Ubud is quite nice. They call it Bali’s  “cultural heart” and there are a multitude of activities for the tourist to engage in that are aimed at introducing them to Balinese culture. To be fair the villages surrounding Ubud are beautiful and steeped in the full richness of Balinese Hindu tradition. In some ways Ubud might be the cultural heart of an island that is jam packed with culture. It certainly is the epicenter of tasteful, upscale tourism and its associated art and shopping madness.

When Melody and I travel we rarely buy things. Generally we don’t go to places that warrant a lot of shopping. But, Bali and Indonesia are certainly huge exceptions. We came with shopping lists. We’ve been dazzled by exotic never seen before art objects. In and around Ubud we fully engaged our inner shoppers. It was a strange, if not pleasing experience, and has resulted in the loss of a corner of our bungalow to storage as well as more then a few ponderings of how the pile will find its way home to the USA.

We did also manage to explore the Ubud area while we were there. The village is surrounded by gorgeous rice fields leading up to volcanoes. We watched a fascinating and bewildering Legong dance and a surprisingly highly entertaining Shadow Puppet show. The day after puppet show, down a back street in Sukawati, a satellite village to Ubud, while searching for the workshops of “the best” puppet makers on Bali, we happened upon the puppeteer from the night before. He showed us his workshop and gave us a small private show as well as a demonstration of the puppet making craft. We bought two wonderfully detailed and ornate puppets from him, Sita and Rama.