27 Aug 2023
Marvellous day tour with Oka around Ubud, the art market and Ubud Palace, Monkey Forest, the rice terraces and two amazing temples.
Everything was easy; we were picked up from our Nusa Lembongan ferry and chauffered to each site. Oka was a fount of knowledge on each place and Balinese culture and religion. The day was made much better through those fascinating discussions.
Thirta Empul, the temple of the holy waters, is magnificent but very busy. Unfortunately, the sheer amount of Western tourists choosing to take the purification ceremony means that locals are now less able to visit their own temples to practice those rites. We'd encourage folks to go and look, but maybe leave the devotional practices for real devotees.
A highlight for us was the second temple, Gunung Kawi Tampaksiring , carved into the rock sides of a river gully hundreds of years ago and very peaceful.
We enjoyed a great lunch along the way at Sawobali in Ubud, a well priced and delicious vegan buffet.
All in all a great day and a great tour. We would not hesitate to use HBD again.