On our first day in Ubud, we went Bali style.
We had amazing breakfast in our hotel cafe. 
And the Nathaniel hired us a driver and car. Well, he hired us a driver and an old old jeepy type thing with no seat belts or air conditioning. Now, you know how I feel about passenger safety. This was not my first choice, but it was the only option we had. This is the way of life here. I figured it was better than us trying to navigate ourselves on motorbikes.
So, piled in and off we went.
My favorite part of the keep experience was the front seat belts had retractors that were not bolted to anything. Just hanging from the webbing. Our driver diligently buckled his every time. Cause that'll help.
Our first stop was an amazing rice patty terrace. I had seen pictures and knew it was amazing and gorgeous. It was so neat. 
It was truly spectacular. The sounds of the running water and the people working in the patties. So amazing. Of course, I slipped into the mud. Go me.
Our next stop was the temple of holy springs where Hindi people do ceremonies in the water. 
The kids were mostly excited by bananas from a street seller (look at how cute!) and the stray dogs.
Nathaniel and I each touched the water. 
A ceremony was starting too. 
After our sweet banana snack, we needed some lunch an headed to a place called Koi. 
It was beautiful. The kids and I made friends with a stray kitten. The waitstaff told us we could take her home, and Rosie and I were so sad we couldn't. 
We saw a parade go by from the temple. 
And then we had delicious lunch. 
Our next stop was a temple carved into a mountain. It was amazing and bigger than life. Also bigger than life were the number of stair we had to climb! My calves were on fire on the way up!
We saw women making items for the upcoming festival. 
The kids and I felt a bit like we were in Moana.
Our final stop for the day was the Elephant cave temple which was made in 11th century. 
A large portion of this temple was covered by stones until it was discovered in 1954! The cave was known but they excavated a bunch of rocks and discovered a natural spring with a statues!
The whole area was amazing. 
And finally, dinner at an adorable place called Laba Laba. 
You guys, banana fritters. Amazing.
We were exhausted after this. More to come!
Home is Where the Coffee is 