Lunch on the walk to Ubud

We've had pretty constant rain since we arrived in Bali on Thursday evening, quite unusual for this time of year which is not considered the rainy season. Everyone attributes the change to "global warming." The change is of serious concern to a culture that revolves around agriculture and depends on predictability in the seasons as much as Bali's does.

Mid-day Sunday the sky seemed to be brightening and for the first time we got a glimpse of the mountains which surround us. We decided to walk into Ubud, mostly for the chance to get a little exercise after several days of riding around in vans through torrential downpours. The walk of about five miles was on a small highway packed with cars, small trucks and lots of scooters. We dodged the traffic and barking dogs, responded to the children greeting us "Hallo. How   are   you?" and wended our way around the piles of stuff sitting on the tile sidewalk covering what can only be called a sewer of sorts. Watching our footing because many of the tiles were covered with a slippery goo. What kept us energized was the hope that we would come to a barbeque place which had been highly recommended.

And we did. Naughty Nuri's. It was so worth it. A plate of ribs. Some white rice--although we could have had fried potatoes--along with a sweet soy sauce or an extremely hot sweet sauce. The place was packed--always a good sign.

Well-fueled, we walked the rest of the way into the center of town, had a wonderful vanilla ice cream (Did you know that vanilla is grown in Bali, along with coffee, chocolate, and cinnamon?) with kahlua, drank a ginger tea, strolled through the market, and rode the shuttle back to the hotel to await the arrival of Ben Kunst, our son, and his good friend and traveling companion, Stephanie Kingdon, hereafter referred to as Ben and Stephanie.