Day 4. 9.15am pick-up. Complimentary guide-driver to take us out for the day. Decided on artsy town of Ubud, some 1 1/2 hours' drive away. Home of Bali's finest craftspeople. Stone carvers, wood carvers, artists, sculptors, silversmiths, jewellery designers and all sorts of handicrafts. Fist stop, Angel to Angel, The Art of Jewellery. The photo at the top shows the wall outside this impressive building.
Adorable cement frogs scramble up the wall and gorgeous cement dancers line the front of the building. The large heavy wooden doors open up to an even more amazing showroom. Boy, were they strict about their no photo policy. I had a sales person follow my every move to make sure my hand was not on the trigger of my camera. We were gobsmacked. Every visitor we saw enter the showroom had their jaws to the ground. Instead of a banister, the very grand sweeping staircase to the second level was flanked by a row of equally beautiful nubile white cement figurine of dancers joined by a neverending scarf all the way to the top of the spiral stairs. The tables on which the beautifully designed jewellery were displayed were equally unique. They were laid out on beautifully designed glass tables on top of white cement frogs sitting on very large tree trunks. Rings were placed on striking blue coloured glass in the shape of bamboo shoots. Jewellery in stirling silver with all kinds of precious stones, pearls and cubic zirconia. Just too beautiful.
Next stop, Kopi Luwak Garden Cafe. If you've watched The Bucket List, you will remember Jack Nicholson's character raving about coffee beans that are excreted by a little animal called a luwak. Very expensive and apparently very good.
After a quick tour around the spice garden, we sat down to sample the different types of tea, coffee and chocolate. And 100% handrolled tabacco. Very strong. Killed my taste buds. Kids were most amused. Mummy looked like a bad girl.
We left the garden with bags full of lemongrass tea, vanilla coffee, ginseng coffee, lemon tea, ginger tea, chocolate and of course some kopi luwak. Coffee or tea at my place, anyone?
Next stop, the Artists' Co-operative of Ubud. Talented budding artists live and paint there to try to make a living from their art. Room after roomful of wonderful works of art.
Lunch at a popular restaurant facing a rice padi field.
Last stop of the day, Tanah Lot. Over an hour's drive to this ancient temple perched on the top of a cliff. Due to centuries of erosion, the cliff has broken away from the mainland and is reachable only by a short boat ride through the rough surf.
The temple on the cliff. While the scene was breathtaking, it was a short stop. We had to pass through a gauntlet of shops to get to the viewing point. The air was still, humidity was high and it was way too hot even for a heat loving person like me. Sweating like you wouldn't believe it, we were ready to pass out from the heat.
And so concludes our 8 hour complimentary guided drive. It was back to the hotel for a well-deserved cocktail before our complimentary two-course meal at an in-house restaurant overlooking a japanese koi pond.
...abroadin5inchheels
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