Friday, January 6, 2012

Ubud

We rented a house on the north end of Ubud, a nice place called the Paper Lotus. To get to it we drove throught the main street in Ubud. We passed the Monkey Forest and were in traffic for a half hour driving past all the shops and restaurants. It became obvious that Ubud has become a very touristy spot. It does not seem as if much remains of the traditional arts except for the antique shops. Lots of western style clothing shops and jewelry and restaurants with international food and free wifi. WE finally arrived at our house which turned out to be the best place that we had stayed yet. Here it is:




We found a very cool coffee shop close to the monkey forests called "Coffee and Silver" it had a great style and good food too but not very Balinese...



We did a bicycle tour that bused us up to a coffee plantation for coffee, breakfast overlooking a volcano, bike downhill for 25 kilometers, and then lunch. There was lots of cool vistas that I did not photoducment... riding through rice paddies etc. George brought his camera so the following pics are courtesy of George Gibbs.

The kids were in love with the helmets!

 Jessica receiving some services from the tour's pit crew.

 Me and my machine... I've had better.

I took a little bike ride on my own to check out the local architecture. I could not find my original destination but here are some pics to give you a feel.



Next stop is the Elephant Safari Park Lodge to see elephants. Lola got to ride one and she was so excited she agreed to go all by herself. Afterward she kept talking about "her" elephant, Ramona, and now she wants to be a zoo keeper.



 After the ride Lola and Geo feed "her" elephant.

We spent went out to a restaurant called Clear for New Years Eve. They are probably better know for their blended drinks (think hippy grooviness like Ginger Mint lemongrass smoothy stuff). The most telling think I could say is that they don't even serve alcohol there... I know! Luckily we stopped and grabbed some brew from the local Circle K before going. Here is the group shot courtesy of Robyn's camera and the hostess as our photographer:
Happy new year! Next stop is Amed.

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