Ubud, Bali

The view from our room.

This past weekend we took a trip to Bali, Indonesia. We decided to stay inland in the town of Ubud which is known for their arts and crafts.

We stayed in a small hotel that had only 25 rooms and was off one of the main streets, but surrounded by rice paddies. It was so nice and peaceful. We had all kinds of animals and flowering plants around our building. We saw a billion different kinds of ants, monkeys, lizards, birds, butterflies, and bugs.

The town was great with lots of handmade goods for sale and delicious food! We ate at some fabulous restaurants!

      1. Nauty Nuri's - It's a small stand on the north-side of town and they're very popular. They had     awesome BBQ pork ribs! We almost got stuck here because our scooter didn't want to start. A local guy came and helped us out after laughing at us. He had a tough time getting it started though so it made us feel a little better.

   
      2. Fair Warung Bale - They served a mix of Indonesian and Thai foods. We met a few other Americans while we were there. It was fun to get their reaction to Southeast Asia. We've been here so long I don't even notice half the things they were talking about because they're so normal to see now. Damien and I had a good laugh afterwards.

    
      3. Taco Casa - This place had awesome burritos. They're the real deal. I was surprised since they don't have very much Mexican food here in KL and if you find some, it's usually not that great. This was very good though and very Mexican. A lot better than many Mexican restaurants you find in the US.

      4. Melting Wok Warung - The 2nd best restaurant on the island, according to Trip Advisor. It was pretty good, but was a bit spicy.  

We made it a relaxing vacation and didn't plan a whole lot. There is a ton of stuff to do on the island though so we'd love to go back!

Damien and I had a four-hands couples massage. Yes, we each had two people massaging us at the same time! It was awesome and the first time we'd ever experienced it. Damien said it was a bit of a sensory overload at times for him with so much going on at the same time.

We rented a scooter and rode around the town and out into the countryside. We put Audrina in the Bjorn and squished her in between us. When in Southeast Asia, do as the Asians do. She fell asleep every time we got on. We even got caught out and about in a downpour.

 

Audrina helping Damien fill up the scooter with gas from a water bottle. That's how they sell it there.

Scene from our ride out in the countryside.

We saw a few temples there. They're the only island in Indonesia that is mostly Hindu. The rest of the islands are predominantly Muslim.

One of the temples was located in Monkey Forest. It was shaded by a lot of trees and there was a stream running by making it cooler and very moist. There was lots of moss all over everything! And of course there were a lot of monkeys too.

The last morning there we were woke up by some yelling and thumping. We got up and looked out our windows and saw a local man chasing the monkeys out of the rice fields. The monkeys wander over from the monkey forest to eat the rice. This guy had a really long poll that he was beating on the ground and chasing them with. The monkeys were trying to get out of the fields as fast a possible without getting swatted.

Bali has been my second favorite place we've visited so far. The people were friendly, the food was good, and there was a lot to see and do there. Hopefully we'll get to go back!