water current and that is not obvious. The monitor unblocks the raft. Now, we are really aware of the risks and the importance of following the instructions to the letter. More fear than harm, let’s go again 🙂
We go through the rapids and the calm parts of the Ayung river without incident this time. The view is breathtaking. A mixture of adrenaline and wonder. It is an experience that we highly recommend. We chose the Ayung river which is less difficult than Telaga Waja. We were not disappointed.
We took 2 breaks on the way, the first one next to a small waterfall. The second to quench your thirst. You can buy drinks even if you have left the money in the locker: it is possible to pay afterwards.
2 hours and 7 km after, we arrive at 12:30 at the end of the rafting, at the bottom of the Rafting club. Now, this is the least funny part: you have to go up 300 steps with helmets, paddles and vest.
We finally arrive, we return back the equipment, collect our stuff, and go for the showers. Around 1:00 p.m., we are directed to the buffet for lunch: everything is included in the price paid the day before.
We are satisfied with the quality of the buffet: rice (Nasi), noodles (Mie), chickens (Ayam), salads, bread, potatoes … For drinks, you will have to pay separately (For a Bintang: 30,000Rp / 2 €).
The driver picks us up to take us back to the hotel, we ask him to drop us off halfway at « Campuhan Ridge Walk »
It’s a hiking circuit in a green hill. As we were tired from going up the stairs after the rafting, we decided to give up and use the little force we have left to return to the hotel on foot.
We go up the main street: « Jl.Raya Ubud » to our Guest House passing by the « Saraswati Temple » and « Ubud Palace ».
Entrance is free for the 2 monuments. We take some photos then, direction Yuni’s House to rest a little.
Around 3:30 p.m., we head to the « Sacred Monkey Forest ».
We go down the Street Market (Jl.Karna)
Going down the street Jl. Monkey Forest, there is a currency exchange office with an interesting rate: Beware of scams, they tried to rip us off but we were very attentive. You have to keep in mind the amount you want to exchange in €, calculate what it does in Rupees and leave the office only if the account is good. Scams are very common, and given the inflation of the Indonesian currency, they usually try to give you 50,000 Rp instead of 500,000 Rp (the difference is 30 €): Beware of zeros.
We arrive around 4:00 pm at the « Monkey Forest ». As we have read everywhere, it is a tourist place but we like it. You can spend 1 or 2 hours there without regretting. We paid 80,000 Rp / person (5.5 €).
The monkeys are everywhere and behave like real bandits :D. One of them stole a baby bottle from a family and started to taunt them. A forest guard arrives and starts throwing corn seeds to make the monkey come close to him. Once at his feet, he pretends to want to hit him, the monkey runs away by letting go of the bottle: quite a spectacle.
We had seen everywhere on social networks, selfies that seemed to be taken by a monkey. The technique is simple: find a local guide, ask him to make you the « Monkey Selfie ». The guard takes a picture of you while he is giving a grain of corn to the monkey right in front of the phone’s camera. When reaching out to retrieve the grain, the guide takes the photo with the monkey’s outstretched hand: that’s it 🙂
Around 6:00 p.m. the park prepares to close. We return to the hotel by passing by the Street Market. There is a coffee shop (Balistar coffee), certainly touristy, but the coffee is very good, the decor too. Between 20,000 and 50,000Rp for a coffee (€ 1.3 – € 3.3). There is even a Luwak (Civet) staying in the shop.
We return to the hotel to rest a bit before going again to « Warung Citta Ovest Pizza & Pasta ». This time, we were able to order Pizzas and it was delicious.
My Trip Memories 