Those who have followed or blog since the first small post may remember our boasting about “renting a house in Ubud”. This was, after buying the plane ticket, the first thing we booked for the trip. Six weeks in a house with others, living happily ever after…. (Insert picture of cute cats, adorable babies and beautiful sunsets)

But NO! Mental note to self and fellow travelers: Never book so long a stay over the internet.

We arrived at the house yesterday, or rather were picked up by Greg and Sak Ming at Coco supermarket in the center of Ubud. They were super nice. A real great couple who walked us through the area, the house and all that normally matters. We were a bit high strung from a long days travel and headed straight out to town to get some food. Katja had not eaten in about 24 hours so it was about time ( a lot of you may have experienced a Katja (Katnei) low on blood sugar. Nothing to be done twice!)

Coming back in the evening after a nice day out the room smelt like an old gym bag that was left before the summer holiday and opened at school start! We took a closer inventory of the room and started talking. It smelled of dew, mould and fungus. It was leakage from the toilet. There were marks on the bathroom wall that looked like … (but luckily turned out to be glue). There were several other things as well that did not sit well with us.
We got hold of Greg and Sak Ming and went over our list with them. Quick after we were in agreement of canceling the booking and moving out. It remains to be seen how we will get out of it financially. If all goes well it is no impact on the budget, if not it’s a minor inconvenience as it was low priced accommodation.
So of into the world of Ubud we ventured. With the sole purpose of finding a better place to stay. We agreed that we would make a one week reservation and from therein check out the deals to beads on the internet. The prices are at an yearly peak now in August. They will drop in September and then we will see what we can find.

But out of shear luck we did not get a call back from a bungalow we was about to take. Waiting for the call we walked around and found

an old little lady looking at us. “Need room?”
We asked to see the room and was blown away. Newly built next to the families own house, clean, nice smell, second floor, little balcony with view of rice fields, AC and super nice family. As I am writing this it’s a knock on the door and we are served us a little fresh fruit.
So we are now installed in our new home for the week with everything better than last nights stay. We had crispy duck for dinner at a place called Bebek Bengil- dirty duck. Funny story about the name, but I would be rude to tell you. Go there and find out. 😉

And when everything looks like it’s not gonna go you way, remember the song from Lion King:

We did do yoga yesterday as well, at Yoga Barn. Great instructor gave us a flow session for 1,5 hours. Gonna go back to day for to more sessions.

Be safe, be cool and stay frosty.