Bali

We had lunch at a restaurant that overlooked a rice paddy.

The food was mediocre but the view was great.

We finished our lunch and our next stop was a volcano.

Not quite Krakatau...

Nice views by the lake, but then the hordes arrived, I mean the street hawkers.  The problem with street vendors who won’t leave you alone, is you still have to remain polite as this is all part of what they appear to enjoy , they certainly have the pattern down pat and their English is surprisingly good.  They were the most aggressive street vendors we have encountered in Indonesia and reminded us of Egypt.

This one vendor actually put a wooden chess set on John’s knees when we were seated in the van; he was with John from the time we arrived until we left.  John told him that his wife wouldn’t let him buy anything so he came after me and the cheek of him telling John he could get me to buy the chess set.  He gave up and went back to John!!!  We were happy to leave there, since we were in the mountains it was time for a coffee break, they took us to where they grew and roasted coffee bean, we didn’t see any of that, just the store.  They did sell a very rare coffee for $90.00 for a small bag.

The little Luwak

Luwak Poop

Poop Coffee, I mean Pea Berry coffee, although we didn’t buy the $90 coffee, we did get some Lemongrass Tea and Ginseng Coffee, both are wonderful, especially in the heat and humidity.

50.000 Rupiah is $5.00 for a very small cup.  These cups were thimble sized.

Bali is a great place to stock up on spices and they sell them in small, medium or large baskets, great marketing.

Next stop the Adi Bungalows, where we would be staying.

When you enter the first thing you see is the pool, then we passed a Goddess,  there are paths that wend their way to the bungalows, every day it seemed I took a different path, and we had our own temple with a shrine.  Lots of flowers and Koi Fish.

Our first night we went to a restaurant called Wayans Patio, a couple from Charlotte, North Carolina have been coming here for about ten years and gave us a number of restaurants that they thought we would enjoy.  Wayans is a garden restaurant, so all of the tables are surrounded by lush greenery, so you think you are eating dinner in your own private garden.  This restaurant started out as many of the popular restaurants in Ubud, by being a small family owned business that provided snacks for the rice field workers.  The tourists started to arrive so they had simple tables and chairs with a small menu.   The chef is the Mom of the family and her husband is the one who created the gardens for their guests to enjoy.  We met the chef, I forget her name, shame on me and I didn’t write it down, but she still comes out to meet and greet her guests.  What a perfect way to end our day.

Good Night.