Location: Ubud, Bali
Another good night of sleep. Tjampuhan Resort is a little out of Ubud and is so quiet and relaxing. I walked into Ubud the first day, but have taken the shuttle since then. I think my feet are getting worn out:)
Today we toured west Bali.
Our first stop was at Penestanan to visit an artist studio -- sort the equivalent of an art school/artists collective. Only for painters. The facility is supported by the royal family. Lots of both traditional and contemporary work.
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| Artist at work |
Long drive to Tanah Lot, but it was worth it. It's a beautiful temple perched on a cliff overlooking the Indian Ocean.
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| Tanah Lot The temple is situated at the meeting-point of land (tanah) and sea (lot). |
Absolutely amazing. We could have spent much more time there, but had the opportunity to pop in on a traditional Balinese wedding and had to get there by 1:00 -- before the bride and groom left for the bride's parent's house.
It was neat to see the home of a typical Balinese family living in a small village. It was not a wealthy family, so everything was pretty basic relative to the house, but the gifts and offerings and decorations were quite spectacular.
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| The wedding couple with oggerings in the background. |
Lots of photos. This is another of the unique opportunities that we have had to see the "real" Indonesia -- in both Bali and Java. This has been a very special cultural exchange.
After the wedding, we had lunch at a very new restaurant/ spa place. Very nice setting and the Food was great. I lost weight in Yogyakarta, but suspect I will gain it back by the time I leave Bali :) The food here in Bali is fabulous and there are so many wonderful restaurants.
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| That has to be the cutest rice presentation yet! |
Last stop of our touring was at Mengwi Temple. Another incredible temple. I can't believe how many temples there are here and how different they all are. It's really a very unique place. I could see coming back here -- especially if getting here wasn't such a complex, grueling escapade.
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| Mengwi Temple -- surrounded by water. |
We made it back to Tjampuhan Resort in time to catch the 5:00 shuttle into Ubud for our 5:30 massages at Nur Salon -- where I went last night Tonight I had the same massage as last night, but instead of the aloe treatment I got a seaweed body scrub after the massage and then had a hot bath with flowers floating all over -- just like in the photos. It was quite the luxurious treatment.
We stopped at a Starbucks to meet up with MJ. This particular Starbucks has a little porch area in the back where you can sit and watch a traditional dance performance. It's definitely the cheap seats, but it's a great deal. Free performance for the price of a cup of coffee. It's actually a ticketed performance, but you can see and hear it very clearly from Starbucks. Kind of like watching an outdoor theater from over the fence.
There is so much going on here.
I finished off the day with a bowl of soup at the resort.
Time for bed. Early start tomorrow -- those if us going on the rice field walk need to meet in the Lobby at 6:30 AM.
XO
Mum/ Nancy
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