June 17
We took a beautiful walk at sunrise through Ubud’s gentle countryside. It was perfect weather. The sunlight was warm and golden on everything it touched.
We practiced our Indonesian with locals on the way.
“Hello!”
“Selamat Pagi!” (good morning)
“Pagi!” (short for good morning)
“Terimah kasih!” (thank you)
“Apa kabar?” (how are you)
“Kabar Baik.” (I am fine)
“Bagus.” (good)
We ended our walk at Casa Luna. I had two health drinks: an apple-mint and ginger. They were envigorating.
Jameelah and I agreed to find a new room. We walked around for at least an hour within a mile radius. We found a bright, clean room but it was $15/night. We only wanted to pay $10/night. So we walked out to continue searching and the manager chased us and offered $10/night. Score!
That night we saw a smaller performance. A little girl was the main character, and she worked it. It was okay. Perhaps we started with the best show yesterday and now everything else will seem like crap 
June 18
We went to Ubud’s Monkey Forest sanctuary today. It was fun. Monkeys are interesting to watch. They steal stuff from people, run up a tree, and try to eat it. If they can’t, they’ll hurl it.
We saw some abstract art and historical paintings at the museum.
We researched our next destination: the Gili Islands. They’re 60 miles from Ubud--20 by land, 40 by sea. Therefore, they’re off the main tourist track. Only backpackers and Indonesians go there.
Unfortunately, the pickings are slim for transportation to the Gilis. Perama is the lowest-cost operator at $35/person for a one-way 4-hour boat ride. Other operators have speed boats at $70/person one-way for a 1.5-hour boat ride. We chose Perama. They had high marks in the guidebook.
Money aside, I was excited about the exotic Gili Islands. I heard they have the most fantastic vegetable smoothies that will send you to the moon.
We went to a get a foot reflexology massage in the evening. It was excruciating. No pain, no gain, right?
Afterward we saw the kecak dance performance. It was an intense show of 50 men chanting and playing with fire. It was a real, spiritual act that Indonesians perform to cleanse the town. And in Ubud they did it for money (tourists), too.
