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Published: October 3rd 2009
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Local just cruzin with her goods
The locals seem flattered if you ask for a picture they are gracious and gentle Well I think our bodies are becoming acclimated to the time change. Last night after a couple glasses of wine I was down for the count. It was only 7:00pm. This morning I'm up and ready to start my day @ 3:00 am. The day before we were in bed @ 6:00 pm. We're making progress!
Today we ate breakfast and made big plans for a deluxe day at the Zen Day Spa (also recommended by Kelly). We were signed up for a hour massage, full body scrub and a floral bath. The whole treatment was to take 1 1/2 hrs. The bummer was we fell behind and lost track of time. We called to ask them if we could come in 15 minutes late and it sounded OK. By the time we got there they wanted to only give us the partial treatment. We declined and rebooked for tommorrow. We are on vacation but we do need to watch the time!
The rain spattered a bit more again today. Sometimes harder than we wanted. With hats and ponchos in hand we took off on foot for the central area of Ubud. I had read about the stores in the area
and the variety of goods available but I didn't imagine it would be so great!
We passed all sorts of great looking shops with brightly colored clothing, wood carving, jewlery, ceramics you name it. Living close to Mexico we have seen shopping areas of this kind selling locally made goods but this was different. These are finely crafted and all very unique. On our way through Ubud we had to stop at Monkey Forest. As we were getting close to the park entrance I knew this was going to be fun! Monkeys were crusin' around outside the park area! Whats that tell ya? There is a shit load of them! Monkeys galore! I couldn't get enough of this place. Freekin' monkeys EVERYWHERE. I loved it!
I freekin almost blew it though. There are signs all around telling you what to do and mostly what NOT TO DO. One of the things mentioned is that monkeys are unpredictable. They can smell food on you even if it is in your pocket or backpack. So... not more than 2 minutes after reading the sign I unzip the back pack to grab the ponchos. I also decided to grab the trail mix for
Monkeys at Monkey forest
This lil guys was so cute. He sat so well in the same spot for a long while. a snack and "Yikes" a monkey jumps on my back! This guy was lightening fast and what I wanna know is how did he know I was getting out some grub? That was amazing!
We walked and we shopped. We bought a few things but I feel like we've barely scratched the surface.
We met some locals and boy do they love to talk. One guy I met today started asking questions right away. I was told they are very curious folks and they are interested in knowing your situation right away. I was told not be surprised by their boldness and their directness of their questions. This guy just straight up said to me "Where are you going'? What can I say to this? I told him" Im just checking things out". Before I know it he's pulling out the chair in front of me at the restaurant were we'er standing and I'm looking at a pocket photo album of him and his family.
One thing I've noticed is every where you go, every hotel, business or restaurant seems to have an army of smiling employees meticulously cleaning, sweeping, and wiping. They are all dressed very well mostly in
SMF
So many monkeys... not enough memory traditional clothing with their hair neatly done. The older locals all seem to have a similar look. They look like they have lived a life of hard labor. They all walk around bare foot (as do most) and one thing you can't help but notice is how meaty, and flat their feet are. They represent hoofs more than feet. Their smiles are as wide as their faces with just a sprinkeling of teeth.
I was waiting for Peter outside a store and this older local said "Hey where you from"? I told him USA. He started calling me Vanna White. I went along with it saying things like "I want to buy a vowel" while pretending to spin the wheel. He was rolling in laughter. Then he started singing Born in the USA and was saying things like "Bruce Springsteen you like him"? Then what really amazed me was he said where do you live in the US and I told him San Diego. He says "Dennis Conner He's from there, right"? I almost feel off my feet. How did this guy know these facts? He had no more than 6 teeth (no kidding) and large milky eyes.
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Linda Murphy
non-member comment
pictures
More pictures! Great blog :)