Bali: Ubud and Beyond!

Ubud is the heart of Bali. Built on land that was once all rice paddies, it is a bustling centre for art, shopping, and culture, mixed with influences of the American yoga scene, circa "Eat, Pray, Love"(there were many middle aged women there for meditation and soul searching). It is a small city comprised of two main strips. On our first day in Ubud, we checked into our hotel, which we lovingly refer to as "the bug room". Thinking we could rough it without air conditioning, we did not foresee the open air concept that most buildings have. Don't get me wrong, we love nature, we just don't like nature in bed with us in the form of crawly things. Surprisingly, it was me that talked Steve into sticking it out, rather than spending more money to get a decent room.


After a day of exploring the town, we hired a driver to take us around Bali so we could see the sights. We paid him 30 dollars, and we had him from 10:00 am to 7:00 pm. His name was Wayan and he was a local who grew up in Kuta. He was very friendly and would tell us about anything if we asked.

Our first stop was to a plantation where we got to sample different types of tea and coffee made from the things they grew. The most interesting part of that visit was the cat-shit coffee. Having only heard of this coffee from movies, we were excited to be in the part of the world that produces it. If you haven't hear of it, it is called Luak Coffee and it comes from the Mongoose. The animals eat the coffee beans, and after they are fermented and processed in the animals digestive tract, they are collected and made into the worlds most expensive coffee. We both tried it, and we have to say, the delicacy was somewhat lost on our unrefined palates, although we had some good laughs as we drank it.



After that we visited three famous temples: The Royal Family Temple, Ulun Danu Bratan, and Tanah lot, which were beautiful. We also enjoyed being celebrities for a day-- there were many Malaysian tourists who stopped us often to get a picture with us because of our height and blonde hair. On the way back we stopped at a butterfly conservatory where we had all sorts of gnarly bugs put on us. (Well, I only let them put butterflies on me, but Steve was covered in stick-bugs and giant beetles).


The next day we booked a bike tour with our new friends Ben and Bethany from Chicago, and rode through the rice paddies and traditional villages. It was a truly amazing experience, we feel we really got a sense of Balinese life and it was a fun way to spend time with new friends. At the end of the tour we ate a traditional Balinese meal, which tasted amazing after a tiring trek in the hot sun. One of Steve's favorite dishes here is called Nazi Georing, which is an indonesian dish the Dutch stole when they colonized the islands. Steve said the dish tastes just like his mom makes (Steve is Dutch on all 4 sides).


After the tour we sadly said goodbye to our friends and headed up to the northern most part of the island, Lovina, where we saw black sand beaches and just relaxed. Our last day in Bali was ceremony day, so the streets were quiet. As I write this, I am on the plane about to touch down in Singapore. Many more adventures to come!


Captions:

1. Unprocessed Luak Coffee
2. Roasted and peeled Luak Coffee
3. Steve and the bugs
4. Steve on the bike tour
5. Our friends from Chicago Ben and Bethany
6. Grounds at the Royal Family Temple
7. The lake temple, Uluan Danu
8. Some fisherman on the lake
9. Steve and the Orchid Preying Mantis