Today we hired a driver (the only way to travel in Bali) and headed up into the mountains to a coffee plantation, home of the famous Luwak coffee, the most expensive coffee in the world.

It starts with these little nocturnal cat-like animals

who eat only the best coffee beans off coffee bushes.

Then as the beans pass through them, various enzymes and digestive juices affect the chemistry of the bean.  Once liberated from the poop,

the beans are roasted and brewed, producing a somehow superior cup of coffee.

Here we are demonstrating the crushing and roasting process

This plantation grows many types of coffee beans as well as cacao and lots of spices.

As part of our tour we had a lovely tasting of their coffees and teas all made with plants grown by them.  And, of course we tried the poop coffee too!

A sculpture

And our view from where we did our tasting.

Moving on, we next visited Puru Ulun Danu Bratan, a water temple on the shore of Lake Bratan.

“Built in 1663, this temple is used for offering ceremonies to the Balinese water, lake and river goddess Dewi Danu, due to the importance of Lake Bratan as a main source of irrigation in central Bali.”

This temple is surrounded by a beautiful parklike setting

and has some interesting statues

Back in the car with Degas, our driver, we traveled along country roads – everything everywhere is so fascinating.  (Note the penjors.)

We are now in the famous Jatiluwih Rice Terraces.  These stretch from the mountain side all the way down to the sea.  Just sit back and enjoy these stunning views.

After lunch, we’re back in the car

traveling through more amazing rice terraces

to the Batukaru Temple

Here we are dressed in appropriate temple visiting garb – a sarong and a sash (provided by the temple staff).

This Hindu Temple, originally built during the 11th century, is meant to protect Bali from evil spirits and consists of many levels, most of which are off limits to tourists.

And a few more pictures from an upper level

And the long stairway back down.

On our way home we passed a village celebrating Independence Day with a community tug-o-war.

Back in Ubud we settled into a warang (cafe) for dinner and to watch the craziness of the day go by.  Here the staff is decorating the steps to this warang.

We chose a tapas of 12 different dishes.  I love the dishes made of folded leaves with little sticks stapling them together.

For our evening entertainment we just watched the non-stop traffic of cars and mostly scooters returning to town right in front of us.  This just went on and on . . . and then

a little parade came marching down the street in the opposite direction!  Lots of children.  First a band of some sort.

Then several teams or schools each dressed in their own colors carrying flaming bamboo stick torches!

There’s always something to see in Bali!!!  Oh, and for dessert we had to try the Black Rice Pudding with ice cream.

It was pretty good – with enough ice cream.