Day 55: Ubud, Bali (March 3, 2011)

A super lazy day, I'm almost embarrassed by how little I did.  Especially considering that most of my days here have been pretty lazy.  Well, I did spend about 4 hours out with some fellow travelers, having lunch at this cool little place in the middle of some rice paddies.  Among other things, we talked about whether we liked Bali.  I think all of us agreed it hasn't lived up to our expectations.  Ricardo visited Bali about 34 years ago, and to him it is vastly different from what it used to be.  He thinks the inflow of tourism dollars has really changed the area for the worse, and that people aren't as kind or spiritual as they used to be.  That makes me sad to think a once-cool place is changing for the worse, and homogenizing in the process.  And I'm contributing to it just by being here and spending my own tourist dollars.

I failed to get a group photo with all of my dining compansions, so instead I'll post these scarecrows that we passed on the way to the restaurant.

Finally, a reader asked me about my semi-outdoor bathroom.  I can't capture it all in one shot, but here is the "outside" wall.  If the camera could scroll up, you'd see the room is open to the sky above these rocks and plants.  The walls to the sides and behind the camera are real walls, with a ceiling.  When it rains, I have to make sure my stuff is away from the green side of the room.  The frogs sneak in through a small hole in the wall.