I had decided yesterday that I was going to go to Yoga today as the only exercise I've done all holiday other than this is to walk around in the hot weather slowly and throw Maya (12kg) around in a swimming pool. So after breakfast I got into my yoga gear and walked down to Yoga Barn with plenty of time to spare. I wasn't 100% sure whether I needed to book or not, so I just showed up and it was all totally fine. The Yoga Studio is based down a few steps past the cafe and is in really lovely surroundings - there were even a couple of very relaxed looking cats. All the facilities were lovely - showers, toilets were clean and fresh and the staff were all extremely helpful and polite.
The class itself was lovely. You walk upstairs to the studio which has a covered roof, but open sides to lovely views of the jungle. Some of the reviews on tripadvisor mentioned that there was some building work going on which was distracting and this is true, but genuinely I didn't notice any noise (including the school nearby) about 5 minutes into the class. I went to the Intro to Yoga class which was taught by Eva. I've got about 6 years yoga experience from going in the UK, but I've not been for a while and so I thought it best to go for an intro class initially. It was an hour and a half long and whilst wasn't massively challenging in terms of postures based on what I've done previously, it really was a good introduction to Yoga for people who are new to it and there was plenty of space so you didn't feel squashed up next to strangers. The equipment is great too - loads of very good quality yoga mats, cushions, blankets, straps and blocks. Eva was an engaging and warm instructor, she kept the pace of the class at a good level for everyone and included a great warm up and a lovely ending section with relaxation. I will be back tomorrow hopefully for the community yoga free session and hope to squeeze in another before I leave on Tuesday.
I headed back to my hotel briefly for a change and shower and then went to go and complete my relaxation day with a lovely massage at Sang Spa. I opted for this spa as they were rated well on Trip Adviser and also didn't have loads of people trying to entice me in with leaflets. I opted for the 45 minute tension release massage:
Let our therapist melt all tension away with a 45 minute deep pressure massage on your back, neck shoulder, and your hands. A totally pampering and revamping back indulgence.
Again I hope to be back as it was 45 minutes of antidote to sitting at a PC all day every day for 12 hours plus. I didn't fall asleep, but at one point I think I was in an almost hypnotic trance. It was very good. And all for 100000 rupiah - or £6!
I wandered down to get some lunch from Juice Ja which included a very cleansing juice and a lovely Americano coffee and then Nasi Campur for lunch. I wrote 6 postcards - which seems silly after the amount of blogging that I've done, but it's still nice to receive a postcard through the mail when all you normally get are offers on broadband or credit cards or if you are lucky a cash for gold envelope! Now all that I need to do is work out how to post them! I saw this in the toilets at Juice Ja and it reminded me that I liked it and Dr Seuss was a wise man.
I emailed the batik people yesterday, but hadn't heard back so walked down to the place which was near Juice Ja and eventually stumbled into a shop who told me to go through past some houses and I spoke to a 10 year old boy who translated for him mum and got me to book in by writing my name in a book, it does look good though so I'm booked onto do Batik class on Saturday and will watch the fire dance either on the same day or on Sunday evening.
I walked back and popped into a couple of shops as I really am not well equipped with suitable clothes for Ubud and bought a lightweight dress for c£22 and a green t-shirt with a cat print on it. The woman tried to con me when I was buying the t shirt by only giving me 5000 rupiah change when it was 50000 due! I managed to get the right change back though!
Rachel came over at about 6.30pm when I was skyping Coddy who then showed Rachel (and Kiran) Pocky and Marla. (We took Pocky to live with us when Rach went "travelling" in 2008 - I guess she's ours now! Mwahahah) We walked down to Bali Buddha which was a big effort for Rach as it was about 20 mins walk and she'd forgotten that she'd left the baby carrier for Kiran at home! We managed to get there ok and had some tasty juice (mine was Orange, Pineapple, Carrot and Basil) and I ordered Bakso and a curry as I didn't realise quite how big the portions would be and quite how much my appetite has reduced. Kiran slept all the way through dinner so we had plenty of time to chat and catch up.
So I'm now catch up with my blog in Arts Kafe again, but will need to be early to bed as "Bagi" is picking me up at 7am for my Bali Bike tour - a bit scared of just how hot I'm going to get, will be coating myself in sun cream to avoid massive burns!
