Amed - Ubud with coffee plantation and Luwak

We grab some local snacks (Bakpao) and head towards Ubud with the fancy yellow car of our always smiling driver. Bakpao are steamed filled buns that originally come from China. Because we have our suitcases with us, we have booked a car with a driver for this stretch. Inside, the seats and the roof lining are yellow, with red quilted inserts.

On the way we stop at a coffee plantation. There we get to know the “Luwak”, the animal behind the world’s most expensive coffee. The Luwak is a civet. It eats ripe coffee cherries, and the beans are later collected from its droppings, cleaned and roasted. The animal we see lies curled up in a large grey pipe, with a small red fruit in front of its snout. We also get to taste lots of different coffee and tea flavours. On the long wooden table there is a tray with small glasses and cups for this.

And we wonder how the electricity system in Bali actually works. On one pole very many cables come together and run off in all directions.

In Tegallalang, north of Ubud, it is partly cloudy at 29 degrees at 4 pm. Our next hotel looks like it is coming right out of a dream. Two small black bowls with a dark green drink and mint leaves stand on a wooden board, next to two small bites, each with a piece of strawberry. At the edge stands a small dark pot with orange flowers. A paved courtyard lies between tropical plants, with a house behind it that has a grey roof and a round archway. The pool has a wooden deck with sun loungers, and yellow lanterns glow in the dusk. Between the buildings a small rice field with young plants is growing.

In the evening two crispy rolls with herbs and edible flowers sit on the black table, with a brown dipping sauce and a glass with ice, mint and a piece of yellow fruit on a wooden skewer. Afterwards comes a piece of chocolate cake with strawberries, mint, a chocolate lattice and a scoop of ice cream.