Rice paddies, mountains and beach

This trip is drawing to a close rapidly; perhaps too much so.

The lack of posts can only be attributed to a general lack of internet connections and regular brown-outs.  Since we've been here, at least every other day has had several hours of no electricity.

Enough.

So, from Lovina, we headed inland on steep mountain roads to the town of Moundok.   Moundok is perched on a ridge and has stunning views in all directions.  The slopes of the nearby hills are carpeted in clove, vanilla and coffee trees.  The smell of roasting coffee was ever-present.  We continued upward and reached several alpine lakes in the calderas of extinct volcanoes. One of the lakes had a Hindu water-temple which was perched on several islands.  The variety of plant species is mind-boggling as we found when we visited a botanical garden in the mountains. 

We spent two nights in Ubud, the cultural capital of Bali.  We took early morning walks (to beat the heat) through river valleys and rice paddies.  We visited a few art galleries, but I can say that the real highlight of this town was the food.  Two dishes in particular: roasted duck marinated for 36 hours in a plethora of spices AND suckling pig.  Divine.

From Ubud, we took a five hour ferry ride to the nearby island of Lombok.  Lombok, unlike Bali, is predominately Muslim.  We drove around this island also, which was delightfully devoid of tourists.  We stumbled upon a small homestay where we were the only guests.  We had a pristine beach shaded by coconut palms to ourselves.

The last couple of days, we've been back in Kuta, Bali.  I took two days of 'surf school' while Sou worked on her tan, read, and got massages. The surfing has been a blast: I was able to stand up the first day and I'm now trying to perfect turning....

That's all for now.