Mastered surfing - now on to art!

Since all three of us are now so good at surfing that our Balinese instructors could teach us no more about this sport, we left the beaches for higher ground. From the south coast we drove north to Ubud, a small mountain town packed with artisans and tourist. Luckily, there are a pleasant few western chain stores or tourist buses but the main focus of this town is artisans selling to tourists. There are loads of boutique shops brimming with batik fabrics, woven purses, and carvings as well as many galleries and artists studios. We are staying in a guesthouse buried down a tiny alley which opens onto a series of terraces and little houses over a small river. There is tea left on the deck in the morning and a swimming pool beyond the rice paddies in the back.
We spent the morning in the Monkey Forest which is a very well cared for, jungle park in the middle of the town which is packed with Monkeys. The path is full of great Balinese sculptures (frequently these ogre looking sculptures are anatomically correct with some boastful artistic license – very Balinese it seems.)
The afternoons are very hot as there is no ocean breeze to cool you in Ubud. We’ve each signed up for classes (Kyle; Balinese cooking, Molly; Gamelan playing (like a wooden xylophone) and me; traditional wooden mask carving. Tonight we’re scheduled for homemade cocktails on our balcony and a long walk to a bar that boasts of a trivia night. Guess it’s not the most Balinese thing to do but it’s a flavor of home that we couldn’t resist. Tomorrow night we are going to a traditional dance performance - something culturally relevant I suppose.