Ready to Indulge

Ubud, Bali, Indonesia

We arrived safely in Bali. Yesterday was spent checking into our new home (Pari Gong), and touring the beautiful city of Ubud . Many craft, fabric, and clothing stores, beautiful friendly people, and gorgeous scenery with streams through a royal monkey forest and rice paddies scattered through the town. Can’t get over the value here. Food is delicious and yet quite cheap. 5 small bananas, the most tasty delicious bananas we’ve ever had, cost 50 cents (Would be ~$20 in Australia)! Our comfortable airconditioned room is ~$17/night. A luxurious 1 1/2 hour massage is ~$13! We might have to hang here for a while…

Tonight we plan to take in some culture by attending a Balinese Dance performance. Tomorrow we’ll be splurging on a 1/2 day cooking class, which will start with a tour of the market. It should be a great way to get introduced to Indonesian/Balinese produce and cuisine.

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We started our trip in Ubud, the cultural capital of Bali. I had read that the massages here were incredible, so we signed up for a 2 hour spa experience right away (and went back again for seconds 2 days later because it was so good).

Ubud is also home to some of the best food in Bali, so we signed up for a cooking class, with Casa Luna, to learn about the ingredients they use there, and to sample a huge selection of traditional dishes. Spicy and so full of flavor. We LOVED it.

Ubud had beautiful clothes on display in all the shops, so we refreshed the wardrobes a bit. When we weren’t shopping, relaxing in a cafe, getting a massage, or eating, we were hiking through the beautiful rainforest and rice padies scattered throughout town. Oh, yah, and we also watched a traditional Balinese dance performance, at the Ubudt Palace. This particular dance was called “Lagong”. Young women dance in beautiful costumes, to traditional balinese music (lots of steel drums, chimes, etc.). The realy cool thing was how they mesmerise you with the intricate movements of their heads, eyes, and hands.

Balinese cookingYummm. Ubud is the cultural capital of Bali and the perfect place to take a Balinese cooking class! Here Jo is working on another masterpiece.

Countryside viewOur scenic stroll in the outskirts of Ubud.

Durian?This is a Durian - the stinkiest fruit know to man, and astonishingly popular with the locals. Durians are banned on airplanes and most forms of public transportation due to their rather foul odour. p.s. This is actually not a Durian, it's a Jack Fruit - less spikey, bigger and less smelly. (From Grant, on May 15, 2010)

Monkey templeIn the heart of Ubud is a sacred monkey temple where dozens of monkeys are free to roam about and eat bananas. Here Mom is keeping junior safe from a bigger monkey.

Rice fields of BaliThis scene was from our first walk about in Bali around the outskirts of the artistic and cultural capital of Bali, Ubud.

ThiefThis monkey had his way with an unwary tourist that had moments earlier bought this bunch of bananas from a vendor. While juggling his wallet and the change received from the vendor - this monkey capitalized with a surprise swipe and run.