Today we moved out of Melia Bali and Nusa Dua to get a change of scenery in Ubud, a small town further inland. Agus was with us again in his van, and we turned the drive into a bit of a sightseeing tour. One of our stops was Mas, a village with a specialty in wood carving. It seemed like almost every shop sold wood carvings, including masks, sculptures, and furnishings. We stopped in this shop that had a shelf full of Barong carvings- Barong is a Balinese mythological creature who brings good fortune and health.
The front of the store was a little workshop, with boys and girls helping to polish and sand the carvings.
For lunch, we tried crispy duck for the first time. Agus told us that it's an Ubud specialty, and that we must try it. I enjoyed it, but I think my family is more used to the bigger, juicier ducks that we usually eat Chinese-style.
After, we stopped at a coffee plantation to try some famous luwak coffee. It's the most expensive coffee in the world, because it's made from beans that have first been digested by civets (like this guy above).
The beans have to be roasted by hand for a full hour before they turn the rich coffee-brown that we're familiar with.
We got to sample many of the plantations different drinks that they produce, from traditional Balinese coffee to flavoured coffees like coconut, vanilla and ginseng to different teas like lemongrass, ginger, rosella and red rice. Not pictured is the small cup of luwak coffee that purchased, which I honestly found to be a little too sour for my tastes. I'm no coffee connoisseur though, so I have no idea what really good coffee is supposed to taste like.
We went to the Tirtha Empul Temple after polishing off our coffee. There are temples everywhere in Bali- every household has a small one (or a big one, depending on how wealthy the family is), and there are many village temples and larger public temples all over the place. This one in particular is famous for its pool of holy water where Hindu worshipers go to bathe and pray. Like many other attractions in Bali, it was overrun by tourists when we got there.
Our last stop was a glance at some of Bali's beautiful rice terraces. Unfortunately by the time we got there, the sun was well on its way to setting and it was looking quite overcast. Hopefully I can get some better photos in a few days when it's sunnier outside.
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