We opted to have the Balinese roasted pork from the Ibu Oka restaurant for breakfast, as I’ve heard so many good reports about this place. Although it was good, it didn’t even come close to a traditional hog roast with stuffing and Apple sauce :)

The pig is roasted with a blend of Balinese spices in the cavity.

The best bit was easily the sauce, although the pork and veggies were great too. Unfortunately, the crackling was a huge let down… and I found myself wishing they had scored the skin and rubbed salt all over the beast before roasting him – would have defo tasted better. Anyway, for under $3, it wasn’t a bad breakfast.

We then picked a road at random and just kept on driving up it through villages and rice fields. An hour later, we found out we had arrived in Payangan.

Then it rained :( It’s rained almost every day since we arrived in Bali which sort of takes the enjoyment out of the trip, especially driving around on a motorbike. So take my advice folks, don’t plan your trip to Bali in May.

Waiting and waiting…. for a good 3 hours for the rain to stop.

By this time we were starving! More pork was in order, although this time American style; BBQ’d spare ribs at Nuri’s.

Nuri’s is another semi-famous restaurant in Ubud so I was also looking forward to testing out their ribs. I wasn’t let down, they were excellent.

I was getting a little bored of Saminyak, so thought I’d head north to Ubud for a few days. Ubud is the cultural hub of Bali where many local and international authors/artists come here to find whatever they need to find to get some work done.

The whole town is set between rivers and rice paddies set amid beautiful Balinese architecture – This creates a nice balanced relaxed vibe about the place. I’ve only spent a few hours here so far, but I really like what I see.

I’m looking forward to spending the next couple of days exploring the hundreds of Art Galleries, museums, the palace and spending some relaxed afternoons in beautiful cafes.

Here are a few pics from my day driving up to Ubud from Saminyak (3 hours) and spending the afternoon exploring Ubud.

First stop for the road trip meant some serious breakie was in order. I opted for the Eggs Benedict from the excellent Grocer & Grind restaurant in Saminyak.

A Balinese lady performing a spiritual ritual on the street.

We got invited into someone’s home, where they also perform religious ceremonials for weddings, births and deaths. This is the main area where everyone comes together.

A temple set in beautiful surroundings.

Lush green rice fields.

The heaven doors opened up on us and this is where we rested for a while.

Time for lunch! Here we have corn and spring onion fritters.