Ubud, Bali, Indonesia

Selemat Datang 

Welcome to Indonesia

Ubud, Bali (!)

Why didn't anyone tell us this place was so amazing?!? Oh wait, they did, but we still had no idea. We stayed a whopping 6 nights here, and could have stayed longer. A lot longer. It's the first place in Asia I've actually thought, "I could live here." And a lot of whities do. Ubud has the most potent, authentic Asian culture AND the most appealing travelers culture we have yet experienced. The Balinese people are incredibly kind and friendly. It was a revelation, truly. They make the smiling Thai people seem harsh. Many of them speak English well and will talk freely to you and ask you questions about your home country and tell you about themselves.  Even a farmer, working in the rice fields will stop you and say, "Where you come from?" And everything they make is ornate and beautiful. There are statues and temples and offerings everywhere. "Offerings" are little baskets woven of palm fronds, filled with flowers, sometimes a little food, and topped with burning incense.  Oh yeah, it smells great here too.

 

Below are pics of 2 of our "homestays" in Ubud. We had our own room or ornately decorated bungalow, lovely people, and yummy breakfast.

Though Ubud certainly is a travelers destination, it maintained a quality of rural village life that was neat to experience. Many people still dressed in traditional Balinese style, with a sarong, shirt, sash and often head wrap. Once Patrick wandered into our compound and saw the topless older women going about their day. And the amount they carry on their heads is staggering. They manage it with such grace. One woman had 3 full, large baskets on her head - a stack taller than she was, all balanced easily as she walked. And just outside of town there are rice fields forever. We took many walks in them, interacting with the farmers and local artisans along the pathways.

Rice paddy monsoon style.  So much water everywhere. Hard rain and full sun over and over all day. 

 

 

This farmer called us to "Come in!" as we walked past his organic farm on the trail. He took us on a tour pointing out many plants we have at home as well as tropical ones -pineapple, passion fruit (Amy's fav), guava and more. Those are beets in the pic (they like fresh beets here too), they also grew many brassicas, beans and other things we were surprised to see.   He offered us the same lunch the farm workers had, boilded eggs.  We sat with him and discussed the importance of organics and his work trying to get rid of plastic trash in his village. Happy to meet an ally, walking the rice paddies a world away. Patrick was wearing his Earth Project shirt so we got to show him our garden and tell the story of our work. It was a really sweet meeting. Then he told us about the restaurant in town where they serve the food he grows and we ate there for many meals afterward. What? A local, organic, Slow Food certified restaurant?!? Are we still in Asia? And it wasn't the only one.

 

This might be Amy's fav restaurant in the world...such incredible local, organic delicious food overlooking the rice paddies.

 

Rice paddy residents. Patrick caught a snake he later learned was a krait, and saw a few brown rat snakes, but they were too quick for him.

Amy's happy about her coconut from a farmer in the rice paddies.   

Rice.

Rice paddy nearly ready for harvest

 Ubud is the marketplace for Balinese artistic culture. Villlagers come from all over to sell their handicrafts - batik fabrics, weavings,  hand carved masks and lots more. And every night in one of the numerous, beautiful temples there is a Balinese dance. We went to three and we were impressed each time with the quality of performance, the music, the incredible costumes, and the true uniqueness of it all. We stayed at a " home stay" - a popular and cheap option here. Local families open their 'compound' (every family seems to have a walled off area with houses and their own small shrines and temples for the extended family) and offer a B & B of sorts. The family running ours was so very sweet and helpful, and when we inquired about going to a dance performance they told us that they were performing in a show at their temple that very night! We went, of course, and it blew us away. The dancers were incredible, including our host, but the true highlight was the music.  Maybe 3 dozen men, dressed in traditional sarongs formed concentric circles around the dancers and chanted/sang the most unique and interesting sounds and rhythms I've ever heard, while swaying and moving and having perfect pitch. It was really something. We bought a CD of a similar live performance and hope it captures the same magic of that music..

When they first hit this gong Patrick thought it must be mic'd, it wasn't.  Such a deep full sound you could feel in your chest. 

 

 

 The travelers culture here is unique as well, being artistic and environmental/health conscious.  There are yoga centers all over the place. I was happy to practice yoga here once, while Patrick was away with the snakes. I also took a batik workshop with a local batik master, which was really fun and interesting.

Here are the stages of batik: First you free draw on a canvas.  Then you use a little bamboo tool with a metal cup attached to it. You fill the cup with melted beeswax and pour it onto your design on the canvas. This is where the skill comes in, it is not an easy tool and medium to control.

Then, once the wax dries, you paint your fabric, and where the wax is, it stays white. After drying and applying a fixative you paint over the whole thing in wax and crinkle as desired. 

You dye it a single color to fill in the crinkles, then boil the wax off. Ta dah!

Lots of fun.

 And lastly, on a realistic travel note, there is always this.

Local graffiti 

 Travelling in Asia, you are constantly confronted with the fact that, you are a privileged, rich white person. 'Cuz you are, whether you see it at home or not. And it's uncomfortable to be face to face with this reality.  Sometimes here we feel as if we are just walking dollar signs, and local interaction can sometimes be accompanied by a little voice asking, "What are they going to ask me to buy?" It makes you question your presence in this foreign land. Am I helping these people by providing my traveler's dollar? Or am I eroding their local culture by being a photo-snapping spectator of it? The answer is often yes to both. It is a complex relationship full of pros and cons with no clear right or wrong or best way, I find. Patrick and I attempt to mediate this by being as considerate, kind, and thoughtful as we can as guests in these countries. We are often appalled at the pushy way foreigners behave. I have to say that the few Americans we have met have been some the most considerate and kind travelers, and conversations with locals in a few places have confirmed this. Americans are polite, respectful, and happy, they say. At least, the Americans who venture to Southeast Asia are. Maybe that's the key. 

But most of the time, these realities are in the background with a forefront of great adventure and authentic interaction. There is a magic zone we seek, somewhere between a place that is untouched by travelers and one that has seen too many. Some travelers go to the most remote, unseen places in search of real cultural authenticity, which I admire but often feel that maybe I should just leave those places alone. We tend to seek places that have some familiarities with travelers and some amenities for us, but are not over run by tourism. Or we just go where there's good snorkeling, jungles, or nature of some kind.

And with that we headed out to the Gili Islands off of Lombok.