Mandela Desa

Tell me if this does not seem like the opening scene in a horror movie. On the way from the ferry to the hotel, our cab driver has to stop and ask for directions like 5 times. No one has ever heard of the Mandela Desa Estate. We go down crazy narrow roads and fewer and fewer people are seen. A lone six year old boy is smoking a cigarrette on the side of the road. As we get out of the taxi the entire staff is there to greet us, take our bags, and immediately show us to the room. How do they know we were arriving? They give us a welcome drink as we have a seat on the spacious porch looking out into acres of farmland. It appears that we are in the middle of nowhere in an old plantation house. We decide to go swimming in the pool. Towels have been laid out for us, no one is in sight. We don't see a single soul for the next 2 hours as we enjoy the pool and walk around the place. Cut to the storm in the middle of the night with the ax murderer outside the window.

We are about 20 minutes outside of Ubud. Incredibly quiet and peaceful but also very eerie. Ubud is NOT what I expected at all. It's full of shops, boutiques, restaurants, spas, etc. Thought this was supposed to be some quiet village in the mountains. Our hotel gives a free ride each night and picks us up whenever we want so we went into Ubud each night. Lots of shopping was done. It's a great place for girls to travel together because there's just so much cute stuff to buy and tons of spas that are really cheap. I would love to come back with some girlfriends for a long relaxing weekend. Loved the hotel, would come back here too. There are only like 8 rooms so you have the place to yourself. Each night they ask what you want for breakfast and 'where you would like to take the breakfast?' In your room? On the veranda? We hired a driver for the day. Ok, let me stop here and clarify. I sound like a colonial imperialist. We were going to go on a bike tour but the car was cheaper. And it's like $10 more for a driver for the day and he knows where to go. Anyways, we went all around Ubud. Hiked to a waterfall, had lunch overlooking a volcano, had coffee at a coffee farm, watched the artists painting at an art gallery/temple, wore a sarong(Owen too!) at a temple. Later we went to the Monkey Forest which might have been the most frightening time of my life. Monkeys everywhere.