Purification Ritual, Monkey Forest, Rice
Today we were picked up at 8:45am for our day tour to see the highlights of ubud. Whilst on the way to the first stop, our guide informed us that the name ubud comes from the word ‘ubad’ meaning herbal medicine. The rich volcanic soil left over from the eruptions creates the best environment for herbs and spices to grow. Many of which we saw in the fields whilst in the car.
Stop one was the monkey forest. Our guide took us to a quieter part of the forest compared to the main one in ubud which houses vicious monkeys. Robin preferred this because with less monkeyed and less people it was calmer. The guide helped set up photos; I had a monkey on my head with its balls resting on my neck (yuck), and robin ended up with two baby monkeys on her arms.
A short drive later we arrived at the wholesale painting shop in which we spent around 10 minutes admiring ubuds artistic flare, comparable to Glastonbury in England. We especially liked the textured paintings of the koi fish the best.
The sun was shining as we arrived at the waterfall. We descended some steep stairs to get to the bottom. I took my shoes off and walked out to a shallow rock ledge, Robin did not follow but instead snapped some great pics of me. The way up was sweat inducing as the mid day sun beat down.
Thankfully our next stop was lunch, in which we enjoyed a set menu of delightful Indonesian food.
Feeling rejuvenated we drove to the temple. This temple was special, one payed out for spiritual purification. Walking in we were given sarongs to change into next we prayed infront of an alter offering flowers money and incense. The next step was to walk down some steps into some cool water, there were huge fish and it was about belly button hight. On an Indonesian this is about nipple hight. We had to bow our heads 3 times in streams numbered 2-10 and then 13. Skipping 1,11,12 as they are reserved for the dead spirits. In the next pool we only went under number one before climbing out and drying off.
our last stop was to some rice terraces. Here robin found a cat saving it from rolling off, in its sleepy state, into rice fields. To thank Robin he crawled onto her lap for a quick nap. She was delighted.
On arriving back at the hostel we went for dinner at a live music bar. In which there was an Indonesian reggae band playing. They were very good.
We are really looking forward to welcoming Gail and Mark to Indonesia tomorrow. They are currently on their first plane and we wish them a smooth journey ahead.
-M (dictated) typed by R
