It’s been a very busy, very eventful few days in Bali.
Last Friday I had to go about an hour south of Ubud to the coastal town of Seminyak for a meeting with the new W Hotel that is being built there. My driver was Ketut and we had a delightful time together. We talked about family life in Bali, kids and grandkids, what my work was, and he wanted to know how children are educated in the United States and how we pay for college. He was a very jovial, very funny man with a huge smile and loves to talk about his people. I have had many people ask me my age, and when Ketut asked, we figured out we are the same age, although he does not know what day his birthday is because his parents did not read or write. Ketut keeps busy with is transport business and being the head of the Gamelan group in his village. He seemed to know everyone on the way to Seminyak and he honked and waved at many people on the way. I adored my time with him and asked him to pick me up the next day.
The meeting went well. Afterwards I walked along the beautiful beach for hours. It was nice but as I walked near the large hotels, it was apparent that this was party town central. Loads of tourists, people selling things and general mayhem. I didn’t like it much at all. I had dinner at a place on the beach and watched a glorious sunset. I went back to my crappy little hotel and had a restless night. I didn’t like the vibe in Seminyak at all. The energy was completely different than Ubud and I couldn’t wait to get back here. I did a little shopping the next day and stopped at a little café for lunch where I met Rocco, the Australian angel.
Rocco was a very large man sitting by himself. He started talking to me and at first my alerts were on high. I wasn’t sure what his purpose was but as it turned out, he had some important information to share. We ended up talking for an hour and half. He was a very kind man with a very spiritual nature, but also very realistic. He has a wife, children and grandchildren and we talked a lot about family, non profit work, health, travel, having a positive attitude and the state of our world. We seemed to be thinking and vibrating on much the same level and I enjoyed our conversation very much.
On my travels in Nepal and India I seemed to be surrounded by women who wanted to mother me and take care of me, and on this trip so far, it’s been a very male vibe that has been around me, nurturing me.
Ketut picked me up and we had another delightful drive together. We talked a lot about culture this time and he explained to me how the family system works and told me about the practice of Tooth Filing. This happens to every child who is in puberty and there is a huge celebration around it. The children’s fang teeth (I don’t know the proper name of those) are actually filed down and sometimes the front teeth as well. Ketut says this is an ancient tradition that is done because of the belief that the fang teeth might attract evil and may make a person want to draw blood on other beings. This is fascinating to me that the thought and belief in vampires could be traced to Indonesia? I am offline at the moment so can’t hit the good old “google” button, but plan to soon.
On Sunday I worked on the computer a lot in the morning, had a late breakfast with my friend Wendy from Australia and then went to a fantastic organic farm near Ubud. The hotel has a great staff and the boys are willing to take me anywhere I want to go on the back of their motorbike. The farm was high up on a hill in the middle of acres of rice fields. It was so green and luscious and gorgeous. It’s a wonderful place and I had a delicious meal in the restaurant and bought some jam that’s made on the farm. I walked through the rice fields for a few hours and felt so happy and peaceful there. I stopped in at the Ubud Palace on the way back but most of it is closed off to tourists.
In the evening I went to a cultural performance with my new friend Rucina who has lived in Bali for 25 years. She was the MC at the event and it was interesting. It was filled with expats and was a very non traditional performance of interpretive dance and music.
On Sunday I joined some of the yoga group for an outing to do a session with a woman who does healing with crystal bowls. It was fascinating and very soothing and wonderful. There were six of us on the porch of her wonderful Balinese home. We were lying on our backs with nice cushions under our feet and heads while she tapped and rubbed 9 crystal bowls of varying sizes. They made the most glorious sounds in different tones that seemed to vibrate through my whole body. As we lay there, the rain started and soon it was coming down so hard it almost drowned out the sound of the bowls. It seemed to be in perfect rhythm with what she was doing. I felt like I was being carried away into a wonderful dream state. Afterwards we all talked about the experience and shared some nice time together.
On the way home I stopped at a dance performance that was happening at the palace. It was gorgeous, lush traditional dance with the colorful costumes and the full gamelan playing onstage. I was mesmerized and moved to tears at how beautiful it was.
Which brings us to today’s adventure. I got up early (as usual) and decided to go for a walk before breakfast. I didn’t end up returning to the hotel until 4 pm. I walked to the monkey forest, which is a short distance away. It’s a very holy place where the monkeys make their home. There are two temples there as well as a graveyard. All Balinese people are cremated, but some can’t afford it, and have to be buried until a mass village cremation ceremony takes place. Sometimes they are buried for years but all are eventually cremated and their remains taken out to the ocean. But I digress….
It was early in the morning in the monkey forest and the monkeys were a little tired I think. I was watching a man feed them sweet potatoes and he started telling me about the place. His name is Nyman and he has worked there for 25 years. He ended up taking me all around the forest, through the temples and to the ancient stream where the blessed waters are. We washed our hands in the water, and he said it would give me “good dream”. I’m about to find out.
After the temple, I walked around town and checked out some hotels and shops and ended up in an hour meeting with the manager of one hotel. We had coffee and snacks and talked about all the changes in Ubud over the years. He was another kind, older man who was very caring and sweet to me.
Then I walked over to Meghan’s café and had a delicious tuna salad lunch and talked with a man from London and his Japanese girlfriend for over an hour. She confirmed to me that the Japanese Kanji tattoo on my back does in fact mean “grandson”. They were here on vacation and we compared travel stories and notes. He was a very funny man with a great sense of humor. We had good fun sparing and throwing one liners back and forth. It’s good practice J
I got back to the hotel in time to have a quick shower and then it was off to a local Rotary Club meeting. Good god, I’m tired just typing all of this. I’m packing a lot into my days here but I am loving life in Ubud.
Tomorrow I am going to stay in the villa of a British man, Sacha Stone who has offered to let me be his houseguest for a few days. He is out of the country but says his staff will take good care of me.
More adventures to come…..
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