What a day we had.  Off we went with our driver for a full day of exploring the arts and crafts of Bali.  First stop – the Village of Mas, famous for their wood carvings.  Amazing works of art carved out of a variety of interesting woods.

On our way to our next stop we visited this beautiful waterfall.

As we hiked down to the falls I stopped by the ladies room near the river

then on to the falls.

Next stop was Sukawati, known for its silver.  Very interesting to watch this jewelry being made.

From here we moved on to Celuk where batik was being hand painted on fabric.

Also amazing weavings underway.

From here Degas took us all the way down to Jimbaran, nearly the southern tip of Bali.  Our mission – to visit one of the top “must see” bars of the world, called the Rock Bar.

 

This bar is located within the Ayana Resort and Spa which is way too fancy.

And we had to take an 8-person tram down the hillside to get to it.

The bar is perched out over the sea.

Ahhh . . . What a way to end a perfect Bali day!

 

Every morning we have breakfast here on the roof top of our cottages

with a spectacular view

I usually have the banana pancake.  It doesn’t look great in the picture but it’s filled with brown sugar and coconut and bananas.  The green comes from extracting the oils from a certain leaf and incorporating it into the rice flour.

Here are a few more shots of our lodging.

Today is another walking and exploring day.

We head off down the hill to the confluence of the Wos and Cerik Rivers and the Campuan Ridge Trail.  Campuan means “where two rivers meet” and is the sight of the founding of Ubud.  Very beautiful.

From here the Campuan Ridge Trail heads off into the fields of elephant grass, used for making thatched roofs.

Along the way we met this man who said (with a big smile on his face) he’d been sitting in this same spot for 20 years – painting these amazing eggs.  He seemed very happy and content.

It’s always fun wandering the backroads and I’m always grateful for Chris’ builtin GPS so we never get lost.  Here are more sights from our wanderings.

 

Typical two-way road (without the cars and scooters) very narrow, with a pile of dirt covering most of one lane.  We saw this everywhere.  Just adds to the travel experience.

Back in civilization,

you see shelves of bottled petrol for sale on every other block.

But you’d better be careful with what goes in your scooter and what goes in your glass. . .

At one point we were nearly overrun by a flock of young students leaving school all at once.

Did you know that Eat, Pray, Love was filmed in Ubud?  At least the Love part.  Anyway, it has increased tourism tenfold and several restaurants and bars are monopolizing on their claim to fame from the movie.  So we set out to visit one of them, Naughty Nuri’s.  It was written up as “a crowded roadside watering hole.  Microbrews, great martinis and slabs of bbq ribs…”  Well, there was nobody there, they only had Bintang beer which was not even cold, and the ribs were just ok.

On another note, Ubud has long been known for its arts.   Descendants of a royal family encouraged Western artists and intellectuals to visit the area in the 1930’s.  They provided an enormous stimulus to local art, introduced new ideas and techniques, and began a process of displaying and promoting Balinese culture worldwide.  As mass tourism arrived in Bali,  Ubud became an attraction not for beaches or bars, but for the arts.  One highlight for me was to visit the Threads of Life Indonesian Textile Arts Center and a street of batik stalls.

From here we wandered through the Ubud Market, a massive two-story structure with stalls throughout.  Then a stop at a warang where they had 2 for 1 margaritas then on to find a great silver shop, Studio Perak.  All the jewelry was designed and made by a local artist.  And finally, dinner at a neat little place we found on Sunday.  It quickly filled up and a nice young couple from Holland joined as as there was nowhere else for them to sit.  Very interesting conversation.  He is a high school math teacher and she is a journalist on holiday.  Finally a nice wander home and to bed.

 

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.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We are in Bali! At long last – after months of planning we are finally here! We will be staying in Ubud for four days at the Hibiscus Cottages. It’s an interesting place off the main road. First you walk down this path

Then past these rice fields

To the Cottages

And our little home

We started our day with a visit to the Monkey Forest.  There were a lot of new baby monkeys clinging to their mamas.

We spent the entire day wandering the streets of Ubud, just exploring and getting a feel for the area.  Very narrow streets, lots of scooters.

Note the “penjors” the tall curved bamboo poles beautifully decorated.  These were everywhere in Bali in celebration of their Independence Day (from the Dutch).

Every morning you see women setting out beautiful offerings in front of shops, in front of temples, on and around statues.

So much to see everywhere you look.  We happened upon these children playing their little instruments

Wall art made of inverted Bintang bottles

These “bottle openers” are everywhere and come in a plethora of colors and sizes.

Art Center/ReUse Shop

Organic garden

Temples

Women do a lot of the carrying of heavy loads.  The second picture is of women unloading a truckload of dirt and hauling it to the construction site.

Interesting stonework on a house

Quilt of batiks

Starbucks

Classic Car and Peace on Earth

And this wonderful display of natural oils.

Enough wanderings for one day.