Staying in the village outside the hustle and bustle of Ubud was an awesome idea. "Idea" sounds like we did it on purpose, but no, we just happened to be 5.5 km out of town. The walk into Ubud and the locals in the villages as we headed down the hill created some of the most wonderful interactions. Locals smiled at us, started up conversations in English and we found a coffee shop overlooking rice paddies. All this makes you soak up the surroundings and slow down. Even though we thought we'd be in town at a certain point in time we arrived there about 3 hours later. A few stops and many pictures along the way made the 5 km walk a wonderful part of experience.
Speaking of locals and their hospitality... due to terrible traffic from the airport, the first night we got to the restaurant late in the eve. We enjoyed a delicious meal until we walked out and realized our driver left us there. This seems to be a pattern in Indonesia... It was 11:15 pm and raining. We messaged him and he said "just walk, it's close" Fair enough, 1.5 km is not a lot but it's eve and raining. WTH? We stood outside for a minute, trying to figure out how to walk and if there was uber in Ubud (the answer is no). By the time we were getting ready to brave the rain, the owner walked out and without a second of hesitation told us she'd give us a ride. "You ride with me and you ride with my staff." And just like that, we got on the back of two scooters and were whisked back home. That is the second time in less than a week that a local gives us a ride without us asking and wanting nothing in return. Amazing.
Today we did doing the touristy thing. We got picked up in a shiny van and were taken to various locations around Eastern Bali. First stop was the Elephant Cave Temple though we are not quite sure we found the elephant. The tour driver is a just that: a driver so information was limited but Google post fact is not.
Elephant Cave Temple
Next stop was Holy Spring Temple where oodles of locals and tourists alike bathed themselves in water. The grounds were beautifully manicured and we wondered where Obama bathed when he visited here 3 days ago. This is also the place where the best bargain award goes to Heather. From 80,000 rupiah she got the shirt down to 20,000 rupiah. Bargaining and haggling is a sport here and you don't do it because you want to bring down the price, you do it because it's a game you are expected to play. So with that, the $6 shirt got to be $1.50 and everyone was happy.
Holy Spring Temple
Speaking of shopping, I need shoes. Every since I left behind my slip on flip flops/whatever they were, it's been a pain to walk into places. I know, I know first world problems BUT... you take your shoes off any time you walk into a cafe or a nice shop even some hotel entrances. Floors are squeaky clean tiles and you wouldn't dare step in with a shoe. No one here wears anything but flip flops. We spotted a few tennis shoes and those were the "well" prepared foreigners seizing the day at the temple. We have hiked the rainforest, visited waterfalls in a torrential downpour, gone to nice restaurants all in the name of a flip flop. Love it all. Need to invest in a pair.
Back to visiting Eastern Bali on the tour. One grand stop was Sant Coffee Plantation. I have seen several coffee plantations in Costa Rica and Puerto Rico so I wasn't expecting anything special. False. This was cool! We met Luwak, the jungle cat from yesterday's blog and tasted a long list of Balinese coffees, teas and chocolates. It was neat to have a side by side tasting and see how others tasted as well. While Heather and I went to town on everything but the Ginger tea our European friends from the van didn't indulge in more than a sip. Our personal favorite was Bali coconut coffee with the delicious local coconut sugar. Goodness galore.
Sant Tasting
Listening to a few Europeans discuss geography makes me feel just a teeny bit better about (lack of) American map education. Firstly, an Italian, Swiss and a Dutchman took turns making fun of how German is spoken in various countries. From yelling out random words to just mimicking accents they went to town. But then the highlight happened. The Dutch to the Swiss:
--Where in Vienna are you from?
-I'm from Switzerland.
--So where in Vienna are you from?
-Vienna is in Austria.
--Oh that's right, Zurich is the capital.
-No, that's Bern.
And just like that, we the Americans feel good about ourselves.
Our next visit was Besakih, the biggest temple compound consisting of 80 separate temples. Earliest was built in 8th century, biggest in 11th and another in 1965. This is the place of pilgrimage for Balinese Hindu and there is something disturbing about taking pictures of those praying. So you sneak in a shot of the architecture and keep going. I'll be posting many pics in the next few days, words won't do this justice.
We spent Heather's last eve eating delicious Mexican food (we have gone totally global on this trip: burgers, Italian, Spanish, Balinese, Sushi, Indonesian, Thai and Indian, phew!) and listened to live music on Jalan Suweta, Ubud's main artery of activity.
As Heather heads home tomorrow, I'll be staying here for three more nights before I bid farewell to Indonesia. I'm getting sad already but I still have stuff to do and things to see. And if I haven't convinced you to plan a trip here then I'm doing this all wrong, this place is amazing.
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