Bali: Day 2

Today Aaron wasn't feeling much better, but he toughed it out and we took a cab to the Memorial Wall.  In October of 2002, there was a terrorist bombing at the site of the original Paddy's Pub killing 202 people and injuring 209 others.  People of all nationalities were killed (mostly Australians on vacation) and they erected a beautiful memorial in remembrance.

So sad!

They also had a couple posters for Paris:

Really beautiful memorial in the middle of the city, devastating to think we'll probably be erecting a lot more of these soon.

We found a cab to take us back and the driver was asking us where we had been in Bali.  He told us we should go to Ubud and see the sights.  I asked if he could take us (it's about an hour away from Kuta) and we worked out a deal.  He ended up taking us to a bunch of cool places on the way.  Let's hit it!

First stop: Silver Factory

Now, we weren't trying to shop, but this place was amazing!  Check out the building:

They took us to their workshop in the back, where they make all the jewelry:

Really neat to see!

Then they took us to the showroom, which was equally stunning, but we couldn't take any pictures.  We didn't buy anything, but it was a sight to see and I'm glad we went.

Next stop: Coffee Plantation

Bali is known for a special type of coffee called Luwak Coffee, made from the excrement of the Asian Palm Civit (they said it's like a mongoose).  Basically, the Lewak ingests the coffee bean and the enzymes in it's stomach process it somehow and it poos out magic.  I'll get into it more later.  The tour guide told us they call it "cat-poo-chino."  Get it?  Like cappuccino?  Well, I thought it was funny.  Anyway, let's take a tour of the grounds:

This is embarrassing.  All these plants are something you usually see at the grocery store (cinnamon, ginger, lemongrass, vanilla), but all in their natural habitat.  I thought it was really neat to see, but I forgot what's what!  So, here are a bunch of plants (a couple have labels) and I'm a dumbass.  Sorry.  Maybe play a fun game and try to guess which is which?  Yea, I'm a dumbass:

Okay, now we get to the Luwak coffee.  Here are the beans after poop-age and before shelling:

After shelling:

Here's some vanilla randomly:

Turmeric:

Cinnamon:

Anyway, so they heat the beans on a trusty stove like this:

A little close-up action for ya:

and then mash them with a giant mortar and pestle (sp?):

and then you put it through a sieve: 

and that's it!  You've got your very own "cat-poo-chino!"  Hahaha I still think it's funny.

Here's vanilla:

Here's the Luwak:

They have thousands of them, but these guys are just to show off.  Pineapple:

Palm sugar tree:

Now we get to sit and have a free tasting of a bunch of coffees, cocoas and teas.  However, the Luwak coffee is very expensive, so we had to pay for a cup of that (I think it was about $2/cup).  Here's what's on the menu:

Dry samples:

All the beverages (aside from the Bali and Lewak coffees) had added sweeteners (which I'm not a fan of), but they sell it both ways: with and without sweeteners.  It's like instant, so you just add water and I gotta say, aside from the ginger teas (they were way too strong for my taste), they were all delicious!

Now the Lewak:

The water gets sucked up into the top portion and then it filters back down, leaving the grounds behind:

It was really smooth, but not super strong.  The average person would probably enjoy it.  I however, like really strong coffee, so I personally liked the Bali coffee way more.  

I wanted so many things at the shop, but #1: they were expensive! and #2: we have no room in our luggage, so I just got a small Bali coffee:

The Lewak coffee is more than double the other coffees, so they keep it in a glass case:

I really enjoyed this visit to the coffee plantation!  I learned so much (which I immediately forgot) and got to try some wonderful flavors.

Next up: Monkey Forest

This is a touristy thing, but I thought it sounded like so much fun!  Aaron, on the other hand, thought it sounded horrible and he was shaking in fear the whole time!

Important rules: don't bring your own food into the Monkey Forest.  Don't make eye contact.  If a monkey approaches, don't panic or run.  If they take something from you, don't try to fight it, let them have it.

Okay, seems simple enough.  I'm ready to go!

OMG could you die??

Monkeys are literally everywhere!  I think it's the coolest thing ever, but Aaron is flinching and every sound and movement like a big baby.  Monkeys aren't his thing.

I bought a bunch of bananas:

so I could feed the monkeys and they told me if I held my arm out that they would crawl up my body to fetch the banana.  What the heck?  You're only in a monkey forest once, right?

It was honestly super fun, but also really scary seeing the wide-eyed look on Aaron's face like I'm about to get hit by a plane any second.  The monkeys weren't necessarily friendly, but they weren't mean either.  They were definitely a little aggressive, but nothing too crazy.

So, Aaron's trying really hard to just get through it (like me in a haunted house), but he had a water bottle in his hand and one monkey wanted that bottle.  Aaron made eye contact (NO!!!!!!!) and it went for him.  He stood still and it climbed up his body, snatched the water bottle and jumped off.  Aaron almost peed his pants he was so scared and I thought it was so funny I forgot to take pictures!

Last stop: temple

I'm not sure what temple, but it was in Ubud and it was gorgeous.  I'm loving Asian temples and how each country is so unique in their design.  Bali temples have a mix of Hindu, Buddhist and other Asian influences.

First you go to this side of the street and get a sarong (they wrap one around everyone):

Then you go across the street into the temple.  You can sign the Guest book and give a donation:

Let's see the temple:

Overall, beautiful temple, I'm so glad we went.  Our taxi driver really came through.

Although we didn't get to see and do as much as I would have liked in Bali, I'm glad we came and got to at least see the tip of the iceberg.  Aaron, on the other hand, didn't enjoy Bali so much.  I think it had a lot to do with a combo of extreme heat and feeling under the weather, but Bali was not a place he liked whatsoever.  

We are boarding a plane to Melbourne this evening and will be at our apartment around 9pm.  We are so stoked!  However, the apartment doesn't have internet (it doesn't come standard with most apartments in Australia, it either costs extra, or you have to get your own modem and set it up yourself).  Not sure yet what we're going to do, as internet is really expensive (just like everything else here), so it might be a day or two before I can post about Sydney.  Bear with me!