Indonesia: Artini 2 Cottages; Ubud; Bali

Our home away from home in Ubud, in Bali, was at the “Artini 2 Cottages” resort. It was a delightful place to spend the last couple of days of my Asian adventure before I headed for home after a month of fascinating exploring.

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Artini 2 Cottages was our home in Ubud.  Each bungalow had a terrace and sitting area. There was a wonderful outdoor pool that was just the right temperature.  It served an a la carte breakfast but no other meals.  I noticed that the ‘Group breakfast’ people didn’t have as many options as the ‘full paying guests’ were offered. Nonetheless, it was more than adequate and it gave us an excuse to try something different in restaurants in the town.

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These carved figures guarded the entrance to the resort.

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Our room was large and airy.  It had a fan and an air-conditioner, but that was extra!  My sharing a room mate, Brian, and I managed quite well with just the fan.

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This was the view from our balcony.  The rice paddies were in great condition.

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Long bamboo poles supported flags of various colours, presumably to act as Asian scarecrows.  I think the birds would have been used to the flags by the time these rice plants produced their grain heads!

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Looking sideways from our balcony, the pool was a great temptation after a day walking the town in the steamy, tropical conditions.

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The view down onto the courtyard from our room.

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Our resort faced this street.  It was usually full of people, cars and motor bikes.

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An obvious sign.

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How true of many of the current generation!!!!

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Anybody for a lampshade?

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This mural decorated one restaurant we visited. As there were the same number of monkeys as people in our group, it was hard not to match up images with group members!

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Fried chicken, rice and a salad made even better with a Bintang.  What a way to finish the day.

 

Next day… a walk around the area…

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Many residences had quite magnificent entrance gates.

 

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Alleyways were always full of interest, what lay at their end?

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Another grand entrance.

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An entrance to a temple, a place to leave offerings to the gods.

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A Buddha with lei of marigolds and offering receptacles.

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A wander around Ubud inevitably brings one into an art and crafts precinct.  Ubud is known as a great place to find all kinds of crafts on sale from the mundane to expensive silver jewellery. In between are paintings, carvings, traditional clothing and all those things that look good in situ but you wonder whatever possessed you to buy them when you get home!  Perhaps, to make matters worse, many items don’t have price tags, so bargaining is a must.

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Umbrellas are up for sun protection and to protect against the threatening afternoon showers.

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Tables and trestles crammed with merchandise.

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Pot-grown Crown of Thorns (Euphorbia wulfenii) adorn this section of footpath.

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Everybody is finished with the pool for the day, not a ripple left.

Time for bed. More anon.

David

All photographs copyright © JT  and DY  of  jtdytravels

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