Bali

I think I'm going through a bit of culture shock.  Just a few weeks ago we were in India, and now we are in Bali.  It is not normal to be jet-setting as much do currently.  It is a strange feeling when going to the airport is a regular routine.  Packing is a now fine tuned skill.  And within a very short time period our apartment is full of souvenirs picked up from various destinations.  Waking up yesterday morning felt like a dream.  Where am I now?  What am I doing here?  

But I'll be honest.  That feeling soon disappears when I glance around our ENORMOUS room.  The mosquito nets block the view slightly, but they just add to the ambiance.  I ventured outside on to our veranda, which is also huge.  Equipped with lovely large chairs to sit and enjoy the view.  This is a hotel our friends regularly stay at.  Unfortunately someone else thought a view of the rice paddies would be a great place to build as well, and have built buildings right in front of the veranda.  There  is one little space where you can see what once was a beautiful, serene view of rice paddies.  Now however the hotel is surrounded by a construction site.  The hotel is a bit of a haven.  No construction noises breach the walls.  But as for the rest of the place, power drills are on for most of the day.  Things seem to move slowly here though and they don't tend to start up the power tools until 8am.  

We are here in Ubud with our friends Tina and Andrew.  They are frequent flyers to Bali, solo and with guests, so they seem to have set places to go visit in Ubud.  You know how it is when you have taken people visiting several times.  You slowly develop a system and plan.  We certainly did in Christchurch.  Anyway, it is great.  We don't have to think too much.  We just jump in the car with Madi, their regular driver, and go with the flow.  Yesterday we enjoyed views of rice terraces, attempted to see a volcano but due to fog there was limited visibility, and had our first sips of cat-poo coffee.  Ubud is beautiful.  It is everything that people say it is.  Tranquil, terrific food, stunning scenery, kind people and great shopping.  

Yesterday we ticked off one of Dave's "bucket list" items and we sipped our first cat-poo coffee.  We were taken to this beautiful plantation, full of fruit, vanilla beans, herbs and several other delicious treats.  Wanting us to sample some of the fruit our driver immediatly grabbed a large stick and began hitting a branch high up in the trees, trying to knock down tamarillos for us.  After a trying with a couple of different sticks the tomato-looking fruit fell to the ground.  I don't think I've ever eaten tamarillo before.  Looks like a roma tomato, tastes similar to a passion fruit.  So after this first taste test we wind our way through the path and arrive at some tables and chairs, ready with all the fixings to try all the various teas and coffees the plantation produces.  The plantation is set up so you sample all the drinks and then you make your way over to the shop and buy what you have just tried.  The atmosphere was very relaxed.  And after they found out Tina and Andrew had been there several times already, we were nearly left to our own devices.  They could probably tell they would get a sell out of us regardless of their speeches.  And of course we ended up buying some cat-poo coffee.  How could you not?  The civet cat chooses the best coffee beans to eat, and then passes them through.  I think the acid in their stomachs does something to the coffee beans, they are collected and then roasted.  Yum.

The rest of the day consisted of driving through the country side, laying our eyes on rice terrace after rice terrace.  The scenery is just beautiful.  Everyone is relaxed, people seem to live comfortable lives.  I can see why people speak so highly of the area.

Anyway, my coffee awaits.  Breakfast is coming.  This is photo was taken at from the restaurant of our hotel.