Blake and Deb Far Away

Rice is big on Bali.  And because the production of rice requires flooding the fields, any slopes in the land must be dealt with by terracing to hold the water. This very practical solution to an agricultural problem nevertheless leads to some beautiful landscapes – a kind of hybrid of natural topography and human sculpting. The Jatiluwih Rice Terraces are among the most beautiful in Bali, even on a rainy day.

Ubud’s Monkey Forest is, quite literally, a forest full of monkeys. It’s also full of paths, a temple or two, and even a clinic to care for the stars of this popular tourist attraction. The Monkey Forest sits on the edge of central Ubud near our hotel, but the monkeys don’t know they are supposed to stay in the forest. They spill out onto the adjacent streets, clambering over rooftops, performing high wire acts on the overhead lines, and stealing bags of Doritos from unwary passersby. Local restaurants and other businesses have to continually chase them away. We were sitting in a nearby ice cream shop when a monkey perched on the wall of the adjacent art dealer’s storefront and proceeded to urinate on one of the paintings.  Everybody’s a critic. Like the sign said... Yes, he did get it open. A line of primates, including the phot

The upland town of Ubud is considered the cultural center of Bali, which is why we decided to spend the majority of our time here. It has some of the best museums in the country and is the place to go for Balinese painting, woodcarving, textiles, antiques, traditional crafts and dance. It is also a good base for exploring nearby temples and rice terraces. Just our kind of place. Pura Taman Saraswati, also known as Ubud Water Palace. It is a temple accessed by a walkway over a lotus pond - a real sanctuary just off a busy street. Oddly enough, it is tucked in behind a Starbucks. Ubud Water Palace Deborah and friend. Sidewalk vendor. This entrance is done up for a wedding (we think). Locals waiting for a break in traffic. Motorscooters are everywhere. This is right on one of the main streets. The boardwalk leads to a hotel/spa. The ponds feature newly planted rice. No opportunity to plant is passed up.

Another of our driver Putu’s less than stellar recommendations was what turned out to be a total tourist trap dance performance. We pulled up to the theatre along with the tour buses (a bad sign), declined the opportunity to pose with a young lady in traditional dress, sat on the bleachers and bore witness to an indifferent performance by untalented actors/dancers with out-of-sync musical accompaniment. The costumes were pretty good but the impenetrable story drawn from Hindu mythology seem to involve an inordinate amount of flabby middle-age men striking each other with bundles of leaves. A few attempts at crude humor were thrown in, but that only reinforced the notion that this presentation should not be taken seriously. In complete contrast, we attended a real Balinese dance performance known as Legong at an outdoor stage on the beautiful grounds of the Agung Rai Museum of Art (ARMA). This form of dance is very stylized with beautiful costumes, complicated footwork, intricate