After leaving the super chill seaweed islands of Lembongan and Chinnigan, we (somewhat reluctantly) headed back to Kuta on Bali. The surfing itch had crept in while we were away and Christian was beyond eager to get back to it.
While the boys were in the water I usually entertained myself on the beach, which has some incredible people-watching to offer. Topless blondes lounge next to Muslim women covered head-to-toe, some tourists take up the relentless offers for massages (I saw one couple surrounded by local women recieving a facial, back and neck massage, two manicures, two pedicures, and a henna tattoo- all at the same time), and Indonesians on holiday from other islands travel in packs down the beach requesting to have their picture taken with you and other Westerners- the bluer your eyes and the blonder your hair the better. The Kuta scene gets to be a bit much and we wanted to explore some more of Bali, so Christian and I headed up to Ubud. I think at one point in time it was a beautiful, serene place to see the "real" Bali, but tourism has definitely found its way in (greatly assisted by "Eat, Pray, Love") and it has sort of and upscale-artsy-hippie feel to it. 
We did get to get out of town and took this awesome bike ride through the rice paddies that Ubud is so well-known for- even stopping to try our hand at harvesting rice!- and through some local family compounds, where Christian tried to woe the ladies (see picture). 
We also got to check out a coffee/fruit/spice farm and tried a bunch of different stuff, most notably Luwak, which is coffee that is roasted like normal only after the beans are eaten by a certain type of cat, fermented in its stomach and then crapped back out. Suprisingly, it's really good! Also visited the monkey forest where Christian almost got eaten by a macaque and these bold little creatures litterally walk all over you (same kind as the wallet-snatcher at Uluwatu). 
We've both been suffering from a little "Bali Belly" so we took advantage our great room in Ubud (usually we are more that eager to spend as little time in our room as possible, due to cockroaches, questionable stains on the sheets, nude German neigbors, etc.) This heavenly little place had it's own patio overlooking a fish pond and some rice paddies. The owner Wayan and his wife, also Wayan as all first-born kids on Bali are named Wayan, were more than gracious and kept us constantly supplied with coffee and tea. One night during one of Bali's regular power outages Wayan brought us candles and apologized for the inconvenience, but we were pretty content to sit in the dark and watch the fireflies over the rice paddies. This place even had hot water! Pure luxury I tell you. 
We did get to get out of town and took this awesome bike ride through the rice paddies that Ubud is so well-known for- even stopping to try our hand at harvesting rice!- and through some local family compounds, where Christian tried to woe the ladies (see picture). We also got to check out a coffee/fruit/spice farm and tried a bunch of different stuff, most notably Luwak, which is coffee that is roasted like normal only after the beans are eaten by a certain type of cat, fermented in its stomach and then crapped back out. Suprisingly, it's really good! Also visited the monkey forest where Christian almost got eaten by a macaque and these bold little creatures litterally walk all over you (same kind as the wallet-snatcher at Uluwatu). We've both been suffering from a little "Bali Belly" so we took advantage our great room in Ubud (usually we are more that eager to spend as little time in our room as possible, due to cockroaches, questionable stains on the sheets, nude German neigbors, etc.) This heavenly little place had it's own patio overlooking a fish pond and some rice paddies. The owner Wayan and his wife, also Wayan as all first-born kids on Bali are named Wayan, were more than gracious and kept us constantly supplied with coffee and tea. One night during one of Bali's regular power outages Wayan brought us candles and apologized for the inconvenience, but we were pretty content to sit in the dark and watch the fireflies over the rice paddies. This place even had hot water! Pure luxury I tell you. Again, Merry Christmas and if we don't get to you before... Happy New Year!
XO, Emily
