Welcome to Hippie town, Ubud

Once Ali got wind that there was a yoga barn in Ubud we HAD to go there. The ride took about 5 hours in scooters, we climbed up to 9000 feet and froze for a while, but we arrived in the biggest tourist trap I have seen so far.

We went for a walk around the rice paddies in Ubud. Very peaceful and charming. 

 The you see this guy scaring birds and tourists alike. Not so charming.

 We attended the traditional Monkey dance and one of the temples. This was quite the Indonesian experience.

 The outdoor stage is candle lit and hundreds of performers come out to chant.

  

 The story, like all good stories is about greed, lust and monkeys.

This is your brain on Indonesia. 

Some of the most elaborate and colorful costumes I have seen so far. 

The show closed with a ceremony where this fella who is in a trance walks over coals and kicks them around to the audience until he get restrained and freed from the gremlin he is wearing. 

 Here we are at the entrance to the Elephant temple. Hope the mouth doesn't close behind us.

We did a sunset at the nesting area for herons. Thousands of herons came in to nest for the night. It was quite a spectacle.

 Cleared for landing!

And the sun fell, just for the mandatory sunset picture.  

 The next day we went to the enchanted monkey forest. Hundreds of monkeys running around and waiting to take anything loose on you. Better watch your sunnies.

 We produced a handful of bananas and we got charged by this guys. They literally climb on you to get to whatever they want.

 For some reason we had the urge to try Luwak coffee. Basically its coffee that has been pooped by this little guy called a civet. It is the most expensive coffee in the world and fakes abound in the tourist areas. We found the real deal to be very smooth and a little nutty.

 No its not a skirt. It a requirement to enter some of the temples to wear a sarong. No we are not going commando under the sarong.

And so we go int the temple to find the same characters from the monkey dance. This must be a popular story.

Sunset at the Buddhist temple Pura Ulundanu Batur.

The Levina Beach Tour

Welcome to Bali. This island paradise that has turned into a bit of a tourist trap was our long stop for a couple of reasons. First we needed to get our visas extended and that took a whole work week. Second I took advantage of this long stop to get my diving certification. As of now I am PADI open water certified!

I don't have many pictures of the diving, but taking a guided tour of the Lovina area was very photogenic. 

The harbor at Singara has a monument to Indonesian independence. Right across was the Chinesse temple.

In the temple we found out about Ali's year of the dog. Loyal, compassionate but may be ARGUMENTATIVE. Does that sound like Ali?

The temple had the history of china on a wall. I guess when they said bring me his head in a plater they meant it!

We followed that with a trip to the local waterfalls.

From the waterfalls we went up high in the mountain to a coffee plantation. Ali was being very photogenic on this tour. Here she is roasting some coffee.

Once the roast is perfect you finish up with a grind and a smile.

Ali just being cute at the coffee plantation.

We proceeded to go to the hot spring baths. The water was pleasant and we spent over an hour simmering.

Artsy pic of the day.

This is the Budhist temple near Lovina. We enjoyed a beautiful sunset while going up and down the many levels it had.

Ali being cute again. She just can't help it.

Mandatory sunset picture. This is near our hotel where we stayed. No wonder I didn't want to leave.

The next day we headed up the Mountain to Mt. Batur National Park in our way to Ubud. But that is a whole new post.

Ubud, Bali

September 27, 2013

Just when I thought Bali couldn't get any better, we took a 3 night trip on scooters to Ubud.  It is hippie heaven with more vegan and raw food restaurants then we could eat at and all day yoga classes every day.  I would have stayed here indefinitely if I could!  I am already trying to figure out when I can get back!

 

On the 3 hour scooter ride to Ubud we stopped at the peak of the mountains for a lunch view of the still active volcano Mt. Batur.

After an all day scooter ride we were ready for a cold drink in town.

We stayed at this amazing home stay -Manuaba Inn.  $20 a night gets you a room, shower with hot water, wifi and breakfast.

Check out the awesome outdoor shower!

There are a ton of home stays in Ubud - all with the amazing Bali style yards and accommodations.

Check out our breakfast patio.

And the most amazing breakfast ever!  Fruit towers with jack fruit, watermelon, melon, papaya, banana, pineapple, oranges and fresh coconut on top.  And they still brought us our choice of pancake, french toast, jaffle, or omelet.

Me with my new yoga teacher, Les.  He just moved here from San Francisco actually.

The yoga barn in Ubud . . . I want a job here!

The three amigos at the Palace in Ubud.  The local King still lives here, although royalty has been out of power here since 1946.

We took walks through the rice paddies.

Rice!

Bamboo scaffolding . . . just like McGuiver.

We ate dinner one night at Sari Organic - one of the first local organic farms in Ubud.  You could walk around the garden and pick your own vegis for your salad.

I didn't get any great pictures from the traditional monkey dance we went to one night, but that is a pile of hot coals that ended the dance.

And this is the man who danced through them in a trance.  Check out the bottom of his feet.

We started a yoga scooter gang and headed to Big Tree Chocolate Factory in town for an afternoon of fun and adventure! (Carolin, Isabella, me, Omar, Matt and Rodger . . . all new friends from the yoga studio.)

I just wanted to lick chocolate right off the press . . .

The yoga scooter gang - warrior pose or reincarnate suckas! (Fun thing is Rodger is from Sonora - he's a neighbor in the scheme of things.)

Do you think they actually check or just use the honor system???

Here I am at the Goa Gajah Temple - washing my face three times for good luck.

Walking inside the mouth was not as exciting I am sorry to say.

This is kind of like the bat colony, but with 1,000's of white egrets in a local bird sanctuary.

You should have seen how much bird poop there was!

I was really excited about the poop coffee . . . so we took a tour.  Here are the red coffee beans.

This guy is called a civet and they naturally chose the ripest and best coffee beans to eat.

Then they poop out the beans and some lucky person gets to sort through the poop collecting the beans.

They get cleaned a few times and sun dry for days before the get roasted over a fire.

And then they get made into a delicious coffee sampler! 

A local led us through the back roads so we could avoid the police check point.  None of us have international drivers licenses  - whoops! 

We stocked up on fresh fruit from the local markets in the mountains before heading back to the boat for a 4 day passage.