modok

My favorite spot during my “year off” round-the-world sojourn back in 1994. (Well, maybe a tie with the Hunza Valley in northern Pakistan.) I went in late September and had been thoroughly jaded with the crowd I ran into in Istanbul on the trail for Oktoberfest. This was a perfect break, as I could wander freely along gently meandering trails, through immaculate orchards and vineyards that seemed to take care of themselves. I simply couldn’t resist plucking some ripe grapes off the vines, and some fresh sun-dried raisins. I encountered a bizarre bush that had really spiky balls over it. Out of curiosity, I took a rock and smashed one open. Out popped an almond! It was one of the sweetest tastes I’d ever experienced.

Best of all were all the little hobbit houses. I only saw a few people about the whole day and I couldn’t help but wonder if life there hadn’t changed in thousands of years, except no one seemed to be carving homes out of soft rock anymore. After all, this is the oldest known civilization on earth.

Simply breathtaking. You can stay in one spot and just watch the scene change as the sun moves across the sky. Even my very young children loved it!

I was here back in 1994, so I’m not sure if it’s changed, but I have a feeling that there is a timeless quality to Ubud that will survive any development. The fire and trance dance was very entertaining, but the best part for me was simply wandering around admiring the work of the artisans who live there. The food in Ubud seemed to be a lot better too, for some reason.

A piece of advice. Don’t go to the monkey forest after shopping for anything at all. We’d been warned that you need to bring some food along to keep the monkeys at bay, but they didn’t wait for handouts. They came up to us and started grabbing our bags and ripping them with their sharp claws, spilling our “ball guys” on the ground. I gathered up the wooden statues and started throwing the remaining food as far away from me as I could and we made our escape.

Met the girl of my dreams on Koh Phangan, got married and went to Koh Chang for our honeymoon. That was 12 years ago, so I imagine it’s changed quite a bit. Key highlights while I was there were a small hike over a hill that led to an expanse of unspoilt white sand that only I and a few others occupied, and starting a nude beach!

The last couple of days on the walk to the secluded beach, I witnessed a road building team begin their assault on my paradise – the story of Thailand in some ways.