Hanging out in Ubud

Yea, that's about what we've been going for the past 5 days or so.  We are staying in a homestay which is sweet, cause it is in a nice area off the roads where a few families live.  There are the just a couple rooms for travellers and basically is just a normal living space.  The homes here are really neat to see to as there are intricate carvings everywhere, and it is just a different style of living than we americans are used to.  Check it out, this is where we are staying:

The first full day here we wandered around a bit and went to the sacred monkey forest.  There are tons of monkeys!  Here's me hanging out with my power animal, or should I say "I've got a monkey on my back!"

Next day we went for a walk around Ubud to see some of the surrounding areas.  It is really nice to get away for a bit after spending so much time in cities since we've been in Indonesia.  Around Ubud are all rice patties and small villages and there are actually some trails that you can kinda figure out where you are going on your own.  One frustrating thing about here so far is that to do any hiking you really need a guide.  It's not like the US or NZ where there are trail signs and well worn trails.

Then yesterday we went to explore a little further away by renting some bicycles for the day.  About US$2 each for the day, not bad.  We first head toward this place called Elephant cave.  Kinda disappointing as there were no elephants there and the cave was really small.  But it was neat in that there is a Hindu temple and a Buddhist temple right next to each other.  We hung out with an old lady at the Buddhist place and Nico made an offering and we stayed to meditate for a little while.  Then after that we just found some small side roads (good to get away from the craziness that is Indonesian driving) and explored.  I really enjoyed getting to do some physical activity even if it is 100% humidity.

Ok, now some planning is in action, and also tomorrow we are going to rent a car and wander around the island for a couple days seeing what we happen to come upon.  Oh, and I suppose we should hit up a beach or two.

Ok, now if you've made it this far in the post, than you might care about how everything is going and what I've got to say.  Nico is discouraged with the whole blogging thing, so now mine might be the only one with updates.  We both have been feeling like this wandering around and finding the good things to see is actually not all that fulfilling.  We've spent about 4 hours a night for the past 3 nights trying to figure out what to do from here (Bali) as our visa is up in two weeks and we have no onward plans at the moment.

I have been trying to figure out what I am really doing here on the other side of the world from the people and things that I hold dear in my life.  Seeing some ruins is kinda cool, but am  I really getting anything out of it?  I think I need to be travelling with more of a purpose.  A couple things that I am really excited about and have wanted to do for some time is trek in Nepal and work on a kibbutz in Israel.  Another thing that is important to me for this trip is to experience other cultures and people, and learn about sustainable living.  It seems like couchsurfing and volunteering are a couple things that I want to do more of here in SE asia before getting to Nepal in mid sept to oct when the trekking season starts.  Another thing important for Nico is Buddhism, which is something that I am also interested in.  So we'll see what happens from here on out.