Finding the Beauty in Bali

Well the time came sooner than I thought -- my first term break!  I had the whole week off and spent it in the beautiful traveler's haven of Bali.

I stayed the first three nights in Jimbaran.  I was able to get my beach and seafood fix.  I visited the Jimbaran Bay Beach for two days.  I'd have to say my favourite part was taking a nap all day underneath a beach umbrella with the  perfect sound of the Indian Ocean rolling onto the shore.

Here are a few pictures of my time in Jimbaran:

I got my first Balinese massage and it was AMAZING!

After Jimbaran, I hired a driver to take me two hours north into the heart of Bali.  Ubud is easily my favourite place I have ever traveled to thus far.  It is tranquil and absolutely breathtaking.  On the way up, I asked if he could give me a tour of some of his favourite places.  Here's where we stopped!

Batik factory where they make all of the patterns.  It was amazing to see these women create the most beautiful fabrics.

Gamelan instruments.  So surreal to see the authentic instruments.

Trying out all the different drinks at the coffee plantation.  There's the most beautiful valley and forest behind me that the picture just doesn't do justice.

Holy Spring Water Temple

Watched this woman manually ground coffee.  Needless to say, she's pretty badass.  No fancy Keurig's here!

Tour of the one and only Luwak coffee plantation.  Most expensive coffee in the world! And YES it tastes amazing! :)

Woodcarvers making the most amazing pieces.  I had to take a picture because they were using "Mahogony." I instantly thought of Anchor Man and giggled, so I just had to take a picture!

Go Gajah Temple (or, "Elephant Cave Temple")

Holy Water Temple in Ubud, Bali

I saw all these amazing things before I even checked into my hotel in Ubud -- which I have to say, was a sight in itself!  I decided to stay somewhere a little more fancy because it was my vacation after all.. right?

Here are some pictures of the view from my room!

Rice Paddy fields outside my window.

My first day in Ubud I decided to wake up early and go to the famous Ubud Morning Market (as seen in Eat, Pray, Love hee hee).  It was AWESOME.  I didn't think I'd be a good haggler, but with the little Indonesian I learned I think I was able to surprise some of the sellers and score a great deal.  I think it also helped that I told them I was an Ibu Guru (teacher) for Indonesian children.

After the morning market I headed down to the Monkey Forest.  This is a place I had absolutely NO DESIRE to go to beforehand, but since I was only a 20 minute walk away, I decided to check it out.  And of course, my worst nightmare came true when a huge papa monkey jumped on my back and tried to open my backpack.  Somebody snapped a picture of the moment, but all you can see is the giant monkey tail on my right shoulder! AHHHH!

The next day I was driven an hour and a half north of central Ubud to the mountain/volcano region.  Here I bike for two hours through the local villages--it was unlike anything I've ever done before.  (I have to say, the biking did get quite hard at times--I think I'm a little out of shape from my luxurious life here hee hee).  We took a tour through a local's house and I learned so much about their lifestyle and living.  This was such a great tour because we were taken off of the "tourist" path and our group was small.  We were also able to see an ENORMOUS banyan tree.  It was incredibe!

During the trekking part of the hike I had to cross a river on a bamboo stick! Only in Indonesia...

Biking through the beautiful quiet villages.

Banyan Tree! I did my darndest to get the whole tree into the picture, so I had to use panoramic. 

Enjoying the rice paddies.

The following day I took a Balinese cooking class.  Before we cooked, my guide took us to a local market where we learned all about the different foods and how to buy them. I'm so glad I had a guide to tell me what everything was.  Two days before, when I went to the market by myself I was enjoying looking around at everything but I had no idea what half of the foods were! This time, he explained all the different foods and spices as well as what they are commonly used for.

After the cooking class (which was in the owner's BEAUTIFUL home) they gave me the recipe so I can make all the delicious goodies for my friends and family back home!  To me, the best part was doing everything manually.  Forget about blenders or ovens, this was old school! (I think the elbow grease made the food taste better. :) )

Grounding up peanuts and mix for the peanut sauce (easily my favourite!)

The following day, it was time to leave Ubud and I made my way down to Kuta, which is near the airport (I decided to stay here since I would have to fly out the next morning).  But! Before I arrived at Kuta I made a detour and went to the western coast of Bali to see Tanah Lot (the famous temple on the sea).  Needless to say, it was beautiful and unlike any other temple I had seen before.  However, it was packed with tourists which ruined it for me.  I felt like I was imposing on peoples' place of worship and I did not stay long.  I did have time to snap a few pictures before I left though!

High tide at the temple.

Even though there were a ton of people there, what are the chances I would run into the couple I took my cooking class with the previous day!  What a small world! (or small island I should say)

And soon the time finally came to when it was my last night in Bali.  I soaked it up by taking a walk on the boardwalk of the ocean.