Central Bali

Steven and I left our boat in Sanore and caught a mini-bus to Ubud, the cultural and artistic capital of Bali. I was hooked almost immediately. Ubud is a travelers dream. It's center is lined with curio shops selling anything you could possibly buy to decorate your home and the homes of 1000 of your closest friends, countless restaurants with delicious food, rooms with "rice paddy views," and a whole national park filled with monkeys just a few minutes down the road.

Steven and I spent our time in Ubud wandering around, hanging with the monkeys, eating lots of Indonesian food and checking out the local culture with visits to the temples and an evening Fire Dance. On Christmas Eve we treated ourselves to a delicious sushi dinner.


Our breakfast are outside our room where we enjoyed banana pancakes, plates of fresh fruit and a never ending thermos of hot tea

The door to our room

Our Room in Ubud with a "Rice Paddy View"

Our "Rice Paddy View" sans rice

Typical Balinese Family Compound Entrance

Ditto

Huge Egret Colony Outside of Ubud

Baby Egret out of its Nest

Lots of Nesting Egrets

Looking down into a Traditional Balinese Family Compound









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Offerings at the a Temple


Guardian with lots of offerings


Lots and Lots of Offerings


Ubud Monkey Sanctuary


Enjoying the Sun


"What??"


































Steven and his furry friend










Outside the "Elephant Cave" with our obligatory, yet appropriately colored, sarongs


Ducks

On of Bali's many roundabout statues