Temples, rain & much much more
So 2 nights ago we had the traditional Balinese dinner @ Ketut's place. We sat upstairs by the street in a very nice area. We got to see the sunset before dinner started. When another couple arrived we encouraged them to sit with us and I'm glad we did. They were a very nice couple from France. We chatted about all kinds of fun stuff. Right before dinner Ketut took us downstairs to show us some things about his house and to explain some Balinese customs. It was cool stuff that proved to be helpful yesterday. Dinner was buffet style and there was a LOT of it. We felt kind of bad for Ketut because there were only 8 of us for dinner, so we all filled our plates and went back for seconds. One of the very special dishes we had was a duck that was cooked for 8 hours. ZOMG...sooooo good! I can't wait until tomorrow when I get to take the cooking class. I doubt we'll make the duck but I bet whatever we make it'll be tasty.
Yesterday we left Ketut's around 9:30 and headed out into the country side. We went to a temple that had gigantic carvings in the sides of the mountains. After that we headed to another temple where there was a hot spring in the middle of it. We went to a coffee plantation where they also grew fruit & spices. It was very cool to actually pick some cinnamon right off the tree. :) Of course they gave us samples of the coffee, cocoa and teas that they had made from the crops. The had things for sale including the somewhat famous coffee that passes through the mongoose before being harvested and roasted. We didn't buy any as it's pretty damn expensive (something like $25 for 2 cups of beans).
Our trip continued up the mountain to the caldera of the volcano. We caught a glimpse of the lake that sits at the very top of the volcano, but unfortunately by the time we were stopped it was way too foggy and rainy to see anything. We did take pictures of the fog though. ;) We had a buffet lunch up there with a bunch of other tourists which was probably the worst meal of the trip since we've been off the plane. It wasn't horrible, but it certainly wasn't anything amazing like the food has been everywhere else. The only exception was the fresh fruit. Cool spikey little things. :)
On the way down the mountain we stopped at a little store so C & I could get some supplies. The girls working there giggled like crazy because boolay don't tend to ever come through there. They giggled even more when we spoke our little Balinese.
After the store we stopped at a roadside stand run by a lady that spoke NO English and were selling only one product. DURIAN! Our driver picked a good one out for us. We paided for it and she hacked it open with a big knife. It tasted just like I expected it to. Kind of a banana taste with a custardy consistancy. It was hilarious because within seconds of us eating it other family members had to come and watch the boolay eating this smelly smelly fruit. And like a minute later there was a dude trying to sell us some wood carvings. We were like "WTF did he come from!?!?" The most unfortunately part about eating the durian is that I pretty much tasted it every time I burped (because of the beer drinking) the rest of the night.
Our last stop of the day was at what's called the Elephant Cave. It's an old temple that's carved into the side of the mountain. While touring it we got rained on pretty bad, but got to walk through the rice field to get back to the car which was kind of neat.
In the evening we went to the Kecak, aka the Monkey Dance. It's the thing you see in Baraka or a couple of other movies. It's actually a performance where a group of men act as the musical instruments while dancers tell part of the Ramayaman story. Facinating. So cool. The only exception was the Americans next to us that kept talking.
After the Kecak we headed out for some food. We went to Naughty Nuri's with the French people and had dinner. The French people were tired and headed home afterwards, but C & I hit the club next door called Ozigo. It's pretty much the only night club kind of place in Ubud. When we walked in around 10:30 or so we were the only patrons. There was a band playing very much like we'd see in the states. In fact the songs they were playing were pretty much songs we'd hear in the states. They were really good! The got us up to sing some of the songs with them and after a couple of other people arrived they did the same. One guy even played guitar in a song. It was lots of fun. We asked if they could call us a cab to take us home, but instead the manager of the bar drove us home. Crazy!
Today has been pretty chill. We bought tickets for a dance performance tonight and plan on doing some shopping this afternoon. Only a couple of days left...