10 Travel Tips for Ubud- Bali

Spas Spas Spas

Ubud is by far the most intense and yet chilled out place I have ever been to! It's... It's not a tourist spot even though thousands of tourists are here cause in a couple of days they just blend in with it's people and methods because it simply IS the place to Eat.. Pray.. Love! 

Here are my top tips while in Ubud:

1. Don't pack too many clothes: Trust me your wardrobe just isn't equipped to handle the weather here. Just pack your pure cottons.

Cottons ONLY

Have fun with your clothes

2. Forget the makeup and creams: It's a tropic island! Hot and Humid as hell! Just don't even bother with all your fancy SPFs. You could use the sprays if you can resist not wiping your sweat.

No Make Up

3. Don't shower everyday: Haha! Kidding! The Spas here are dirt cheap and just such a pleasure. Why take a simple bath when you can have someone relieve all your stress, massage you, scrub you and then ask you to dip yourself in a flowered bath all for like Rs. 1000 or $15 right?

Blisssssss

4. Fruits: Oh my god! Eat the Fruits! Eat the Fruits! Eat the Fruits! They are absolutely organic and heavenly!

Passion Fruit and Snake Skin Fruit

Local Food

5. Local Food: Try the duck here and must try the tofu and tempe with rice and crisps

6. Kombucha: Champagne of the Gods! This is Organic wine. Yup! You read it right! It's fermented tea and tastes great actually. I believe the best place for this is at the Clear Cafe. Try it!

7. Ecstatic Dance Party: I'll give you details in my write up but just put it on your list for now. You have gotta attend one of these.

At the Ecstatic Dance Party

8. Yoga Session: Try to take one of the Yoga classes. The way they handle yoga here is most unique and its a lifestyle here.

9. Sound Therapy: I don't know if you have heard of this before; I hadn't! It’s actual healing by sound and is absolutely scientific. Try to attend one of these sessions or atleast talk to the experts who practice it. Its enlightening!

10. Apps: Uber doesn't work all areas here so get yourself the GrabCar app for taxis and more importantly GO-JEK for the scooter taxis. Oh GO-JEK is my absolute fav app considering they will even get you your coffee or food orders whatever and deliver it. They were my saviour after my accident there!

Go-Jekkinnnn Haha!

Most Importantly:

Don't be You: Take this one seriously! Just for the few days you are in Ubud; forget everything you know and believe in and listen to everything this cosmically charged place says to you and shows you... Unlearn.. Relearn and Love Yourself!

Unlearn.... Relearn... Love Yourself!

Ramgarh- Hidden Haven

Travelling Boots in Ramgarh

We all know I love to travel Solo, but it never meant I don't enjoy company! I just happen to be very picky about who I travel with and who can handle me when I’m not me. Allow me to explain.. I’m a very calm and unexciting person in the city I live in.. I like it like that! But when I travel I’m like this energiser bunny full of curiosity and an unquenchable thirst to see and experience everything. Something only a few can relate to. 

So when we needed to just get away for a weekend, my friends turned to me to look for options and I chose Ramgarh Bungalows. A Neemrana property tucked away on a hill a little ahead of Bhimtal and beyond Nainital. The website made it look perfectly quaint and just what we were looking for. But it was a section called ‘Writer’s Bungalow’ that had me sold. 

The route..???!!!

Friday morning 5 am we were on our way. Me with my closest and most caring friends Rohit and Swati. Rohit is the most wonderful affectionate guy I know. He is mischievous and yet a perfect gentleman and Swati and I; although we had met only recently.. she and I had connected like we were always meant to be! My absolute soul sister.. who is rarely more giving than I am. Twas a beautiful drive and like a perfect road trip should be… it was full of all kinds of songs, many pit stops and a gorgeous drive.

The air started getting crispier and colder as we went uphill and around hairpin bends, lost our way and went back and forth a few times but nothing.. I mean NO-THING, no website, no HD picture could have prepared us for the what we were about to see. The property in front of us was the perfect specimen of Romance, History and Old World Charm. Nothing but virgin green mountains all around, clear blue skies above, dew filled grass under my bare feet and butterflies dancing all around me.

The Writer's Bungalow

The Breakfast Layout

If this line alone hasn't made to time travel and taken you away from the busy life of lights and gadgets and notifications, come on… take a long drive on these winding and unwinding roads and get to Ramgarh Bungalows.

Warm, simplistic food and service in the quiet of Nature and the noise of birds, bees, breeze and words bursting in my head. We spent 1 night in Ashok Vatika where Jawahar Lal Nehru had lived once. Too tired after the early morning and long drive, I decided to snooze for a while and as I lay on the 4 post high bed; something just hit me. It was quiet. I mean just quiet. No sound of vehicles, no horns, no AC, no fan.. just some tweeting birds. The best most sound afternoon nap ever followed.

The nights were so silent that you can hear your own breath. We lay outside on the grass just gazing at the skies for hours and were simply overwhelmed by the sheer number of stars our sky could hold and we could see… a privilege we city people simply can not enjoy. 

The Writer's Bungalow

Inside Writer's Bungalows 

Cutest interiors

Twas really the next day that I found out about the story behind this place and was suddenly a whole new invigorated and inspired. The Writer’s Bungalow. Quaint cottage with 2 rooms and the cutest yellow interiors. These are old structures which have been restored so have a very earthy feel to them with the old school doors and windows. Now the best part was… many many years ago, Rabindra Nath Tagore had possibly started writing the Geetanjali here. 

Me lost..

Still Lost...

Perfect moment captured....

Yes you read me right.. here… right where I was standing he had lived and wrote. He probably was looking at the same view as I was and started writing the Geetanjali. Mahadevi Verma had also lived here… hence the name.. Writer’s Bungalow!

Ramgarh is known as the the Fruit Basket cause they grow all sorts of exotic fruits here and the best part is they rarely use any chemicals.. hence they may not be the prettiest fruits but they are exploding with taste and juices. You can go for a Nature Walk to explore the orchards around.

Sai Baba Temple- Ramgarh

Swati is religious and wanted to visit a temple so we drove all around searching for a temple and stumbled upon the cutest smallest Sai Baba temple not far away and a restaurant which served the freshest most tasty simple food we had eaten… oh my god how we indulged in pure gluttony! 

We walked for hours.. sometimes humming songs, sometimes huffing and puffing with the uphill climbs and sometimes just silently to soak the view and fill our lungs with this fresh air with smiles on our faces. 

3 days… we barely talked and yet felt more connected than ever! In the silence of nature and away from the static of radio waves and buzzing phones… we rejuvenated our minds, hearts and souls. 

The most perfect weekend getaway!

For booking with them: Ramgarh Bungalows

Berlin and all Emotions in a Day!

Berlin

Outside my Hostel

I was coming into Berlin from Amsterdam and had decided to stay in a hostel. I was going through a tough time with my monies and had to be smart if I had to finish what I had planned. Now I know when I'd say to some Indians that I stayed in a mixed dorm in Berlin, they would be gob-smacked, but the truth is; they are absolutely safe cause you have like so many more people always in the room!! Unlike a hotel room where anyone can come knocking at your door and create trouble! So here I was with similar hesitations and yet complete confidence that I could handle any situation.

It was a small room with 3 bunk beds and when I entered; most of my room-mates were sleeping and I had the lower bunk. I silently pushed my luggage around and sneaked back down to the reception for a quick bite and to pick up information. The place was buzzing with people of all ages.. well budget travellers like me to be precise. The lounge was just simple, unpretentious and everything was affordable! The receptionists were nice and gave me a total download on everything I needed to know and the best ways to see the most of Berlin without splurging!

Alexanderplatz

The Walking Tour

Berlin is one of the few places where one can experience every possible emotion in one single day!

This was my first tour that I had booked myself for, and the reason will kill you! Yes! It was a FREE walking tour of Berlin.. all I needed was my walking shoes and a good night's rest! When I'm trying something new anywhere I intentionally don't keep any expectations, that way it's easy for me to be pleased and also it's incredible how the smallest thing can over joy me! Thankfully the tour was to start right outside my hostel and like a good girl I was on time. 

In a few minutes many people had come together and this young man with shabby hair, cargo shorts and a perfect English accent was hollering out to all of us. Aaron Birchenough had landed up in Berlin for love and decided to stay. A historian and archaeologist by profession, he now lead free walking tours and believed in being happy in life! He loved his job and he loved Berlin!

St. Mary's Church

The Neptune Fountain

The Dark History

Berlin Cathedral

We started from Alexanderplatz, easily identified by the Fernsehturm (the TV tower), the 2nd tallest structure of European Union and the iconic World Time Clock. This places had been redeveloped several times and now is the busiest shopping area. A ten minute walk took us to the next spot, the St. Mary's Church. Possibly built in the 13th century, it has a striking statue of Martin Luther outside and a beautiful Neptune fountain. I was the only solo traveller in the group and oh so busy taking notes. What can I say I'm a writer and I don't like forgetting (haha)! Next stop was the Berlin Cathedral with its magnificent dome. Yes it was amazing, but its location is why I remember it so well... it was right next to.. ahem.. the LUST GARDEN... infront of the Altes Museum (Old Museum). Nope! It's a public garden now and no funny business was happening and yet the name!!??

At the Lust Garden

But it was the next place that reminded me of the suffering this little city had both caused and endured. The Neue Wache, a simple small structure with nothing spectacular from the outside, had the most intense sculpture of the "Mother and her Son". The mother's head hangs lowly as the body of her son lies curled up at her feet under the Oculus (a circular opening in domes) exposed to the sun, rain and snow... depicting the suffering of all civilians in the war. It was deafeningly quiet inside and yet my head was pounding with the vibe of the place. It felt like the souls of the innocent were all trapped in those walls.

Next stop was Bebelplatz, known for the Nazi book burning. In 1933, they burnt close to 20000 books that day, and now a memorial under the glass plate in the cobbles showcases empty bookshelves which could have held those 20000 books. Then we walked to the famous Checkpoint Charlie, which was the crossing point between East and West Berlin during the Cold War. I mean can you imagine your whole city split in two overnight... by a WALL? It really did happen... people and neighbourhoods were simply divided by a wall. The Berlin Wall... While I stood there, I couldn't help but imagine how helpless the people must have been. With absolutely no control on their lives. Aaron shared stories of how some people tried to jump the wall and it just gave me goose bumps!

Charlie Checkpoint

The next stop was the Fuhrerbunker. Now this was the underground air raid bunker, where Hitler married Eva Braun and also committed suicide with her and killed his only dog Blondi. Ofcourse its not open to public and we just stood over the area where many feet below out feet... he had died. Aaron informed us in a very hush voice that some extremists still have meetings around this area apparently. You know there was nothing there... just plain grass and some very dull buildings where people live now.. but I was just so full of hate that I found myself cringing.. Hitler.. the man responsible for so so so many tragedies had breathed the air in the same area I was standing in years ago... Such an uneasy thought!

But what came next.. knocked me into lulled silence and a very very heavy heart! The Memorial to the Murdered Jews. The name itself is grim and the place... although it's just a cluster of asymmetrically pieces of grey rectangles.. almost like graves.. 2711 concrete slabs.. all of it is just so cold in colour and vibe that it... the sadness and dullness of it could give you a shiver down the spine. You can walk all along and it's been designed in such a way that you can only walk alone. Much like our lives.. no matter how many people are around us.. we all are alone. And this place was like... the designer wanted us to walk alone with our thoughts of what this country had seen and lost.

The Ampleman

We also came across a couple of cool things specific to East Berlin, like the Ampleman, the man in a hat in the traffic light and the Trabi (Trabant) Car.

The last stop was the Brandenburg Gate, finally a good note to end on... ofcourse it had seen its share of wounds considering its location but the air felt more cheerful.. thanks to the tourists! All of us in the group had become friendly and said our byes to each other. I stayed back with Aaron for a bit for my list of questions.. Yes! I'm a history buff! I asked him how I could use the rest of my day best and he gave his suggestions and highly recommended the Pub Crawl.

 

Aaron n Me at Brandenburg Gate

The Pub Crawl- The Lively Present

So initially.. I had my share of a million hesitations but a chat with Aaron had relaxed me and given me the courage to give it a try. In this journey of 45 days and 13 countries.. this was one of my many firsts and wasn't going to be the last for sure!

Now a Pub Crawl; as the name suggests is much like the walking tour except they make you hop from one pub to another offering free drinks everywhere for a fixed price paid at the staring point. Anybody can join and you can quit anytime.

My Roommates

My leg was paining with the over 4 hour long walk and I had started limping so decided to go back to my hostel and rest up to gain energy for the Pub Crawl. I think I was also emotionally drained with all the information and sadness. When I reached the hostel, some of my room-mates were up and we said our hellos. A couple from Canada, a very cute girl and Spanish speaking guy. We chatted up and exchanged plans for the night and moment I said I was planning to go for the Pub Crawl, the cute girl Thais Farias, popped her head out and asked if she could join me.. OFCOURSE! I was over-joyed actually and Rafael decided to join in too.

We all slept for a bit and then Thais and I got up and started getting ready like 2 girlfriends who knew each other since years.. discussing what to wear and how to do our hair and make-up. We three went down to the lobby together and it a little while our hostel lobby was full of youngsters and travellers from almost every part of the world. Big groups of girls and boys and friends and couples. Oh I can't possibly describe the energy but it was electric! Soon the organiser was there leading all of us to the closest tube station. Yup, you got that right! It started with a trip in the tube.. and I discovered that Irish are the most fun people as Sean came and introduced himself with his absolute boyish charms. Soon we were hopping from 1 pub to the next across Berlin and making friends and cheering to the sojourns of us travellers. We spoke of our stories and places we had been to and what our plans were. Conversations were flowing easy and friends were easy to find.

The Pub Crawl Gang

Berlin was one of the friendliest cities so far with an array of emotions to explore. It was a testimonial of what I believe so firmly in... Don't let your past decide who you are today!

The Trabi

My 5 “I”s of Solo Travel

Inner Peace

I will never get bored of elaborating and explaining and re-iterating that travel teaches. All the quotes are true and yet so limiting. For no matter how much we read the stories and facts or see the high definition pictures, for me; travel makes me. I can clearly recall how certain traits of me have changed with marked experiences through my solo travels.

                                          

You can and will read the stories in my blogs but here are the top 5 reasons why I travel solo and recommend it so whole heartedly.

Be Wild.. haha!

1. Instinct: Just plain Instinct. Not what your heart says, not what your mind thinks. Just Instinct. I have been stuck in some rather scary situations and also in some extremely tempting ones. I’ve made bad decisions and faced the consequences and more importantly; learnt my lessons. And this is the biggest one!

You know the first reaction of your body…? To any situation? The very first one, the withdrawing of the hand when we touch something hot, or how animals defend their young, or how simply our eyes shut to self protect. That is instinct. I’ve learnt to hear it, value it and be in tune with it for self preservation. Our anatomy is built to protect itself and our minds are yet to understand how it happens… well I am to..
When you travel solo and are responsible for yourself, you will face a million moments where you will need to take decisions. I have learnt, to simply trust my instinct. The slightest hesitation in my body language and I stop myself, the moment I feel I can trust and my mind is not crowded with what it has been conditioned to think, I've let go and discovered amazing places and wonderful people.

Shark Diving

2. Impulse: When I'm travelling on my own, I need to keep reminding myself of my safety and budget. Yes, I'm mostly on a tight budget and as many of us, I have my vices. Travelling Solo teaches you to control your impulses and plan better. I have a weakness for shoes and well anything unique I see in my travels. For various reasons, from luggage allowance to money to better plans, I've learnt how to control my wants for my needs. 
For example, I found out that I could go White Shark diving in South Africa but had a limited budget, so I gave up on some much needed coffees and sandwiches and luxurious dining options for this once in a lifetime experience. 
It’s now so easy for me not to splurge on shoes cause I'm looking at them and thinking that this pair may give me some .. some feel good moments but saving this money and spending it on my travel will give me memories I’ll share with my grandchildren .. hahah!

So my solo travel teaches me self control, planning and being wise with money.

Be funny! Be YOU!

     3. Independence: I can only talk about the society I've been brought up in, where most decisions taken by us are… ummm… well communal. Many of us are Financially Independent, but rarely do we really understand the concept of Independence. Here is my concept of Independence. I have a mind of my own and I've learnt to express myself and my ideologies with my own logic. Not by what I was told, but by what I experience. Yes, I can take care of myself and choose not to seek permissions to live my own life.

Sounds easy right? Well, it is! It however does not mean that I don't need anyone. I need my family, my husband, my friends. To love me, support me and suggest me, but Travel taught me to be ok .. rather happy on my own too. When I started travelling solo, we didn't have whatsapp on our mobile phones where I could go into a cafe ask for the wifi code and tell my parents I was ok or see videos on youtube or FB. With days and weeks at hand in a foreign country and no internet, you have no choice but to connect with yourself. And in that connection I found my Inner Peace, my Self-Recognition, my Self-Acceptance and my being comfortable in my own skin for real. And that is my definition of Independence.

Stone Henge

4. Interests: When any of my friends come to me with their guy troubles, I have often used a standard line… “It’s ok.. you are learning what you don't want.” I feel everything that has happened in my life so far has happened for a reason, good or bad. And that we are supposed to learn from it. Had it not been the series of unfortunate events that had happened in my life, I wouldn't be here. Here, with the man I 

      love, in the home I live in, with the friends I've earned and travelling and being able to express my thoughts and feelings by writing. Each incident teaches us a little more about ourselves. What we like, what we don’t, what triggers us, what calms us down.

For example; I went to LA and hated it cause I felt it had no character or history, well.. turned out that even though I hated history as a subject in school I am actually a history buff. The names I crammed only to pass my tests are now my subjects of absolute interest. I used to think I didn't like experimenting with food, I was wrong (thank god!). Unpatriotic people piss me off the most and music can heal me in ways you can't fathom.

Post my accidents I had become … umm… cautious. Yes, Cautious with my body and would never even try the normal stuff. 45 days across 11 countries in Europe and I've figured I can walk for almost 15 Kms in a day and I'm perfectly capable of carrying my suitcase and I can change the tyres of a car without breaking a sweat.

Making Friends in Berlin

5. Intelligence: No I don't mean the regular intelligent. I think travel makes you worldly intelligent. It has made me street smart and oh trained me on how to quickly identify and not put up with bullshitters. I must confess, I was very naive till some years back, but once you are out there on your own, trying to make the best of your time and opportunities, one just does become more intelligent and fast at decision making.

And the other Intelligence, the most under-rated one… Emotional Intelligence. Boy have I learnt to respond instead of reacting and later regretting. Well, I’m still learning to be honest but am definitely on the right path. I now choose to discuss instead of debate, I vent out even the smallest irritants by communicating instead of becoming a pressure cooker. All the exposure to so many cultures and languages and people, changes you. Makes you a better listener, more helpful and broad minded to the literal meaning of it. Tolerant and respectful of everyone's way and reason of being. Something I don't think I would have learnt had I not travelled and come back to a room alone, left to mull over the events of the day and smile about them.

So go on out there… Explore! Experiment! and Excite your life! And get some more of "I"! :)

Explore Yourself!

My Road to Perdition- Prague to Krakow (Auschwitz) 2

The day had already been a series of unfortunate events. There was a missed train, a cancelled train, no food, no sleep, sores on my hands and a stop over at a haunted hostel on a full moon night. I swear at that moment, standing at the train station of Ostrava again, in my head the scene from the Bollywood movie Jab We Met was playing. Where the lead actress was praying to God to not make this night any more eventful. All I needed was to get to Krakow on a decent seat.

On the train.. and the only place I found to sit!

As the train whirred in, it felt like a never ending chain of bogies. All of us waiting at the station cheered looking at each other saying, "Finally!". A little clueless we all just got in anywhere and since we did not have reservations on this train, we all just got in and groups of friends took up any empty sleepers they found. I kept looking for first class cause my God knows I needed the pampering. I walked across many coaches but couldn’t find the first class nor any official. I reached a connection between two coaches that couldn't open so decided to sit there and wait for the Ticket Checker. We soon stopped at the next station and I popped my head out the door, too scared to step out without knowing how far I would need to walk and may miss the train. I looked around for the men in uniforms, but none of them responded to my asking about the first class. So I just hung on till I would find someone who would understand me and give me some information. I looked around, stared at the board giving details about the next train and the stops for the train I was in, just staring blankly. Tried to pronounce the names of the stations to amuse myself, when it suddenly struck me. Like a bolt of lightning. It did not state Krakow. I totally panicked! I saw a man in orange overalls and just looked at him and pointed to inside the train and yelled, "Krakow?" he looked around, looked at the board and just nodded, "No Krakow". What?? What?? I was in the wrong train??? When was this hell of a day going to be over? So I signalled again to him, "Where Krakow?" And he looked around cluelessly, and pointed to the train across the platform and said, "Krakow!" My eyes searched for confirmation and felt silly cause Krakow was written all across the coaches. I jumped right out and made my way to the train, and as I stood there catching my breath, I panicked again. All those people I had met at Ostrava, all were going to Krakow, and now were sleeping all over the longest train I had seen. I couldn't possibly leave them! But I had a suitcase I couldn’t lug anymore! And didn’t even know when the train would leave! I stood smack in the middle of the platform with all these questions, and finally said to myself, "Chuck it, can't live with the guilt!" I left my suitcase there unattended for anyone to steal and ran all the way back knocking windows waking up everyone looking for the faces I had seen at Ostrava. And making violent gestures begging them to come out with their luggage cause they were on the wrong train. They got up and hurried right out in their PJs and socks and luggage and shoes in their hands.

Once I told them what had happened I got hugged and loved by all and we went into our supposed last and final train to Krakow. Now nothing could go wrong! Wrong!

We finally got food and tears came easy

Remember we didn’t have reservations? Now this was a small train and the uniforms of this train somehow just refused to even acknowledge our presence, forget talk to us or listen to us. So we all just huddled into this 1 coach which had one section of 6 sleepers unoccupied, and waited for the Ticket checker to give us his time and assign us some seats somewhere. We all just sat on the floor of this coach. Tired, hungry, clueless, hopeful. Hopeful that once they heard what we had been through they would help us. I got the place outside the toilet which was locked thankfully. When the train started the Ticket Checker got in and walked right all over us, opened the locked cabin as we looked on like puppies, got in and locked the door and drew the curtain. That’s it! We all just stood there. Completely unable to understand what was happening to us. A bunch of girls who were in their cabin, also saw the whole situation and were as dumbstruck as us. Finally one of them asked me what had happened and why were we on the floor even though there was place in the train and I rambled on and on about the entire day. She didn’t interrupt me! She just kept looking at me and nodding in sympathy. When she finally spoke, she said something that broke me.

The Spanish Angels who fed us

Something I just wasn’t prepared for. She said, "Are you hungry? Do you want some food? We have lots of it!" We had been through such cruelty all day, that when she said the most obvious human thing to say I didn’t know what to say. A little awkward, a little ashamed, and very hesitantly I said, "Umm no! I'm ok" She put her hand on my shoulder and said, "Really, we have lots of it. It's no problem!".

We still found some smiles and sleep

I nodded hard and said, "Yes, yes please I'm very hungry!" No words can explain how I was feeling as these girls spoke to each other in Spanish and started giving me all their food. Packets of chips, water, muffins. One boy even gave his half eaten sandwich apologising and asking if it was ok. Ofcourse it was ok! Tears rolled out of my eyes unstoppably. And as I walked around coach waking all the others on the floor with food in my hands, we all broke down.

We were crying because of kindness. We were smiling at our state and crying at the same time. A system that was meant to help us sat in an over-privileged surrounding while we grovelled for the basics. Much like our societies!

The whole moment was melancholic with a strum of tears and vague smiles. Dawn was breaking. We were crossing Auschwitz (one of the worst concentration camps of the Nazis). We were sprawled over the floors and I was still able to sleep next to the toilet, leaning on its door. A layer of haunted fog over the horizon which had seen some horrid cruelties.

No matter how long the day had lasted, it was over. I had connected with people without knowing where they were from. No matter what background I was coming from, there, in that moment, on that train, we were all just travellers. We were borderless. We all cared for each other. I had found love in a hopeless place. The Swedish couple next to me, shared their stories with me to help pass the time. An onlooker from the other side of the locked coaches, Chris also made conversations to help us feel better. I was bruised and battered. But my soul was enriched. Enriched with random acts of kindness all through the day. I was stronger than what I had thought. People were still nice. I had learnt lessons which no school could teach. I knew something in me had changed. Made me better.

The dawn breaking at Auschwitz