Days 73-75: Ubud, Bali

We returned from divers' paradise to Bali, heading straight to Ubud for a taste of Balinese culture. Yes, it is still a popular tourist destination, but we were lucky enough to be able to distance ourselves somewhat by staying at a private and secluded villa on the outskirts of town, complete with posh outdoor dining/lounging area and private infinity pool!

The view from our bedroom. Sweet outdoor lounging area with our own plunge pool

The first afternoon was considerably lazy, as we had just taken a 1+ hour boat ride and flight back to Bali. After lounging by the pool, we finally ventured out for a typical Indonesian meal set in what seemed like someone's house on a quiet residential street! Our friendly guesthouse owner seemed taken aback that we wanted to eat at a place he had never heard of (although it was on TripAdvisor's top 10 places to eat), but when we learned that he also owned a restaurant in Ubud we began to connect the dots...

The next day was another slow one. I attended a yoga class at the nearby YogaBarn while Stan relaxed back at the pad. The yoga was everything I thought it would be, set in a huge open air building, with trickling pools of water all around. Sure, it wasn't exactly set in the middle of a rice paddy as advertised and there was loud construction going on throughout my class, but I had been determined to do yoga in Bali with or without Stan (he claims to be too inflexible). Mission accomplished!

I then negated all my hard work when we dined on Tex-Mex for lunch at Taco Casa, which satiated Stan's long overdue craving.

Later that afternoon we were invited by one of the guesthouse staff to attend a special ceremony to celebrate Kuningan Day. Apparently we were lucky enough to be in Bali during this religious holiday which occurs only on the 210th day of the Balinese calendar. It first starts with Galungan, during which the Balinese celebrate the beginning of the world, and ends with Kuningan Day, when the Balinese pay respects to their ancestors by parading from the village to the temple with women carrying huge offerings on their heads! It was great to see a part of the culture that was so important to the locals and yet went completely unnoticed by tourists. We were two of maybe 5 total tourists that witnessed the ceremony, compared to the thousands of locals milling about in and around the temple!

Traditional garb for men and women worn during the festival juxtaposed with the Honda motorcycle and cigarette

The column of women numbered almost 50 and stretched on for over 100 yards...

A woman from a different village carrying her offerings to the temple

After our spiritual observation, we had a quick Indonesian meal, after which I dragged Stan back to the YogaBarn for their Monday night movie series! We learned about honeybees and their sad and mysterious disappearance in recent years as well as the agricultural implications of their loss. Even as we learned about the devastating economic state of bee keepers as their margins get squeezed, I couldn't help but think that this could be a fun side business as we establish roots in CA! Clearly I am in desperate need of an intervention.

For our last day, we did the much-touted eco-bike tour of Ubud. We spent the entire day (7-4 pm!) riding through rice paddies and villages decorated for the Galungan holiday, stopping along the way to taste local coffee (including weasel poop coffee), watch local women create offerings for their temple, visit an ancient banyan tree, and explore a traditional Balinese house. It was a very cool - and "green" - way to see the more rural parts of the island, and also overwhelmingly downhill, which is always an added bonus!

Heather full of energy for her bike ride

iPhone photo collage of our bike trip (bottom-center: reverse birds eye view of a banyan tree and its vines)

Young girl at our home visit working diligently on her homework

Traditional handicraft used as an offering during the religious festival

Local kid playing Tarzan on the Banyan tree

Quick break in the rice paddies

That night we capped off our Indonesian experience by heading back to the temple, where we saw elaborate music/dance performances to commemorate the last day of the holiday. It was fascinating to watch, especially for me personally as it brought me back to my days at Tufts, where I once took an intro to world music class and learned about some of the various Indonesian art forms. I truly never imagined that I would one day witness them in person!

Unfortunately we weren't sitting close enough to take pictures, but I will always remember the bright, colorful and surprisingly loud evening we shared in our traditional garb surrounded by hundreds of pious Balinese and their families on one of their holiest days of the year.

Some of the many unique symbolic statues we saw at the entrance of buildings and houses