Sunday dip in the river: Ubud Bali

Sunday around midday, Ika, Jevon and I set off in the direction of Mambal, SW of Ubud. Mambal is the home of the Aqua bottling plant, as there is a natural spring. They draw the water using a single, long, silver pipe, and filter it, before bottling. Ika wanted to swim in the river next to the plant, as we had been to this location a year ago. Right now there is still a lot of water coming down from the mountains, meaning the water is a muddy brown, and the current strong. We decided try a different place that I had checked out, the Wos Barat, located across from Museum Blanco in Ubud.

Getting into Ubud, we took Jl. Raya Ubud west in the direction of Campuhan. Parking at Murni Warung, we scooted across the road and down a few flights of steps, that led us through a school. The few minute hike down hill to the river got the sweat rolling, and we were glad of the shade from the tall banyan trees. Down at the waters edge, it was obvious there was no way Ika and Jevon could make it up stream to the place I bathed before, so we looked for another access point. On one side of the small valley sits a restaurant, on the other, a temple named Pura Gunung Lebah. River confluences are considered holy places in the Hindu religion, and the temple sits just above the ‘Y’ of the confluence.

Skirting the temple was easy and we had to disturb 2 Balinese artists, who had blocked the route with their giant canvas. They were cool, so we passed and dropped down a flight of steps, that gave us an over view of the river again. ‘Now where was that bathing spot I was at before?’ I thoguht. I couldn’t see it anywhere and Ika could not she where she was standing previously downstream. It felt like the Twilight zone, you go 50 meters upstream, and everything changes. Then I remembered there are 2 rivers that run parallel, the Wos Barat (west) and the Wos Timur (east). They came together forming a ‘Y’. We had circled round and unknowingly crossed over to the Wos Timur.

A couple of minutes later I found a set of steps, around the back of the temple that lead through thick forest, down a flat bathing area of the Wos Barat. Footing was slippery on the moss covered, shady stone steps. As we were descending, I saw a couple of diners from the restaurant on the other bank, look to check us out.

Wos Barat was running pretty good, the 5 meter wide river had a fast section away from us, and a flat, calm section, that was close to the tapering shore, perfect for us. Under the shade of hillside trees, we got changed and immediately noticed the high mosquito population. Moving our gear into the sunlight, we fared better and soon were in the cold water with Jevon, who loved it. The depth of the water at the deepest point was probably only 3-4ft, so no real worries, although the current was fairly strong. We were imagining there to be locals bathing too, but there were none. A small wooden rope bridge extends from the restaurant side of the river, to the temple. While bathing we saw 2 Balinese ladies take a couple of trash bins of waste and toss it of of the bridge. “Oh! Not nice.” said Ika. That is the attitude of many people in Bali, just chuck it in the river and it will disappear. They waved to us and came down for a chat. Jevon was hyperactive, and they commented that he was nakal (naughty).

Our session at the river lasted an hour and I was wonderfully cooled off by the finish.