Ubud Brings out the artists

I thought a week in Ubud would be enough but we have been so busy shopping and spa time has been limited!  One of the advantages of being here in rainy season - the lushness of the plants and the beautiful flowers.  Both are mind boggling.

We’ve enjoyed some special meals with entertainment and delicious food. The Lotus Cafe served us a very traditional Balinese platter prior to having front row seats to the dance performance. The eye movement and the fingers bending backwards are both amazing talents that girls learn from a young age. Some of our own even entertained. The musicians were women - a first for me to see.

Our artist talents have been put to the test a couple of times.  Batik class was the first challenge. We had help through out the process from the members of Widya’s team and the results were incredible. The steps started with tracing a design, outlining it with hot wax, painting it, letting the sun dry it and then dipping it in a mixture of water, acid and salt before boiling it.

Before the acid wash and boiling

After the wash and boiling

Talent was further demonstrated with silver making.  It was a frantic 2 hours of melting silver, hammering, filing and polishing but again the results were fantastic and all walked away with a ring or pendant.

Cooking talents were demonstrated in cooking class at Paon cooking.  Chopping, smashing, stirring and tasting kept us busy for 2 hours before we sat down to a tasty dinner created by us!

The Subak Juwuk Manis rice fields behind Ubud are a UNESCO site.  As we walked through them we saw rice fields in many different stages as well as the irrigation system.  It was far busier than it had been two years before.  This was very evident when we stopped for refreshments and drinks  at my favorite Warung -Sweet Orange Cafe.  They have opened up a new section!  It was a welcome stop for a snack and refreshment.  

It was a 3 am wake up call to make the journey to the Kintamani area for sunrise.  Fingers crossed that the weather  would cooperate and it did - we witnessed a golden sunrise in a private spot that Expeditions Bali have discovered!  I think amazing is the right word.  

The early morning wake up was further rewarded with a stop at a lovely resort for swimming, relaxation and a tasty lunch.

As you might expect, Bali is full of waterfalls.  Most are quite difficult to get to.  Our sunrise morning finished with a visit to one of the easier ones - only 90 steps down! The water was refreshing but only braved by a few of us as the access to is difficult.

No matter how hard I try I can’t get rid of the banana pancakes from Sweet Orange in the wrong place!