Thursday May 8, 2014
Jimbaran, Bali
Hot but Sunny!
Day 2 in Ubud started again with us getting a spa treatment at a place recommended by Apple. We spent about 2 hours at the spa getting pampered. I haven't had a massage since my trip to Vietnam in 2012 so it was fantastico!
The spa provided transport so we had them take to to the Amandari Resort (an Aman Resort in Ubud). Our plan was to have lunch there as it was recommended by my bookclub ladies. As an Aman resort, it did not disappoint. We had a delicious tradiitional Indonesian lunch with wine. It was lovely and leisurely. We even did some shopping at the gift store as they had the most gorgeous local items. I bought a couple of rice spoons as gifts and a beautiful pair of marcasite earrings.
View from Amandari Resort
Our lunch
We then decided to take a walk. There were some steep stairs that seemed to lead to the bottom of the valley. They were big and steep stairs that was difficult for me to take cuz of my knee. Sandra went all the way down where it took her to a fast moving river and temple. While waiting for her at the lookout point - a couple of flights down the stairs - 2 folks came to me on different occasions asking if I was OK. I guess there are security cameras everywhere! Sandra came back after about 10 minutes soaking in sweat as it was pretty hot and humid. When going up the flight of stairs, I too started sweating bullets!
The hot hike down to the valley. I stopped here while Sandra continued down.
The steep steps
The resort called a taxi for us who took us back to the hotel. We took an hour break and then headed out again to explore the town on our own. Our hotel is on Monkey Road so we walked down the road to Monkey Forest while stopping at shops on the way. We had no intentions on going into monkey forest as Sandra is not a big fan of monkeys. However, there were a few monkeys just outside the forest so we took a few pics of them. While Sandra was trying to get a photo of the monkey's "front side" the monkey jumped at her and grabbed her Turkish eye ornament she got in Istanbul last year! I was busy taking photos so all I heard was her scream and folks running to her to help her. Fortunately she did not get scratched, and the monkey dropped the Turkish eye, so she can get her ornament fixed.
Monkey Forest monkeys that did not get along with Sandra
After that crazy incident, we walked back up Monkey Road and decided to find a place near Ubud Palace for drinks. We decided near Ubud Palace because we wanted to see a traditional Balinese dance show. The dance show was great! I was not sure I would enjoy it but found it fascinating and wow! the costumes - gorgeous! The dance was very intense and expressive. I was amazed how the dancers used their hands as accessories during the dance. It was definitely worth seeing.
We then walked home, stopped for a scoop of gelato, and then called it a day.
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