The core of mans' spirit comes from new experiences.: Bali, Indonesia (2 of 3)....Ubud

Ubud, Bali, Indonesia
After our excursions the last 2 weeks figuring out our visa situations, we've headed north to Ubud. Central Bali's home for culture. Famous for painting, wood-carving studios, cheap markets, dancing/theatre, yoga, cuisine and the monkey sanctuary.

Ubud is much smaller and has a home-town, slow-paced feel. There's many tourist but everyone just strolls here. Ubud's major area is a simple rectangular area you could walk around in about 1.5 hours or so. Getting around was typically by foot and easily done. With the help of our Bemo driver, we found a homestay style guesthouse and our new buddy Wayan would be watching over us for a week while we stayed here. Wayan was the guest-house owner. A basic room, with queen bed, a wardrobe, basic bathroom with hot water was about $17 a night. Clean but quaint. We did have a private balcony with a decent view.

Batur Lake and Volcano. Majestic sight, we had lunch overlooking this one day. breath-taking, 1,717 meters above sea level..

We didn't waste much time and headed straight for the monkey sanctuary. An amazing place. Tickets were $2 and you could go into this lush area of large trees and landscape where the monkeys roamed freely. And let me say, there were a Bunch of monkeys. Sometimes you could get closer to a little one and shake his hand, but had to steer clear of the bigger males, they were not shy to show there teeth and scare you away. The park had guides that roamed around and just kept an eye on everyone and instructured them on not getting to close and just watching over things for safety. We thought our nieces Grace and Abbie would have had the time of their life here. It was very fun.

We wandered the square and market areas and had several beers taking in some good musicians one night. We did some shopping and picked up some souvenirs for the family in the nearby areas while enjoying the fresh air, breeze and nature. Things are just so lush and green here. The temperatures are amazingly perfect. I'd say low 80's, sunny, slight cool breeze and low humidity right now. Very much paradise.

Agung Volcano, 40 minutes drive from lake batur, 3,141 meters high.

One day we spent about 6 hours driving around. Only 1 hour north from Ubud is some of the most spectacular scenary on the planet. The volcanoes and mountain lakes of Batur and Batur temple overlooking this view are hard to appreciate unless in person. Wow, what a view.

Christina at colorful Batur Temple

out strolling the rice fields of Ubud, (grand-dad, father, and son walking home)

We splurged a little too much and picked up some authentic local oil paintings and had a chance to meet the artists themselves. Great souvenirs to last a lifetime. Better than Pier One and to say we were there one day looking back at them will be an enjoyable memory always.

buying some art in Ubud, scene of "local market" done by local painter. picture with artist himself.

One of our funnest nights was having a chance to see an authentic Hindu dance/play that we both agreed was one of the best things we've witnessed since we left. Awesome and worth the $15 tickets :)
We took some video of this and will post it in the next blog.

After 5 days in Ubud, we would have to put this little town way up on the list of best places we've visited. It's just a great mix of things to do, see, experience and enjoy. The food is good, prices fair, shopping plentiful, massages cheap and surroundings...welllll....what you'd think of when you hear Bali. Would love to come back here for another week with more friends.

We're off to Canggu now, so excited to spend 30 days of rest and relaxation, not moving hotels and staying in a great place and becoming a local for a while. We need this to gear up for the next 6 months. We'll be hitting the trails hard in China, Nepal, and India next.