Ubud, Bali (by Niki)

Our patio overlooking the rice fields at Nirwa Guesthouse in Ubud

Wow am I ever in love with Bali! Imagine arriving in Bali late at night, getting picked up by a father and son, Made and Ayit, with the biggest smiles and the most infectious laughs, stopping for authentic Indonesian food at a warung which was their treat, and being shown their lovely homestay in Ubud which is surrounded by scenic rice fields! This friendly, charming, outstanding manner is not even an isolated incident but it is every encounter with everyone you meet. Even if you stop on the road for a second and look perplexed, someone will immediately stop to help you. The friendliness of the Balinese is epic and it is impossible to walk out the door and not join the barrage of smiling faces!

 Ubud is an incredible city and in truth, we could probably spend weeks here. It is known as something of a spiritual center and is full of ceremonies, temples, yoga, and health centers which of course attracts tourists and expats who are interested in these things. Just yesterday we were sitting in a trendy cafe drinking ginger tea with nettles and cumin and admiring their raw food only menu and all the purported health properties (I'm sure the raw cheese cake would be good!). If you walk down the street you can constantly see quotes from the Dalai Lama or Sai Baba and see health centers touting their herbal remedies and you can't help but get swept away by the momentum even if you aren't really into it.

We are staying in the center of Ubud so even though our first evening was short, we were able to go to a nice restaurant and sample some infamous Indonesian food. That is one of the best things about traveling, trying different foods and seeing what you enjoy the most. I am really loving Indonesian food with it's rich peanut sauce, tender fall off the bone chicken, vegetables swimming in coconut curries, all of course served with rice, their number one industry. Since our homestay is surrounded by rice fields, we fell asleep for the first time with the the evening full of swamp noises and what sounded like a hundred frogs and ducks singing at the same time. Quite a spectacular feeling really to feel so out in the countryside but to be a short walk into the center of town. I am not sure we have stayed in a more charming place (Nirwa Homestay).

The following morning we were woken up by a couple of roosters who like to take turns cock-a-doodle-dooing for a couple of hours. Although slightly irking so early in the morning, it is all part of its charm! We decided to rent a motorbike as always and we were eager to have a full day of sightseeing because we were so revved up to be in Bali (it has also come to our attention that our trip overseas is coming to an end very shortly!). The path leading from our homestay to the main road is ridiculously narrow with a canal running alongside it so the scariest part of driving in Bali is just making it to and from our doorstep!

Due to proximity, we first stopped at the Sacred Monkey Forest Sanctuary which is in the jungle and contains three temples. Although the temples are interesting with odd statues devouring or licking babies and other grotesque features surrounding them, the real reason people go I suspect is for the monkeys.

The place is inhabited with Balinese macaques which are grey haired, long tailed, medium sized monkeys who are absolutely hilarious to interact with. I wasn't so keen on feeding them after I saw monkeys climbing all over people and a woman actually bitten by one but as long as you kept your distance and made a loud noise when they came to climb on you, it was totally fine.

The jungle setting was just amazing and the feeling of the jungle with the temples and the monkeys felt like it was right out of a movie. We had a great time wandering around, laughing at the monkeys, and taking some interesting shots of the quirky, morbid statues.

Our next sight, Gunung Kawi, took us about 20 kilometers outside of Ubud which was wonderful because we were able to pass through some villages along the way. Ubud has grown so much recently that it has absorbed a lot of neighboring villages yet they still retain much of their identity. One of the ones we passed through is famous for bone carvings and many stores were selling these artworks which was interesting to see.

Once we arrived at Gunung Kawi it was obvious how touristy the sight was with the gauntlet of stores you have to pass through to get to the monuments. This was lucky for us however as we were suddenly caught in heavy rain. (what is our deal?) and we were able to take refuge from a shopkeeper (and yes, we bought a mask for her hospitality!). Gunung Kawi consists of ten shrines that are cut into a cliff face, each one reaching 8 meters high.

These are surrounded by rice fields, a river, and a jungle backdrop which made it very Indiana-Jones-esque. Little is actually known about the memorials and theories debate whether they are for the 11th century Balinese royalty or perhaps a previous ruler and his wives and concubines. However you think of it, they are interesting to appreciate and a legend states that one man carved them overnight using only his fingernails. We really appreciated the jungle trekking as we sought out a solo monument and as always, we enjoyed the scenery of the rice fields.

The hostess of our homestay, Ayu, recommended we visit the holy springs of Tirta Empul and we were so glad we did! The springs were discovered in 962 AD and are thought to have magical powers. It was really a phenomenal experience watching people partake in their rituals.

The springs are small and each one has about ten fountains which become important in the offerings as each fountain would be given an offering or if someone was cleansing themselves (while wearing their traditional outfits) they would wash under each fountain. The experience of witnessing their devotion to their Hindu faith was really powerful.

Ubud has been unlike any place we have been in terms of faithfulness and displays of devotion (more than India which was a surprise!). Offerings are put into little boxes and are filled with rice, incense, and flowers and people are seen doing these rituals all of the time, everywhere you go and the holiness feels completely genuine. Every single home has its own temple and every village has three large temples representing Brahma, Krishna, and Shiva. Balinese Hinduism differs from Indian Hinduism in that they believe there is one God and all the others are representations whereas while Indian people have a high regard for Brahma, the creator, they believe the other Gods are deities as well.

Everyone wants to share their faith with us; even if we walk into a clothing store the young girl of about twenty will want to discuss incense and what we do with it in our country versus how they use it for offerings in Bali. It felt a little lame telling her we simply use it to make a room smell nice!

Last night we were lucky enough to witness a procession that represented the village protector warding off evil spirits and it was magical to see everyone dressed in their traditional sarongs especially the little girls and boys. It started with what I believe represented the rising of the evil spirits with people carrying large monster like images that began to shake and dance and then hundreds of people took to the street singing and chanting. It was great to see! Superstitions are common amongst the faith as well and because our hosts had a death in the family, they were forbidden from any festivities for three days and were not allowed to go.

The previous day we had both been craving a bit of adventure so we decided to go white water rafting! We actually had a blast although it was maybe not quite as rough as we were hoping with the biggest drop being about a meter and a half. The best part about the rafting was just being in the boat, taking in the awe inspiring valley that the river Ayun runs through. The cliffs were beautiful, the jungle lush, and several times we were able to stop and swim under the water falls! We also swam in the middle of the river and were able to feel the powerful current pull us along while our boat went on ahead. We really enjoyed the camaraderie with the other boats from other companies with whom we would have paddling competitions and more often than that, splashing competitions. Needless to say, we were constantly soaked! It felt so great exercising, being absorbed by nature, and having a bit of adrenaline coarse through our systems. We would definitely do it again but we would seek out a rougher level next time.

Our new rafting buddies from Java

 After quite a bit of excitement, we thought we thought we would have a relaxing day. Although we woke up early we didn't end up leaving the homestay until the afternoon since we met Barbara and Andre and we chatted the entire morning away. It was great to connect with them since they are on a lengthy adventure as well but besides Bali, we had chosen completely different countries and it was really educational swapping stories. They have an amazing story about snorkeling with a humpback whale in French Polynesia without anyone else around which made us add that to our wish list very quickly!

In the afternoon we strolled through Ubud Palace which is not a spectacular sight but we were hoping to buy tickets for a Balinese dance that evening. This is where we learned of the festival procession I mentioned before and unfortunately all of the dances were cancelled so we are actually going to one tonight instead! We found our way to the market which was a little too nuts for us with starting prices being ten times what you might barter them down to (to compare, in India it is typical to barter them down to half). That sort of bartering is just too irritating so we didn't stay long but we did stay long enough for me to buy cute sandals for $4! Instead we shopped down the trendy street, Forest Monkey Road, which has a wonderful selection of shops especially for women. I am not in the zone to buy much recently but the occasional accessory definitely tends to grab my attention just like the drums tend to grab Josh's.

After watching the festival we headed home early since for whatever crazy reason, we decided to hike up a volcano today! We needed to wake up at 2:15 am so that we could arrive at Gunung Batur by 4 am allowing us to see the sunrise from the summit. Needless to say, we were exhausted as both of us were too excited to fall asleep before midnight and a one dog choir decided to keep us up for an extra hour.

We did perk up pretty quickly once we arrived though! The hike itself was very nice, if not a little tough with steep rock climbing and quite a bit of gravel scrambling and it took about two hours to reach the crater and a little bit further to reach the summit.

Once we arrived at the summit, the views were absolutely breathtaking and we were told we were lucky because sometimes the clouds obscure the sunrise. I have never seen more beautiful, heart-stopping, overwhelming scenery in my entire life. The sunrise was so clear with the roundness of the pink sun surrounded by a sky streaked with a mirage of purples and oranges and the clouds were so white and fluffy they made me really appreciate how high up we were. The elevation alone would be impressive at 1717 meters even if it weren't a volcano but the lava formations were majestic to walk around. Rolling hills of lush green grass could be seen for miles with a huge volcanic lake in the middle and the crater of the volcano was scarily impressive with smoke, steam, and sulfur wafting out from the abyss.

Any hole you found in the ground would warm your hands in an instant it was so hot and the feeling of climbing an active volcano is indescribable although the last eruption was in 2000 and was considered mild. Words cannot do this experience justice and it was definitely a highlight with the feelings of being awe-inspired etched into my mind forever.

There is something powerful about appreciating nature in such a way that you feel like you have earned it and we both felt a sense of accomplishment. Driving away from the volcano was when we could really see what we climbed and I was very surprised to see how formidable the volcano looked from the ground. Definitely a memory to cherish.

Returning home we were spoiled with Ayu's famous green banana pancakes (someone Josh also charmed her into feeding him eggs too!) and then we had a nap to ward off some of the fatigue. Our day was fairly tame but we went for a lovely drive through the countryside to get one last experience of appreciating Ubud since we are off to Munduk tomorrow.

It is such a wonderful way to see the neighborhoods and to appreciate ordinary Balinese life by seeing people praying in front of temples, carrying goods in baskets on their heads, sitting with their babies on porches, and especially the treat of seeing some people working in their rice fields with their broad rimmed hats. Afterwards we stopped by Ubud palace to buy tickets for the dance tonight and we were treated to the most adorable rehearsal of girls aged about eight performing the same dance that we were to see that evening although we weren't aware of that at the time. They were absolutely charming and we couldn't help but be enchanted since it was obvious they were all trying so hard.

As soon as the dance started in the evening, we recognized it instantly as the same dance the little girls were performing and it was fun to think that one day those little girls could be up onstage as professional dancers.

The dance was Legong and it was absolutely outstanding. It was probably the most eccentric dance I have ever seen and it was completely captivating. The premise is a story about a king who steals a beautiful woman but is eventually killed by her fiancé, the prince although the storyline is not really as interesting as the dance itself.

What is so unique about it is the way they contort their bodies in fluid motions and the way they use their hands, almost as though their hands are separate entities with a mind of their own. The most striking part is their mask like facial expression where the eyes are the focal point as they flicker with expressions like shock by flashing the white of the eyes with the timing of the gamelan music. I know that is difficult to imagine since it was difficult to really appreciate everything they were doing with their bodies and facial expressions at one time.

It is true that if you were to stay in Ubud you could simply go to a dance every night as there are several different ones and I regret that we won't be able to see more. It was the perfect end to our perfect stay in Ubud yet we are excited for our mountain retreat in Munduk tomorrow!