Ubud, Bali, Thursday

I'm not much of a travel writer. I can describe my emotions, my itinerary, my children's reactions to their ever changing surroundings. But when faced with incredible natural beauty, I'm left speechless.

After sleeping another night of hour after hour of pounding rain, we awoke feeling cynical about our odds of enjoying our last day in Ubud.

It poured on us the whole walk to town, this time through the monkey forest. I must admit, I was glad for the excuse to hurry through. I definitely prefer my wild animals behind a barrier.

Once at the Ubud market, we bought a large umbrella, which seems to have stopped the rain. We toured the market, shopped and photographed as the rain trickled to a stop and then headed to a path out of town. On the way, we passed a wonderful store called Threads of Life. A certified fair trade retailer, this store is dedicated to supporting and retaining some of the traditional crafts of Indonesia. The least expensive item cost around USD$100, which we decided we couldn't afford. Looking back, I wish we had bought the textile - it was by far the most beautiful piece we saw all week.

Out of the store, and back to our walk. At this point we shared the path with cars and motorbikes, and the sites were primarily tour stalls selling Whitewater Rafting, Downhill Biking and Experience the real Bali! But the path became narrower, the stands became handicraft shops and then homestays, and then bamboo trees, piling up the hills and closing in the trail. We crossed a bridge with children fishing. The trail became dark and hilly as the thick trees met overhead.

Up a hill and around the bend, and the scenery changed dramatically. We were surrounded by rice patties, each in their own pool with small rivers of irrigation tumbling along their edges. Ducks held congress and people wielded machetes as they stood in the mud up to their thighs.

Our trail became a narrow mud path, so slippery in parts that I had to take off my shoes, leading to a paranoid fear of leeches and a minor attack by red ants. Those problems partly becuse I refused to look down with any frequency. The scenery was simply too breathtaking. Coconut palm trees lined our path on either side and framed our pictures of these peaceful green fields of pools. We turned around when we reached a forest, eager to retrace our steps and get a second dose of the scenery.

As we carried 2 large umbrellas, the weather remained perfect the entire time, and is still partly cloudy with a lovely breeze and mild tropical temps. Partly cloudy added to the walk and the swimming pool later, as it made the day and our surroundings feel cheerful and bright without scorching us with its equatorial strength.

We found Ubud overly touristed, dirty and overun with cars and motorbikes. But that walk was enchanting, and reason enough to return.