Bali Part III- Ubud

Already it sounds like I'm writing advertisements for the Bali Tourism Board, but wait until I get started about how incredible Ubud was.  I can't write enough glowing reviews of Ubud.

Ubud is inland on Bali and was made famous by the book and movie, "Eat, Pray, Love."  It's a small, charming town surrounded by rice terraces and farms.  The hotels are spread out and it seems each one has a world-class restaurant and spa. 

Hindu offerings overlooking a valley of palm trees and rice terraces.

Our original hotel reservation fell through at the last minute, but we're glad it did because Andrew found an incredible substitute: The Junjungan.  The delightfully decorated rooms were huge with balconies looking over the rice terraces, but of course the way to my heart is through my stomach.  The free breakfast had a selection of eleven gourmet options and the afternoon tea/coffee with decadent dessert was divine.  No surprise here: we planned our daily sightseeing itineraries around the afternoon tea!  One day while I napped, Andrew got a two hour chocolate and avocado massage at the hotel.  He smelled amazing afterwards.

The door to our hotel room.

Such a serene and peaceful view.

Consistent with the favorite mode of transportation in our Asia travels, we rented scooters in Ubud too.  For $5 a day, how could we not?

Gassing Up.

Can't beat the views while scootin'.

First scooter stop was the Monkey Forest.  We had been warned to not bring in food because the monkeys will climb all over you to get it.  Unfortunately, most other tourists didn't heed the advice and bought bunches of bananas to feed the monkeys who learned quickly that the majority of tourists bring in treats for them.  I spent the whole time treading carefully and watching my back so no monkeys would touch me.  I felt like we were all Dennis Nedry in Jurassic Park: those critters are cute but they can gang up and turn on you!  Mark was sitting for a moment to get a good photo angle when a little monkey climbed up and sat on him.... and peed on his shoulder.  Marking his territory!  (pun intended)

Mark made a buddy!

The stone statues in the Monkey Forest were pretty cool to see, but even better when used as a monkey perch.

How adorable is the baby monkey?

A safe distance from the monkeys, but I still booked it out of there after the photo was taken!

Another stop we made in Ubud was to a newly famous health clinic, the CNN Hero of the Year for 2011 Ibu Robin and her women's health clinic that provides midwifery services.  Poor Indonesian women who deliver at the hospital aren't allowed to take their babies home until they can pay the full hospital bill, so this clinic provides a safe alternative and a very welcoming environment.  It was a fascinating tour to a very worthwhile cause, and Jess was especially happy to be a visitor instead of a patient!

The clinic's sign and logo.

Way to go, Rotary, donating an ambulance!

One morning our American-ness got the better of us so we went to Starbucks for coffee.  Check out these surroundings!  This has to be the most scenic of all Starbucks worldwide.

Beautiful temple and lotus garden.

Same beautiful temple and lotus garden, viewed from Starbucks.

True to form we enjoyed the food at plenty of restaurants and scouted out the markets for good deals, but my favorite spot (besides our hotel) in Ubud was a temple about 15 minutes North of the town named the Gunung Kawi Water Temple.

Read entrance rule number one.

Sprinkling myself with holy water before entering.

Andrew looks nice in a sarong, doesn't he?

The official last stop on our visit was the surfing town of Kuta, but Kuta was a disappointment after the first three incredible Bali destinations.  We had rainy and stormy weather that kept us off the beach and by Day 12 of our vacation we were ready to go home to Korea.  So Kuta doesn't get a separate blog post but I look forward to going back someday and giving Kuta the chance to redeem itself.

All together, Bali was an exquisite vacation destination.  I can't wait to go back and in the meantime I hope I've convinced you guys to visit so I can live vicariously through you.  Or better yet, let's go together!