Riverside adventure

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Yesterday we decided to go for a walk in the morning. The guidebook makes that sound easy, but by the time we wandered into a private pool area for an expensive bungalow (thankfully unoccupied, as far as we know), encountered a young man who helped us find the real trail, and came upon the first gate through a small rice field and farm, where an old woman required some money for our passage, we realized that guides are probably just a better idea. The young man who had shown us to the trail had quietly followed us to the gate, where he explained that we either needed to pay at every gate, or maybe a better idea would be to pay him to guide us, and he would handle the trail finding and gates. Good idea.

And we're so glad we did! He showed us vanilla plants that were growing, pointed out the sweet potato, spinach, and cassava fields, showed us mangosteens, papaya trees, sugar palms, jackfruits, durians, and some delightful little plants that fold up their leaves when you touch them. He explained the system of canals and dams for irrigation to the rice fields, and told us about how they process the palms into sugar and alcohol. He climbed a tree (full of ants) to get us a fresh cacao pod, which he broke open so we could try sucking the sweet goo off of the fresh beans. We found pineapple and chili growing wild, and as we waited to ford the river to get back to where we started, he harvested us two coconuts so we could drink the fresh coconut water before we waded waist-deep through a strong current to reach the other side of the river... well worth the money!

We've decided to stay in Ubud for at least 3 weeks, because it is so ideal for our needs right now.. Brandon has about 20 internet connections to choose from, for all the computer work he needs to do to keep his business running, and our spacious two room apartment is ideal for acroyoga and poi practice. So now we have a home, and a motorbike that we've rented by the week, and we've settled in a bit.