Eat Shop Yoga

I guess Julia (Roberts that is) did know something when she took up residence for her last place in Ubud, Bali This is the setting for the Love portion of Eat Pray Love.  Although we didn't find love here in Ubud we did fall in love with Ubud.  Upon arrival I though I had died and went to yuppie girl heaven.  After an hour ride through the country side on windy roads through rice fields we ended up in the city of Ubud, to take a break from our beach vaca.
Before searching for a place to stay we stopped at a cafe to grab a latte and discuss our game plan.  Finding a cafe in Ubud is not hard there is one about every 50 meters with many of them overlooking rice paddies.  After re caffeinating we put our backpacks back on and headed down the streets. Walking the Bali sidewalks is a risky endeavor where several of the panels could shatter sending you into the sewer systems below, so walking around is much like an Indiana Jones obstacle trying to stay on the firm panels and only hop out on the street when a scooter won't come bolting out.
We found a small homestay in a clean guest house where our host had her four month old gorgeous little baby on her hip.  The hotels and guesthouses in Ubud are though little temple entrances where various gods welcome you with the scent of incense fills your nose as you wander up the stairs where every little nook could reveal children playing, a small temple, laundry, a dog sleeping or some grandpas engaged in an intense game of chess.
We then set out to visit the shopping.  The shopping there was yoga stores, handicrafts, clothing, markets, music stores and on and on.  We learned to play the Tibetan singing bowls and many other instruments where the proprietors took the time out to play with us and for us.
We went to this incredible coffee shop where each drink is prepared individually for you served on a paddle with a glass of water and a small pastry.  The array of contraptions to brew coffee was mind boggling.  Each cup was meticulously brewed that even my dad would've been shocked.
We visited the Monkey Sanctuary, now when I read about the Monkey Sanctuary I guess I thought there would be a few monkeys living in a nice preserved area but OMG it was a Monkey Commune.  This place had over 600 monkeys roaming around freely interacting with the human visitors.  These monkeys are of the species where they look like they have a faux hawk soooooooo cute.  And they are everywhere behind tombstones in the graveyard, gallivanting through the temples, running through the crematorium, and swinging from vines. If someone sat down to drink water or tie their shoe a monkey would sneak up behind them an try to climb into their lap, it was unreal and Lindsey and I seemed to be the only ones who thought this super close interaction with wildlife was ill advised.  Although we did try to get our pictures with a monkey which resulted in me snapping a photo of Lindsey running away as a monkey hissed at her:)
After we had bought, ate, drank and yogaed all we could we had to head to the beach again for our final R and R.