Words & Photographs by Angela Terrell.
I often think the best holidays are the ones you forget, even when you’re still enjoying them. A bit like an amnesiac, days slip by in a fog of absent-mindedness; you can’t quite remember the name of the sites you visited or exactly which way you went to get there, and trying to list everything you did on any particular day becomes an amusing yet challenging dinnertime game.
A recent sojourn in Ubud, approximately an hour from Denpasar in the mountainous folds of Bali’s hinterland, was particularly wonderful, and even though its exactness remains a little hazy, an alternate reality endures, one bursting with a kaleidoscope of colour, sound and fragrance. I’m sure it’s because instead of remembering, I absorbed, allowing my senses to be overwhelmed by both the evocative nature of the beauty and the everyday; the sweet-smelling air, the flower-bedecked shrines, the muddied walls of cloud-reflecting rice paddies, raucous cicadas trilling from bamboo giants, women threshing grasses and their generous smiles as we passed by, centuries-old rock-hewn steps leading to temples devoured by forest, the smell of freshly ground coffee, the spicy aromas, the piquancy of mie goreng noodles.
Being a photographer I’m used to looking at the world through a viewfinder; finding the perfect combination of colour, shape and shadow and committing that to memory, but in Ubud, I experienced something else entirely. Here creativity is boundless, culture is respected and there’s a generosity of spirit that sees you bond to and consider what you see. Wander anywhere, and you’re sure to be mesmerised.
Of course, like many destinations, mayhem and quietude exist side by side. Ubud town’s streets are a mass of shops, restaurants, bars and spas, and the brilliant yet overwhelming art market takes pluckiness to navigate, but leave its confines and in minutes you’re able to wander in silence, the Sacred Monkey Forest or the Campuhan Ridge Walk ringed by tangled vines and greenery, perfect examples.
A cycling trip was ideal for discovering what lay further afield, following our leader through tranquil country villages where rice dried on the roadside and families shared meals together, and deftly around rice paddies - a challenging pursuit when pathways were little more than goat tracks. He took us to Pura Tirta Empul where we contemplated both Hindu worshipers and tourists seek purification under fountains flowing with blessed water, and to Gunung Kawi temple nestled by a cascading waterfall, its shrines carved into the rock-face impressive and humbling.
Come to Ubud to recall or not recall. Here there’s no right answer.
