Bali ~ Day 3

Day 3: The third day was a long one! 

On day two as we rode back from Kuta Beach, our cab driver offered us a good deal for hiring him for a full 10 hours to tour us around Ubud (the artistic district in the middle of the island) for about $50. So we decided to take him up on the offer. We set up to meet him at 10 am. Ubud is and hour and a half away from Nusa Dua, where we stayed.

1. Our first stop was at a sliver jewelry factory. We got to tour the factory and the polish room. We also go to see the final products in the sales room, however we weren't allowed to take pictures in there. It was so strange to see so much manual labor, it was sort of sad. I know they were getting paid, however, to sit in a large non-airconditioned warehouse and do such meticulous work... and then to have a bunch of tourists come in, watch you work, and take pictures of you. It just seemed demeaning. 

2.  Our second stop was to see artists painting wax on cloth. We didn't spend a whole lot of time at this stop.... The artists let the wax dry on the cloth, as it dries it changes color, and then they paint some more (or something like that). Like the jewelry showroom, we were not allowed to take pictures in the art showroom. We did buy a small piece of artwork. It is a painting with an elephant going up a hill, with a palm tree in the background. The base color is blue, and we will be hanging it up in baby's room! 

3. Our third stop was at a Temple.  Not real sure which one, there are so many! I believe I may have stated this before, but Bali is the only island amongst all the islands of Indonesia, that is Hindu. The rest of the islands are Muslim. Anyways, we paid a small donation, put on sarrongs (sp?); which are cloths tied around the waist to cover your knees. You must wear one if you don't have clothing that already covers your knees.... it is out of respect for the gods. Anyways, we walked around exploring and taking pictures for a while, but soon got too hot and went back to the car. 

4.  Our fourth stop was lunch. We ate in an open air traditional Indonesian food restaurant that over looked some rice fields. It was such an amazing view, with a great breeze. Once again it was a little strange to sit  and enjoy a well cooked meal with cold drinks, while natives were out working in the fields, being watched by all the tourists. However, the food was good, and we were able to relax and enjoy ourselves for an hour or so! 

 French Frice

5. Our fifth stop was in the middle of Ubud; at Monkey Forrest. Here we just walked through the "forrest" watching all of the monkeys and taking a lot of pictures. At one point Tim sat down, and a monkey decided to come over and see what he was about. The monkey at first just touched his leg, seeing if he had anything in his pocket, then he decided to climb into Tim's lap and play with the button on his shirt. Then Tim had enough and stood up, and the monkey went away. About 5 minutes later, Tim subconsciously put his hands in his pocket and another monkey came up to him trying to get whatever he thought Tim had. It was crazy. We saw a lot of baby monkeys feeding, and a lot of monkeys cleaning each other! They were everywhere! 

 This one liked playing with the rock.. he was rubbing it on the sidewalk

 Breast feeding

 Tim made a friend

 Then another monkey tried to get into his pocket.

Tim's favorite pictures :)

6. Our sixth stop was at a rice field. It covered an entire valley. It was so vast, a true sight of God's beauty. We stayed here a while walking around and taking pictures. The pictures don't even begin to grasp how beautiful, green, spacious, and detailed it was. (click on the pictures to see them enlarged)

7. Our final stop for the day was perfect! Our driver took us to a coffee bean farm. They grow their own coffee beans, brew their own coffee and let you have samples, and of course they sell it. I say it was perfect because we walked around for a little bit, and then got to sit over looking a valley full of bamboo, listening to some soft Balinese music and tasting different kinds of coffee, tea, and cocoa. The sun was starting to set, and all of the other tourists had already left; we were the only ones there. Pure relaxation!

We then drove back to our hotel, and decided to order room service sine we had spent the day out and about. On our drive, we set up plans with the driver for the following day! Read the next post to find out ...

For day 1 click here.

For day 2 click here.