I’m drawn back to the energy of Ubud for another six nights, but this time I am staying 20 minutes south of Ubud at a hotel called Avalon. My driver that was included in my return ticket from Gili drops me somewhere near the intersection of Monkey Forest Road and says “too far, you need to get out and get another driver from here”. I take a deep breath, agree to disagree and get out of the shuttle bus out the front of the local supermarket (truth be told, they are probably related to the drivers out the front of the supermarket!). I have to pay an extra 100,000RP to get to Avalon and they won’t budge on the price…they know that with a suitcase that now weighs more than its owner, I’m not about to walk down Monkey Forest Road to barter with the next transport company. The driver that they assign to me is a beautiful man, he is stoked as Avalon is in his village and he is keen to tell me how amazing it is, and how he swims in the river behind the hotel everyday. I quickly discover during my yoga practice on the deck the following morning that when the Balinese say they “swim” in the rivers, it means they bathe in the nude, followed by doing a load of washing in the nude, and they aren’t shy about it. So I arrive at Avalon and it is nothing short of amazing, minus the 100+ spaced out steps to my room. Fortunately I wasn’t carrying my bag at this point. I meet Budi and she is a gorgeous Indonesian lady and one of the owners of this incredible dream. We hit it off from the very start and she takes me to see my room. We cross the pavers over the pond filled with fish to get to the villa, open the doors and it is like something out of Indiana Jones! Stone walls, secret doors, an outdoor bathroom with a stone bath and high stone walls that vines are growing down, rose petals on the bed and a great big desk for me to find inspiration on. She shows me the “secret door” that contains artefacts and bow and arrows, and as she opens the door she quickly grabs something off the corner of the stone door. I say “Budi, was that what I think it was!!??”…she says “yes, this has never happened before in the rooms, and i’m also concerned!”. It was a snake skin that had been shed from…you guessed it, a fucking snake! She looks at the absolute horror on my face, and I must be looking in a mirror because her face is exactly the same, and i’m moved into another room before I have to say another word. We are in the South of Ubud on a river with lots of nature around, so its only to be expected…I just didn’t want a slimy roomy that kept me awake with fear for six nights. The new room was just as beautiful, with an equally impressive spa complete with dreamy rose petals which I took advantage of that night.
My days in Ubud consisted of waking up and walking down to the private deck at Avalon which sits on the river behind the hotel, meditating, coming out of meditation to the view of naked Indonesian men bathing in the river, and if I wasn’t venturing off to one of the many yoga classes Ubud has to offer, I would do my own practice here also. Next on the agenda was breakfast also on the river and some blogging, before I would set off for the days adventure. The days in Ubud went a little something like this…swim, sun, explore, shop, lunch, yoga, more exploring, dinner, reading and bed. My yoga adventures this time in Ubud were all at Yoga Barn, this was my first visit to Yoga Barn because if I’m honest I was avoiding it for fear of it being a big commercial giant. I much prefer to find the smaller unique yoga studio’s to practice at, thats just a personal choice of mine. So what’s my verdict on Yoga Barn? I was pleasantly surprised, yes it is quite big and class sizes (depending on which studio you are in) sit in the 60+ but the teachers are amazing! My tip, get there 30-40 mins before your class as you have to register 30 mins before the class to get a spot anyway, and try and get a mat towards the front of the room so you are closer to the teacher. When you have class sizes this big, you don’t run for the back row if you want to see what the teacher is doing. The cafe at the front is uniquely called Kafe and has a great range of yummy raw and cooked healthy food, elixirs, smoothies, juices, tea and coffee. I opted for the tofu curry and one of the best raw desserts I have ever had, a cacao/mint raw cheesecake. You can literally spend all day here with the different options in classes, workshops and meditations on offer. Unfortunately there were no great workshops I wanted to do during my stay, so I grabbed a five class pass and off I went. First up was Healing Yin, which was the best yin class I have ever done. However I was holding on to some serious issues in my tissues, that I wasn’t aware of until after the class when I felt extremely emotional, and what followed was a four day migraine and some serious downtime. It was a shift that needed to happen though, and it was in the days leading up to my dad’s anniversary. It was as if my body was giving me no choice but to sit still and observe during these days and I just needed to ride it out, as painful as it was. Once I was feeling better, I came back to YB for an evening Vinyasa class, which was slowed down to incorporate the breaking down of alignment in several poses. Another great teacher and great class, this one was in the studio up the top of YB and mosquito repellent is a MUST (they have some there you can use).
Aside from yoga, I also wanted to look into some alternative therapies for Endometriosis whilst in Ubud. Alchemy have a holistic wellness centre now upstairs and have a great range of treatments on offer. One of which was Ozone Therapy, which you can read more about by clicking on the link. It’s currently used to treat 49 diseases with different forms of ozone therapy, including AIDS, acne, cancerous tumours, cystitis, gangrene, herpes, Rheumatoid athritis and Parkinson’s disease. I had also read about a great healer who worked here, so after lunch at Alchemy I head upstairs to book in for some treatments. Unfortunately the lady who was recommended in the post I read no longer worked there, so I settled for just the Ozone. I was booked in for the following morning, however when I awoke that morning it was day one of my epic four day migraine and I had to cancel. I am a big believer in everything for a reason and taking the path of least resistance sometimes, especially on this trip. I decide not to rebook for the Ozone at this stage, and once the migraine subsided I went on the search for a healing massage and a different healer. I had been on the phone to my host in Canggu who also happens to be Australian and has spent a lot of time in an Ashram in Bali, so I figured she could be a good starting spot to ask. Amanda recommended about three different ones, but one in particular was meant to be very well known for his work, and when I checked his location on google maps it turns out he was in the village next door to me in the South of Ubud (literally two minutes on the scooter). I took this as a pretty good sign and called the number that Amanda had given me for Tjokorda Gde Rai, and booked in for the following morning at 10am. As for the rest of the day, I went to check out a wellness centre about 20 mins from Avalon called Five Elements. Off I went on the scooter and got lost quite a number of times because using google maps in Bali is like trying to use the old Navman back in the day, it also doesn’t help that it doesn’t recognise “shortcuts” for scooters that can take 20-30 mins off your trip. I finally arrive and this is a a serious hidden gem nestled on the banks of the Ayung River. It is seriously my ultimate dream to own a wellness centre like this. I was fortunate enough to meet the co-founder who came up and introduced herself to me as I was eating my yummy raw meal. Larah had a clear vision and she has gone out and created her dream, and is just about the replicate this wellness centre in Hong Kong. After chatting for a while, she offers for me to get in touch with her PR girl in Sydney and maybe look into doing some freelance work for her when i’m back in Melbourne. I think when you have a dream of owning your own business like this one day, and an opportunity comes up to work for and learn about a successful established and thriving business, you grab onto that with both hands! So I spend all day and night at Five Elements, swimming and reading by the pool/river and having one of the best massages of my life. Larah recommended the Prema Healing Massage with Iluh, so I walked into the day spa ready to experience this absolute magic. I walk into a private hut with two massage tables and the dreamiest bathroom you have ever set eyes on, with an open view over the river from the shower/bath. Iluh puts me in a robe (everyone knows how much I love hanging out in a robe) and sits me down on the balcony for a foot bath and kombucha. She prays with the salts and flower petals before she adds them to the water. We then go to the massage table and the next 90 minutes was pure bliss! I fell asleep towards the end and as I wake up Iluh has ginger tea waiting for me. She debriefs with me before I get up, telling me I have a very strong mind and I think too much. She advised me to let go, relax and trust this process, which had been my intention this entire trip but something just wouldn’t allow me to drop into the process fully and let go. I felt the calmest I have felt during this adventure and spent the following 30 minutes showering in the magical river shower and getting ready for dinner. I dine in the Five Elements restaurant and finished the night with some of the most tastiest vegan dishes I have ever had…and some sneaky coconut ice-cream to end what had been an amazing day.
The next morning rolls around and its time for my healing with Tjokorda, and I was warned when I arrive there are a lot of people waiting. He treats you in a hut with others watching on and waiting for their turn, if he has anything super personal to tell you he is very discreet. Each session goes for anywhere between 10-15 mins and costs a donation one 250,000RP. I sit with an American girl who turns out is on a very similar path to me in all aspects of our lives and we have to laugh at the similarities. We watch a group of German tourists each have their go first and he has the same process for each and everyone, first you sit down and he checks around your head, neck and back, you then lay down and he has a tool he uses to press in around points in the foot and under the toes. He gives you feedback on your body and mind as he goes and proceeds to heal these (if needed). It was really fascinating to see everyones sessions prior to mine because not one issue was the same and everyone seemed to understand their issues as he discovered them. He would press on this spot under a couple of girls toes before me and had them in tears, he told them where the pain was associated in the body and proceeded to heal the area. Once the area was healed, he would go back and press under the exact same spot which was causing tears before and NO PAIN. Next up was my turn, I sit down and he starts with head, neck, shoulders and back. He say’s exactly what Iluh had said to me after my massage “you strong mind, you think too much, you worry. You have little worry in life but nothing serious. You need to stop the worry and trust!” I laugh inside and take the hint. I then proceed to lay down and he does his business with his little tool on my feet, it hurts a tiny bit but not a great deal. He points to my right ovary and says “this one healthy”, points to my left ovary and says “this one healthy” and then says “healthy womb, next time husband”. He has a huge smile on his face and I can’t help but laugh about how uncanny it was for him to go straight to the issue I had intended to go there and have healed. Like with any healing’s, I always go with an open mind and no expectations and I have to say I was blown away with Tjokorda. He scans the rest of my body and he says “you young and very healthy, nothing to worry about”. If you want to see Tjokorda when in Ubud, you just need to ring ahead and make an appointment. A quick search on captain google of his name should bring up the phone number and address, and he is very well known in Ubud so most drivers should know where to go if you mention his name.
Other restaurants to check out in Ubud:
La Pacha Mama – on the same road as Alchemy, gorgeous setting is like a fairy garden with a giant pink horse statue in the middle. Cuisine is plant-based Cantina Mexican. YUMMO!!
The Garden Kafe – is part of Yoga Barn and again has a yummy vegan menu.
Petani Restaurant – really yummy western food, mixed menu to suit everyones needs. On the same road as Yoga Barn.
Folk Ubud – western cafe with my faves like acai bowls, smashed avo etc. Cool tunes, awesome staff and they have live music on the weekends. I wish I had of discovered this place earlier!
So this was pretty much my Eat, Pray, Love experience in Ubud...stay tuned for the last leg of my journey in Canggu and Uluwatu. Very funny times with crazy stories to be told, until then…Peace, Love and Bali Bliss Hugs!
Legsy xxx
Live Light Yoga & Wellness 
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