Ubud, monkeys and rice

Saturday, September 1, 2018 / Fabian

After a gentle farewell in Nusa Lembongan, our journey continued to Ubud on the island of Bali.

We really like Ubud, amidst rice terraces, palm trees, and jungle, there are many beautiful temples, restaurants, and cafes. ☕️ 🌴

And the journey is slowly turning into an adventure... After the broken underwater camera, now comes the next disaster. Money was withdrawn from my credit card in the Philippines :( The card has now been blocked and I can't withdraw any more money 😅

Also, yesterday morning, the earth shook for about 10 seconds... It was quite impressive, we have never experienced anything like that before 😳 Fortunately, it was not strong and nothing happened!

Despite everything, according to the weather forecast, we can hope for 30 degrees and sunshine.

In reality, it's about 20 degrees and raining all day.

So we have postponed our shopping plans to the great joy of Gianna ( 😉) and rented a driver with our German neighbors.

After visiting an ultra-touristy rice terrace with tea tasting, we went to a Hindu temple where we could bathe in the holy springs. Don't laugh, in every temple you have to wear a traditional Sarong 😉.

We are enjoying a beautiful time here, especially in our guesthouse. The room is located in the midst of about 5 houses of a local family. We usually have fresh fruits for breakfast, and today we spontaneously received a big snack with fresh fruits and cakes! We almost feel guilty and overwhelmed by the hospitality 😃! The experiences we have already had here will certainly have a big impact on our lives 🙃.

However, the sympathy for the locals quickly faded when we visited the market! Several times we were angrily driven away because we wanted to pay too little 😬.

Probably we still paid too much, for example, 5 CHF for a T-shirt... Doesn't matter, it was even funnier to watch the Chinese! First of all, they buy every junk, and secondly, they are exploited and ripped off like Christmas geese!! What a spectacle! Especially popular are the wooden penises in all colors. It's clear who buys such crap —-> the Chinese. 😅

As a reward for keeping quiet during the shopping trip and as a thank you for the lunch pizza, it was finally my turn: Monkey Forest 🐒 🌴

In the midst of giant trees, there are temples and statues overgrown with moss, as well as a sacred spring. Everything is sacred in Bali. Apparently, the Balinese believe in over 3000 gods and offer them heaps of rice and trinkets. There is a permanent incense stick cloud throughout Bali 😉

In any case, I don't think the monkeys are revered. They prefer to fight over food and steal sunglasses from unsuspecting tourists. Or they sit down in the son's stroller much to the horror of the parents 😂. However, a clever little monkey also tried to open the zipper of my backpack on my back!

Exhausted from all the impressions and smells, we sleep very well. In the next two weeks, we plan to surf, maybe go diving, and do more activities! Since we have already attended a yoga class on Nusa, we are now in balance with the world and the universe! 🌏♥️🤩