Golden Hour Walk outside Ubud

May 29, 2009, Friday

Left the hotel at 5:30 am to go on a “Golden Hour” walk around the countryside near Ubud.  The purpose of the walk, aside from seeing the Balinese landscape at a beautiful time of day, as to see an unspoiled area and resembles the Bali of 40 years ago.  We began by unlocking the gate at a village temple named Samuan Tiga.  In order to enter the temple we donned sarongs and sashes.  Choy, our leader, brought a hat for the men to wear and I am so fond of it that I hope we can find one for Scott to take home. 

We spent 40 minutes or so walking quietly around and enjoying the temple, its structures and statues of gods and protectors, without anyone else being there except us.  It was absolutely lovely. I forgot to mention and how much moss there is on stones in Bali and small ferns grow out of cracks between rocks.  There’s a kind of musty, rainforest smell that permeates the air at most temples, including this one. 

Then we drove on extremely windy, narrow, one-lane roads and eventually got out to walk around a village called Pejeng.  We saw children going to school, women washing clothes, women carrying huge bundles on their heads, and both men and women working in rice fields.  All of this was taking place at about 7 am.  The Balinese clearly understand the advantages of working during the cooler and less humid hours of the day.  We did several more walks in areas where rice was being grown or harvested and finished up at around 10 am with much-needed coffee and breakfast.

At mid-day we transferred from the beloved Komaneka Bisma Hotel to the Maya Ubud Hotel.  We were sad to leave our home of the past few nights behind but I’m sure we’ll enjoy our new hotel just as much, particularly since it gives us a new set of spa options to choose from.  Once we got settled into our room – which by the way overlooks a 180 degree span of rice fields – we headed into town to explore a few of the shops.

I am here to report that when properly motivated Scott can shop with the best of them.  At a great shop in Ubud called Bamboo he found FIVE beautiful contemporary batik shirts, and probably could have bought more.  It was so much fun looking through all the batik designs and colors.  Please Bamboo – make things for women!

Dinner tonight was at a highly rated French restaurant (yes, I know, French – but after all, how much nusi goreng can we eat?) called Mosaic.  Tables were in beautiful garden and Scott and I opted for the wine paring 7-course dinner.  The cuisine was Asian-inspired French and was one of the very best meals I’ve ever eaten.