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.