A Return to Ubud: Part 2

Click here to read Part 1 of this post if you haven't already.

Parking our bike by the road, we entered the coastal temple of Tanah Lot.

The waves here were pretty ferocious.

Batu Balong, a temple just to the west of Tanah Lot.

Tanah Lot itself. Its name means "Land in the Sea" in Balinese.

Receiving blessings in the cave beneath the temple.

After exploring Tanah Lot, we drove back to Ubud, then went half an hour north of town to visit Tegalalang Rice Terraces.

There are lots of shops and art galleries along the top of the paddies.

You can walk down into the valley to see the paddies up close.

Back in Ubud.

Nasi Panggang - Grilled mixed white rice, vegetables, shrimp, chicken and Balinese spices in a banana leaf blanket.

Ubud would be our last stop in Indonesia. We've had mixed feelings about this country since the moment we arrived, with its high costs, inconvenient infrastructure, and - in Java at least - relative monotony compared to the vibrancy we found in other countries. However, we still saw some incredible places here. Mount Bromo, Gili T and Bali will be among our favourite stops on this trip, and Borobudur was pretty cool too. Oh, and we had a frikkin' beautiful wedding on a Balinese beach, so how can we complain? It's been a blast in spite of the hassle we faced along the way.

This would also be our last stop in Southeast Asia. After six long months, we've reached the final phase of our trip: Nepal and India. These two countries will probably test us more than anywhere else we've been thus far, but I'm hopeful that they'll be just as enriching as the last eight countries, if not more so. Some sweet Nepali goodness coming up in the next post!