Beautiful Ubud
I've been dying to share these photos from around Ubud, Bali. After Yogyakarta, we went to Bali and spent our first couple of days in Kuta. We were originally planning to stay there for an entire week, but the staff at our Yogyakarta hostel said that we absolutely couldn't miss out on Ubud. It's not hard to see why they would recommend it! It wasn't as "touristy" as Kuta, and there was not a lot of partying going on. This suited us well, actually! The photos below are from a daytrip we made with a local driver. We booked it through the hostel and it was a very nice and affordable way to experience the area. Agus, the driver, was extremely kind and helpful and we had a lot of fun.
First stop - Rice terrace!
Agus was being really artsy when he offered to take our picture. Here, he was crouching behind some plants for artistic effect!
These photos were taken at a coffee plantation, where they produce the famous (and expensive) Kopi Luwak! It's basically coffee made from beans that have been eaten, processed and pooped out by a civet cat. I had never heard of it before and it seemed a little strange, but we got the chance to try it and it was actually really good coffee! Who would have thought?
Next stop was the Holy Water Temple. I didn't take a lot of photos since it seems a bit... intrusive, to photograph people when they are praying and washing themselves with the holy water. Little leaf-baskets like these can be found all around Bali. I saw people prepare them several times a day - carefully putting flowers in them, lighting incense and finally, sprinkling petals over the whole thing.
We ventured off on a trail away from the temple and found some gorgeous rice fields. I loved the Balinese landscape and its' silhouettes!
I found a setting on my camera that is able to detect and single out certain colours. How cool is that?!
Finally, the last stop of the day - the Tegenungan waterfall. We cooled off with a swim and it was very well-needed. Pretty crowded, but still worth it. I never thought about how much force there actually is in a waterfall. As in, how much the water is able to push you and how strong the currents are around it!
I hope you enjoyed these landscapes as much as I did! I still have some more photos from recess week that will be up later, and also a post on my recent weekend trip to Kuala Lumpur. I had a chance to explore the city with my friend Daniel, which was awesome! Stay tuned, keep checking in and all that. Til next time!
/ Julia