Ubud, day 2, on the road again

We couldn't wait to have a rental car to get away from the tourist cluttered streets and do our own thing! Wish granted on the 27th... So we hit the roads looking for the Ayung Valley. OMG; they must give scooters away here, even to 8 years old. After a couple of hours of getting lost in the labyrinth of small country roads around Ubud we finally got to a place that was actually on the map : Payangan. A few picts on the way, of rice fields and their duck guardians...

We had lunch at Payangan at a market Warung where we were lucky to find someone who spoke a little bit of English... The Nasi Campur and sweets were delicious; below little parcels of sweet, sticky rice with coconut and banana in the centre.

After a good 4 hours, many stops to ask our way and numerous "taxi" offers we finally made it to Pura Tirtha Empul (Holy Springs) a good 20 Km north of Ubud, just in time for the rain and for a kiss to the dragon.

Our next destination was a piece of cake to find and a very nice surprise... an old temple "Gurung Kawi" carved from the cliff surrounded by spectacular rice fields (still raining cats and dogs, though).

Finally, we ended the day in Petulu just north of Ubud to see the herons from the surrounding rice fields settle for the night. Very spectacular and the locals must know it as they charge for it... as do all the major temple.