Ubud, Bali

Hi everyone!

We've been back in lovely Bali for a little while now. After spending some relaxing days in Sanur (near the beach), we moved north to the central cultural town of Ubud. we did a hike through the rice paddies yesterday and today we motor biked all over. We were introduced to the lovely concept of indonesian corruption after we got stopped by a police barracade. We were told to pay a "penalty" (wink, wink) for not having an international driver's license. At first, they penalty was 200,000 rupiahs (about $20), then because we stalled and acted really stupid...it ended up at 100,000 rupiahs. I nearly fainted when Dave pulled out a 100 rupiah coin. The cop quickly corrected him in disbelief. Besides that little incident, our motorcade across the island was uneventful. (phew)

for more info on Ubud, click here.

near our homestay, there's a balinese ceremony happening tonight. we watched all the beautiful balinese women in their tight dresses carefully balancing their food offerings on their heads. even the kids have traditional clothes to wear to the ceremony. it's a sea of color with the gamelon orchestra playing in the background - how delightful.

we fly out to singapore tomorrow, then we'll fly to hanoi, vietnam the next day. we're hoping to make it angkor wat in cambodia. they're supposed to be some of the most amazing ruins in the world.