Lost in Ubud......

Turns out if you ask your taxi driver to take you nearer the coast, he will in fact drive you into the centre of Bali to a small but perfectly formed town called Ubud. (Just something to take into account anyone contemplating a visit to Bali.)

This place is a beautiful place to be lost in. The town itself is really small but there are a number of villages that surround it that could be mistaken for part of Ubud. It is steeped in culture and despite its modest size, holds its own as the Balinese capital of the Arts. You honestly couldn't go a second without walking past an art gallery or a temple or a FIRE DANCER! As you can imagine, I was in my element! Not because of the fire, I'm not a pyromaniac.

The village is surrounded by rice paddies and as it's still the rainy season the whole area is just suffused with every shade of green you could imagine. This is unquestionably my favourite place yet.

It's a far cry from Kuta. Eveything is much more relaxed and you can be strolling for at least ten minutes before anyone even looks at you and contemplates asking if you would like a taxi. (where to I have no idea, everything you want is right on your doorstep there is literally one road through the whole of the town.)

Of course this little visit wouldn't have been the same without a bit of drama would it (by drama I mean me overreacting). Now Rabies is still rife here, just like the rest of Indonesia. Some sort of crazed epidemic within the dogs and the monkeys. They're getting it under control but Bali has been hit badly with it. I'm not very confident with animals at the best of times but when I know they are all roaming around mental out of their faces ready to bite and I haven't been injected with the Rabies vaccination...it's a little disconcerting.
With that in mind Rach and I decided it would be a fine idea to go and visit the sacred Monkey Forest just down the road....and feed them. (it's okay though because there was a lady selling the bananas right outside and she hadn't been arrested so it must have been legal, I do promise never to do it again.)

Laura xx