Bumi Ubud Resort

... dances, giant puppets and shrines paraded through the streets, etc etc.

Weather has been great, though very very hot. No rain so far (knock on wood.) We've been eating a TON of fresh fruit, and some weird ones too (like snakefruit...). Produce from local organic farms seems to be the norm here. Lots of interesting flora and fauna around, in addition to the monkeys - the many, many lizards and butterflies stand out.

... for me.

We then had a look at the royal palace near the market - which wasn't all that interesting. However certainly worth a look if you are interested in Balinese architecture of visiting the market.

After this we went back to the hotel for a bit, and then walked to the monkey forest. It was absolutely beautiful, I would definitely go again - no hesitation. The forest was beautiful, huge Banyan trees and the monkeys were friends. I had two monkeys ...

... and have more
elaborate bulls and offerings. While all the bulls are arriving a
funeral pyre is started. Throughout there are vendors selling food,
drinks, and toys for the kids. After everything is assembled the
remains (bones) are placed inside the bull and the bulls are set on
fire. Since we had our sarongs on we were pretty much left alone by
the vendors and we could just enjoy being among the people. Though
Ubud, Bali, Indonesia carlaandmike

... pretty much peeing our pants while trying to maintain innocent smiles) while Mr. Bad Cop gives us the standard tourist lecture. He concludes with, “So, what are you going to pay me to not write you a ticket?” Right to the point – we were wondering how this whole bribery thing worked. We ended up paying him $5 US each, which we were told later was way too much! Hopefully we won’t have the opportunity to practice bribery again.

Ubud, Bali, Indonesia ariana.sea

... Hong Kong - was very happy to add a third place. As in Hong Kong, these were Long-tailed Macaques (hereby referred to as "Monkeys"). Surprisingly for a heavily visited place, I thought they were very well behaved. Sure, if you had food or drink in your hand they would eventually get if off you, even if they had to bite your legs in the process. Otherwise though, they were very well behaved, and just stuck to their packs. The Monkey Forest does have a temple in ...

... to get the bananas...and they scare me!!! But they are quite cute and playful...and I defenitely witnessed some very strange monkey behaviour. lol After that, Brian and Emily, friends from Kuta, arrived in Ubud, so I hung out with them for the rest of my time in Ubud! The next day we rented motorbikes and wandered through the countryside, going nowhere in particular...and then Emily and I did another ricefield hike in the crazy heat! I was glad to go jump in he ...

... my face within minutes. Even when I lay out in the middle of the day here at my Ubud house, doing completely nothing but laying and sitting sit, I've had puddles of sweat gather on my face and stomach. No ocean breeze protects us here. I got back just in time for a very quick shower before the children arrived. I wish I could say they looked eager to learn, but in reality, they seemed more tired today than anything. Maybe all the ...

... we took a snorkelling trip with one of the guys that works at our hotel (Wayan). He took us to a Japanese ship wreck just off the coast in a village not too far from Amed (maybe a ½ hour boat ride). It was brilliant! The wreck had turned into an artificial coral and was teeming with life. Erin and I were both in agreement that this was the best snorkelling we'd done to date. I've never seen so many fish and so many different ...

... When we finally arrived, we relished the beautiful sight and embraced the churning mist. It felt very cooling after the long trek. As we returned to our car, I was happy to donate to the community collection and sign our names in the visitors' book. Our modest donation is so appreciated as abundance out here! Since our little detour took much longer than we expected, we had a lot of ground to cover before dinner. We drove on through the northern town of ...

... but very small and with little tourists. I wanted to go there because it's a black sands beach - which is cool, haven't seen one besides in Hawaii - and because it's got a great internationally recognized SCUBA school where I plan to get certified. The plan is to stay for a week, and then maybe head down to Pura Besakih for the March 19th festival, and then arrive in Kuta on the 20th. Sha, her husband sister and a few ...