Getting There - Aneel's Travelogue

I did a slightly better job of resting and relaxing today. Only half a day of walking. I went into the center to have some roast suckling pig for lunch, a local specialty, then relaxed on the porch of my cottage until tea time (2pm here).

After tea, I walked over to the Ubud Botanical Gardens. The walk itself turned out to be longer than expected. The sign I'd seen on the way to the dance performance last night was actually saying it was 2000m down the road. But it was a great walk, through a landscape of rice terraces, temples, small shops, and villas. Traffic was light, mostly motor scooters and bicycles, and almost nobody asked me if I needed transport.

The gardens were awesome. They're lush to the point where it's hard to tell if you're still on the walkway, or if you've stepped off into the jungle. They fill a river valley with tropical plants from all over the world. There are themed gardens like Heliconia Hill and the area devoted to medicinal plants. They had sections devoted to pitcher plants, to succulents, to bromeliads, to bamboo, and to orchids. There was a labyrinth with hedges taller than me. The only disappointment was that the Rain Forest was closed, due to excessive rain.

I seem to the local dogs like I'm up to something. They all bark at me as I walk along the road, only stopping when I've gone a few meters past whatever gateway is their territory. It might be the batik shirt I was wearing. It is pretty loud.