My trip to Ubud

Friday afternoon I hired a car and driver for 6 hours to make the trip to Ubud, the supposed art center of Bali. Of course, the driver stopped at "factories" along the way...he has to get his cut somehow! The batik factory was a tourist trap, and I asked him not to take me to another location where there were only fixed prices. We drove through a section that had miles and miles of silversmiths...something I was not interested in. He took me to an art co-op after miles and miles of stores selling paintings. I would love to have had a couple of the paintings, but the prices were simply too high...no more paintings for me! Maybe next time??? We finally made it to Ubud, and it was PACKED with tourists. There is an extensive market on one side of the street. It is a filthy place where sellers and helpers yell at you, touch you, grab you, and chase you to get you to buy. Didn't I say I hate to bargain??? I had some things in mind, so it was a little easier to walk by the stands that held "stuff" that I was not in the least bit interested in. I still shopped and walked for over 3 hours in the relentless heat before I had a late lunch of Bintang (ice cold Indonesian beer...and I don't even like beer!) and Gado Gado (a vegetable salad served with very spicy peanut sauce) in an open air restaurant (picture included). I left the restaurant to walk across the street to see the King's Palace (pictures included). Every state has a "King" and a palace...old, venerable places where worship services and celebrations are held. A series of festivals starts June 7 that includes Indonesian musicians and dancers leading the celebrations in the courtyards. I'm sorry I missed that, but I did hear gamalan and bamboo music everywhere..live, recorded, you name it...and I loved it.