Today we decided to order breakfast in and within 10 minutes of placing our order . . .

. . . it magically appeared . . .

. . . .mmmm they say a hearty breakfast is the most important meal of the day.

. . .  Hubert, our pet snail, had reappeared for breakfast so I gave him some left over butter. When it comes time to eat him . . . he’ll be basted!

I may not have given our unique bathroom its full due in prior descriptions so here it is . . .

. . . PLENTY of hot water.

not a Kohler but their main competitor in the Asia area, Toto!

Go here for the bathroom tour!

Ready to hit the road, we helped ‘clean up’ a bit from all of our meals.

When a guest needs a ride into town it may be any of the staff who provide the lift. One of the chefs gave us a ride into town this morning and had his knives lying on the front seat. As he showed them to me he related a funny story of how he was transporting some guests from the airport to Nefatari and he had left them lying on the seat. They asked him if they to be used to protect them from bandits!!!!

The big preparation for the royal family member funeral continues. This is the temple where his body will be laid into a carved bull casket. His body will then be ceremonially carried up the ramp to this tower . . .

. . . which is still being constructed. It is now draped with plastic to keep the rain off the floral appliques they are applying. You can see the loading tower in the left of the photo . . .

By the day of the ceremony all the metal scaffolding will be removed and all that will remain will be the tower. This tower will be lifted and carried by 200 local residents from one of the villages. After 1/2 mile they will be replaced by another 200 and several more times too as they wind the street to the cemetery. His body and the bull casket will then be burned. Sorry we will miss it, sounds very interesting.

some of the sculptures that will be included on the tower, made out of Styrofoam . . .

Here is an old beauty, a Fiat.

We will be hiking along this river today out to the rice fields. Here four young Caucasian women hold some kind of spiritual event in the foreground. Might have been yoga!!!

We toured the local temple as the construction crew who was building a new roof on the place was having their lunch break. Very impressive with the many side altars and ornamentation. Got to read up more on these.

Here was an offerings graveyard where in the morning they are all swept up and thrown away. Some still have some yummy rice and meat on them though and the local pups makes their rounds for breakfast!

Some  of the little shrines are very picturesque.

Like many tourist towns, it doesn’t take long to get out of town, and as we headed north on the trail to the rice fields, emJay stopped at one of the shops in the rural area to buy some batik.

Another nice shrine along the route . . .

. . . which is all about rice . . .

emJay blazes the trail with rice paddies and irrigation on the right and left . . .

Seems like rice farming may be quite lucrative for some!

The paddies are separated by walls of mud and roots . . . and are flooded and drained several times during the growing season.

This chap is doing VERY well . . . just like your typical American farmer except instead of looking out over corn field it is rice!

This guy followed us for quite a distance and took refuge in the shade whenever we stopped.

Opening a diversion ditch . . .

Time for some bird watching  along the way too . . .

Tending to the soil . . .

. . . and the final process after cutting and drying . . . hand thrashing over a screen . . .

. . . the rice would then be bagged brought to a central area and transported out  . . .

by motorbike!

Heading back into town we were getting hungry . . .

. . . and as we passed this offering to the god of rice I wondered if the god might not be willing to share some of his Ritz crackers!!!

New construction was everywhere. The economy of Ubud is booming. Most construction is poured concreted columns. Columns and floors are held up by bamboo poles until they are cured. in the US we use the same method but use telescoping metal poles to hold things up while they dry. The women were carrying the mixed concrete to the site in baskets balanced on their heads!!!

Wifi is EVERYWHERE and any merchant or store needs to have it for their customers to stay competitive. Even here out on the rice trail, the Pomegranate Café that featured wifi and had their router/hotspot right out in front to prove it!

It was clearly apparent our rural rice field tour had ended and we were back in Ubud when we started seeing stores like this . . .

This was a funny name. Only saw women’s clothes inside. Maybe the woman shops . . . and the guy pays???

There was lots of produce available too, in the local market.

Quite a skill to do this whether carrying groceries or cement. One must need a strong neck.

Soon we were back at our cabana where right outside our door was this bamboo growing. Nice!

It seemed like there might be  time for a nap before dinner . . .

but instead we ordered a couple of beers (no vino available yet as their supplier has not come) and took a swim.

Then time for a shower and getting ready for a BIG dinner event tonight. One of the local kitties had stopped by . . .

. . . and like cats everywhere, didn’t give us a second look!