Touring Ubud

To see some of the sights around Ubud it was better to hire a guide for a full day rather than negotiate traffic ourselves. The day started with breakfast served on my veranda.

The first stop was a barong and keris dance that represents the eternal fight between good and evil. The good being a barong which is a mythical animal and the evil being a rangda which is a mythical monster. The music is traditional and I liked this music. The same instruments are used to call people to prayer every morning.

The video of excerpts of the dance or together can be seen here: https://youtu.be/-TBBHDi-30o

A tiger appears and helped with the monkey fight men in the forest.

Servants of the rangda dance. They are looking for servants of Dewi Kunti who they will bewitch in order to sacrifice Dewi Kunti’s son Sadewa to the rangda.

Bewitched servants.
Sadewa tied to the tree for sacrifice. The god Siwa however gives him immortality.
Sadewa and the rangda.
Sadewa kills the rangda.
Followers of the barong. There is a portion of the dance that is pretty funny when they encounter a boar. Their humor and timing was pretty great. It was a good time that I forgot to take pictures.

Next stop was learning how batik and silver jewelry were made. They employ villagers to make crafts sold here in Bali.

After this (and spending money on amazing silver earrings with moonstones from Bali and larimar stones from Madagascar) we went to the Pura puseh temple. I knew that every house and business has a temple but learned that every neighborhood has a larger temple for community prayer and offering.

Then a waterfall.

Then on to the coffee plantation. This plantation has civets for kope luwak. This is where the civets eat the berries, it is processed slightly during digestion, then collected, cleaned, roasted, and dried after excretion. The coffee is generally expensive but cheaper here in Bali. Though I know it is not the same as collecting the seeds from wild civet poo, it still is legit. These civets are fed the berries instead of foraging in the wild.

Civets are nocturnal.
Green coffee berries
Luwak coffee is stronger than typical Balinese. We bought cassava and banana chips to eat.
We also were given free samples of many other types of coffee and tea they produce.

The last stop was at the rice terraces. A bit disappointing as it was very commercialized with zip lining, right rope biking, or swinging. A little underwhelming after hiking for two days through rice terraces in China and only encountering small villages.

Kokokan petulu birds.

After an 11 hour day we grabbed dinner. The number of vegan and vegetarian places are amazing here. Balinese food also has many naturally vegan dishes to begin with. I should have packed everything and just stayed here until the end of the year. It is amazing.

Fresh fruit in the room.
This is a snake skin fruit. When you peel the outside, there are three lobes of fruit with seeds inside. They crunch like an apple but are not sweet and a little acidic. Still very delicious but I like most things.
Morning view from my balcony.

One thought on “Touring Ubud”

  1. You have great adventures, Louise! I love reading your journey, makes
    Me a true armchair traveler! Thank you for sharing.

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