After leaving Gili Air we got on a Fast Boat and headed back to Bali. This time we were headed North into the Jungle towards Ubud to experience a different part of Bali then the beach. After driving on winding roads through the thick forest we found our hotel down a quiet street flanked on one side by a rice field.

Ubud apparently is famous from the book, Eat, Pray, Love. I never read it or watched the movie, but there was a certain tourist element to it. There were many temples, art galleries, and yoga references. It had a different feel than beach Bali. It also had a Mexican restaurant. True Confessions, of course we went. The only time we get good Mexican food is when we make it, so when Casa Taco was recommended to us it was high on the to do list. What’s even better? It did not disappoint.

The hotel had a relationship with the local gym, so we went. I mean we did want to “lose the gainz” right (joking not joking)? It was a fun experience to lift at a local gym. The first thing that became apparent was that there was no air conditioning in the gym. 80 degrees not terrible, but high humidity in a confined space with many other sweaty people… a slightly different story. That being said it was still fun. If you are reading this puzzled it is because maybe I have not told you about our new love of powerlifting. I have a newfound appreciation for exercise in ways I wish I understood as that insecure body conscious teenage girl… but I am getting off topic (maybe a post for another day). One of my favorite moments was watching the local lifters assess D and step in to spot when they thought I was not paying attention (I was paying attention… I just apparently did not seem like I was helping enough).

Day two in Ubud, I had signed us up for a cooking class via AirBnB. The cooking school picked us up early in the morning and took us to a local market. They introduced us to all the different spices, vegetables, and fruits that we were going to be using. It is always interesting to see the locals walk away with a live chicken. It is such a different lifestyle/experience than picking up chicken at the grocery store. It makes me realize how far away from the “process” we are, but it also makes me appreciate the grocery store. If I had to butcher it I would be a vegetarian!

After our market tour, we were driven to their farm which we toured and picked the ingredients we would be using in our lunch. It was fun to wander through the farm identify different vegetables and spices and pick them for our ingredient basket. The instruction kitchen was open air and since D and I were the only ones not doing the vegetarian menu we had our own teacher. It was amazing how many different spices they put into the different dishes. One of the main ingredients we made was called Bambu Bali and we had to grind many of the different spices into a paste which then was fried and added to different dishes. It made me want to own a mortar and pestle, which I have been saying for years… since we took that Thai cooking class in Thailand… maybe one day I will actually commit and buy one.

The first course was a vegetable dish with rice and grated coconut. I really liked the flavor of fresh shredded coconut. I think growing up in the states, I had this perception of shredded coconut as something dry and scratchy, but the fresh stuff I did not truly understand. It is so tasty! Next, we made satay, which getting on the skewer is a true art form and skill that we do not have. Finally, we made chicken curry. For dessert our teacher made us a sweet sticky rice.

Originally the class was advertised as a half day experience, but we were so involved in chatting with our classmates by the end of our meal it was 2 in the afternoon! D had a real fan girl moment when chatting with one of the other guys on the tourist he found out that he worked for Lucas films and was indeed one of the artists working on the new installment. It was so funny! “I know you cannot talk about it but… I mean they don’t give you parts of the script do they?…” He was a cool guy. He explained to D that yes when they are working on a scene the do know details of the story so they can focus on making it all fit together. After that it was time to leave because the afternoon class needed our space. They drove us back to our hotel and got stuck in some truly awful traffic, so we opted to walk the last several blocks because it really was faster than sitting in the van.

Day three we had a tour of some of the sights and the tour guide would drop us off in back in Beach Bali for our last night before our flight back to Taiwan. First stop the Monkey Forrest. Yes, it is what it sounds like a forest full of monkeys. The signage in this place proves that tourists do dumb things. While we were there one even pretended to touch a monkey inevitably for her instagram to which the monkey quickly turned around and grabbed her skirt. Her shriek led the forest workers to come and remind people of the rules they are supposed to be following. It was neat, but it also made me paranoid that the monkeys were going to come after us.

Next stop, the rice terraces. This form of agriculture is really impressive. It makes the landscape look like art and is beautiful to take in. For lunch, we went to see the volcano 🌋, but with the rain that rolled in there was no volcano to see. Despite the rain we had a yummy lunch and fun fellowship with our tour guide.

After lunch we had the opportunity to taste the famed kopi luwak “Cat-poo-chino”; civet cat coffee. Yes, it is the coffee beans eaten and digested by the Asian palm civet before washing, roasting, and making coffee. Supposedly the cat is very selective when it eats the coffee beans from the plant and the fermentation process that happens during digestion makes the coffee smoother tasting. At the coffee farm they had Mumu a domesticated civet cat, that made our visit that much more special.

From there it was the beginning of the long drive back to beach Bali with a quick stop to see some of the silver jewelry that is everywhere being made. We bid farewell to our new friend and spent our last night in Bali on the beach. We found a great Indian restaurant that had live Bollywood music to make our last night even more memorable.

The next morning we had breakfast looking out at the ocean. Before we went to the airport we put our feet in the sand one last time. We just scratched the surface of the things to do and see in Bali. It is definitely a place you can spend a lot of time and make many great memories. Terima Kasih (Thank You) Indonesia, hope we make it back to see you again someday!