Bali rice

Our villa is in a village just outside Ubud. Local life goes on all around us. No alarm clock needed: we’re woken by the smell of woodsmoke and the sounds of ducks and roosters. Many, many roosters.

The local rice paddies are only a few minutes' walk away. One morning, after a breakfast of banana, pawpaw, pineapple and lime juice, and black sticky rice with coconut and palm sugar …

 … we went for an early morning walk through the rice paddies near our villa. Wayan’s family owns some of this land.

The community also keeps pigs, cows and chickens. Of course, there are ducks wherever there are rice paddies. One of Ubud's classic dishes is smoked duck. We will definitely be eating smoked duck before we leave Ubud.

The rice fields in the photo below are in central Bali. We passed these on our trip to the volcano in the north.  The children were flying kites in the paddies.

Some rice paddies are built on terraces on the side of hills, and are very old and extremely beautiful. These terraces (below) are so famous that there’s an entry fee as you drive into the local village. The yellowish rice on the left of the photo is ripe; the green rice is young and unripe.

I'm writing this in a restaurant overlooking a river in Ubud. Hooray! Our smoked duck (and rice) has arrived. Will take a photo -- but trust us, it looks delicious. Dad, I think you would enjoy this dish. Wish you were here!