Ubud, Bali

After staying one night at the Familiar Inn in Denpasar I had the best banana pancake since I arrived in Indonesia. Then I got on my motorbike, and started the short drive from Denpasar to Ubdud. When I arrived in Ubud I was looking for the Hibiscus Cottages since a friend of mine recommended this place. After driving around Ubud for a while I finally found the place, so now I'm staying in the middle of a rice terrace with no traffic noise at all.

Hibiscus Cottages in Ubud

The next day I decided to go for a day trip from Ubud to visit som sites in the area. The first place I visited was a temple called Yeh Pulu which was only a small ride to the east of Ubud. After visiting this temple I continued to the town of Bangli where I walked around the local morning market. I wandered around there for an hour or so before I visited Pura Kehen, this is supposed to be the most holy Hindu temple in Bali.

Yeh Pulu temple

A kaki-lima outside of the market in Bangli, literally "five feet". Depending on whom you ask, they're named either after the mobile stalls' three wheels plus the owner's two feet.

Sate Ayam kaki-lima

Different kinds of rice inside the market in Bangli

Another kaki-lima

Just another kaki-lima

Pura Kehen temple

From Bangli I drove to Tirta Empul, a temple built around a holy spring. There was also a really amazing holy pond, where water was coming up from the black sand on the bottom.

The holy pond at Tirta Empul

This is where the spring water comes up from the ground

The last place I went to before going back to Ubud was the famous Gunung Kawi, it's a temple as well, and to reach it you have to descend down almost 400 steps. There was also a really small, but nice water fall down there.

 Gunung Kawi stone carvings

A ceremony at the Gunung Kawi temple

Rice terraces on the way down the stairs to Gunung Kawi

Tomorrow I plan to drive north to Kintamani, and from there continue to the north coast of Bali.