Ubud Day 2

Sight Seeing in Sarongs

Following everyone's advise and with only one day left, we hired a driver to do a whistle stop tour of Ubud and it's surrounds. It sounds extravagant but at $40 for the whole day, it seemed like a bargain. 

stunning rice terraces

Worth every penny, we had our own list of places we wanted to check out and Wayan was very obliging, throwing in his own knowledge and personal experiences of his home town. Typically proud and flattered that westerners want to visit their island, an attitude that shone through everywhere we went. 

Temples featured on our list, armed with our Desa Seni Sarongs and looking like a couple of badly dressed lesbians we were ready to explore. Most impressive and surprisingly moving was Tirta Empul. Built around hot springs that still bubble in the central courtyard, this place was heaving and most weren't tourists. Now, on the rare occasion I have visited temples, never before have I seen them so in use as this one. The Balinese come here to cleanse physically and spiritually. 

beautiful Tirta Empul

Watching the young mothers lift their little ones in to the water, smiling at us tourists, completely unfazed by our stares and cameras (yes I felt guilty for snapping away) brought a tear to my eye. Seeing how the pools were full of locals of all ages queuing so neatly to wash under the springs was very moving. I felt I had a genuine glimpse in to Hindu life in Bali. 

eat prey lesbian

"Can We Eat it Yet" at Casa Luna Cookery School

After a day on the road and a sneaky $5 foot massage we prepared for our cookery class. 

pinnies

duck caught and killed with bamboo that morning-at least its fresh

The Casa Luna cooking school is held at honeymoon guesthouse in the centre of Ubud, set up by Aussie chef Janet DeNeefe. http://www.casalunabali.com/cooking-school/Our teacher for the evening was Janet's right hand man, Yudi. Yudi liked a chat, luckily so did the rest of our group. Yudi often went off topic, telling us about her family dramas and her stand up comedy group but you know what, it all added to the experience and I learnt a lot, not only about cooking but also Balinese culture. We were making smoked duck, a ceremonial dish, served on very special occasions and ordinarily cooked by the men. Men cook the dishes for important occasions, whilst ladies do the everyday dishes. Yudi was taught by her mother and grandmother and passed on her tips to us. I also learnt a lot about the ingredients-I never knew there were so many types of gingers! 

stand up comedian

smoking the duck

lovely hibiscus tea

Other than a good go on the pestle and mortar, we did more watching, bantering and giggling than cooking but it was a fun evening! We shared beers with our classmates and got to tuck in to the smoked duck feast, served with fragrant yellow rice, long bean lawar and carrot and cucumber salad. Followed by coconut ice cream. 

my one job-squishing the spices

Casa Luna Cooking school-twilight smoked duck class cost $45 each, not bad considering you get a slap up meal!