We have stayed before at Ubud Sari. It has an ideal location – around 200m up a relatively quiet street from the supreme busyness of Ubud’s main thoroughfare Jl Raya Ubud. All in all, its very good value for money. The grounds are beautiful and the buildings authentic Balinese, however if I was being critical, I would have to say it’s getting a little tired. Eating at the restaurant will make you feel virtuous courtesy of its uber healthy menu, but it’s soulless. And so, it wasn’t long before I was champing at the bit to eat out.
It’s a small restaurant, ten or so tables, on the first floor with views over the street. The food is great, the staff friendly and there was some decent 80’s music playing . . . But what is really unique about the Fair Warung Bale is that all profits are used to provide free healthcare for Balinese people who otherwise couldn’t afford it. By buying one meal you are providing healthcare to two people in need. Three probably if you throw in dessert. The medical centres funded by all those meals have apparently treated thousands of people. They have even funded the construction of a new children’s hospital, opened in 2018.
The Fair Future Foundation, the organisation behind the restaurant, was set up by a Swiss man called Alexandre Wettstein who seems to be one of those people that sees something wrong with the world and actually does something about it. Malnutrition has long been a problem in Indonesia, particularly in children. According to the World Food Programme, Indonesia has the fifth-highest number of stunted children in the world with more than nine and a half million children under five described as malnourished.
We spent some time perusing the various newsletters and articles that are available in the restaurant. Mr Wettstein doesn’t mince his words when describing the incidence and impacts of poor health on the local population, and also doesn’t hold back imploring us relatively wealthy and “overweight” tourists (obviously not taking Jolanda and my trim physiques into account) to chip in with some money to help. Which of course we duly did.
Like elsewhere in Bali, there seems to be little in the way of public transport and you are left thinking how many cars, bikes and petrol fumes could be taken off the road if there were a fleet of electric buses servicing the main streets. And if you are one of the many pedestrians that have chosen to ignore the honking of the ever enthusiastic taxi drivers you are forced to share a footpath roughly 12 inches in diameter – and that is when there aren’t gaping holes or a motorbike taking a cheeky shortcut.
Now I know I am being a bit moany, but for goodness sakes, where is the Government in all of this. Since Julia Roberts portrayal of Elizabeth Gilbert in “Eat Pray Love”, Ubud has exploded. What was once a string of smaller villages has now become a congested jungle of shops, restaurants and up-market yoga retreats. It’s simply bursting at the seams with tourist numbers projected to keep on growing and therefore placing even more pressure on infrastructure that just can’t cope. Something has to change . . .
