The sites & sights of Ubud

After a leisurely breakfast including very good black rice porridge with coconut milk and bananas, Dave and Patrick caught a bus to their next destination. It was kind of rainy out, so in lieu of bicycling (and getting really sweaty), Sarah and I hired a driver to take us to the rice terraces. When I had imagined Ubud, I had thought that you would be surrounded by rice paddies and beautiful countryside. Nope, you have to drive to it many kilometers away past lots of tourist art shops. The terraces were pretty enough but as we stood taking in the view with all the other tourists who had likewise hired drivers to take them there, some of the glory of scenery was lost on me.

Back in Ubud, we strolled the streets poking into little clothes and jewelry shops. I ended up with a Balinese style shirt which I half suspect was a demo model but I didn't have time to have anything made, and the seamstress seemed very pleased to sell it too me, so some bartering later, I was the owner. We also made time to eat at a very well known roasted duck restaurant. It was pretty good.

We had just enough time to fit in a little spa treatment before we caught our bus. Sarah was heading to a beach town - which she reported later was really unimpressive - and I was heading to the airport for a luckily very smooth flight home. Though I was borderline tickled and concerned when the flight attendant finished her safety briefing with "And let us all pray to god for a safe flight". Hmmm, always a good idea, however...