Ubud

After our few days in Kuta it was time to move north - about one hour north to Ubud. This adorable little town reminded me of Carmel, CA or some other boutique town. There are many artist studios, flash restaurants, day spas, and fancy little resorts. The best part for us was as there was no one there we were able to negotiate (well Michael was able to negotiate) a very good price for a very sweet little place.







The town is filled with tiny boutiques and is quite charming. There is a ton of attention given to all the little things and the opulence was a nice change from cockroaches of the past.







Our first stop was the Monkey Forest Sanctuary. As Michael had been here 24 years earlier, he gave me some warnings - the monkeys KNOW when you have food so don't try to hide it (like I was with my backpack full of bananas) and don't resist - give the monkey what he wants.

Even while it was a bit freaky to have them tugging on my skirt it was very cool to watch them. They clearly are very well fed and have no fear of tourists - if anything it's the other way around.









We took in a little culture and went to the shadow puppet theater. While I thought it would be in a temple or some sacred space the venue was actually in a back alleyway where there were plastic chairs and a dirty sheet hung up as the "stage." For the most part the show appeared pretty traditional albeit for the occasional Monica Lewinsky joke thrown in.





When the rain finally cleared we went for a walk through the rice paddies. The scenery was quite lovely and we barely saw anyone during our two hours of trekking through the fields. When we did see people they were in their tiny artist shops carving wood or painting eggs - two popular art forms here.



After our hike it was time for a little indulgence. I cashed in one of my Christmas gifts from Michael - $30 worth of spa treatments. Thirty US dollars goes a long way in Bali and I had it all mapped out. I went and had a great facial to start.

Michael met me an hour later and we had massages and body scrubs with honey. The massage room was sweet with three walls and an open wall facing the rice paddies.



After they massage all this honey into you they wrap you up in a big sheet of plastic to let you "set." After you bake for 15 minutes you rinse off in the shower and jump into a tub of flower petals, have a cup of tea, and soak for 20 minutes. It was incredibly civilized.



Michael has strong feelings about the required massage attire (disposable black bikini underwear) - see his blog for rantings.