March 16, 2018

These final days are flying by!  When we arrived 2 months ago it seemed like we had forever stretching out in front of us but somehow “forever” has turned into “just two more sleeps”!  We continue to stay present though and as a result our days magically fill our days with things that make us happy and content.  Ubud is the perfect place for that to happen.  Bali has been described as a place in the world where the wall between “here” and “there” is thinner and my personal belief is that Ubud is at the heart of that reality.  “Synchronicity”, the “stars aligning”, “getting what you need when you need it”.....all of those are comments expressed daily here.

The last time I wrote Barb and I had just returned from a spa day and I think I mentioned that we’d made another appointment as we walked out the door.  Well.....we had that next appointment yesterday and I know I’m still feeling the “love” as it were.  See.....Ubud brings out the inner hippie in all of us.  LOL. :-)

There has been so much to report in about since I last wrote so I’ll just hit a few of the highlights.  One of those highlights was a visit back to the palace in Peliatan (about a 10 minute drive from here) where we went to see the Kecak.  Kecak is traditionally ended with a fire trance dance but I was very disappointed to discover that the Peliatan location has opted out of including the fire dance portion as it damages the floor and Peliatan being a palace.....has decided against that potentiality.  Honestly not having the fire dance at the end really detracted from the overall experience so for any who are reading this and planning to attend a Kecak in Bali.....I strongly encourage you to make sure the fire dance will be performed wherever you’re going to see it.  In Ubud, my favourite so far has been at a temple on the bottom of Hanoman Road.  In fact that was the first one I ever saw so that might have had something to do with it being my favourite.  Right next to that in memorability is the one they do at ARMA during the full and the dark moon (ie: twice per month vs the weekly dates at other locations). The one at ARMA has a more artistic flare but there is sure lots of fire!  :-)

Another significant activity was one that Barb undertook on her own.  She and Jati set off on his bike.....yes.....for those of you who know Barb and who are reading this.....they set off on his bike for a 25’ish minute ride.  For those of you who don’t know Barb....last year we pretty much had to drug her to get her on the back of a bike!!!  This year she’s practically turned into a “biker babe”.  :-). Their destination was a temple called Gunung Kawi where there are 320 steps that have to be traversed (both down and then back up).  Barb’s report back to us was that the down wasn’t so bad as it was still early morning so not too hot BUT the trek back up was blistering and long!  In the end though she said it was well worth it and the temple was stunning and different from any other she’d seen to date.  There are theories about the placement of temples (ie: bottom or top of many stairs or atop a mountain).  One of those theories is that if everyone (rich/poor, young/old, high caste/low caste) has to make the same trek....by the time they reach their destination....they’re all equal.  It’s an interesting concept that has some merit to my way of thinking.  While Barb was off doing that, I was catching up on the blog....yes that was the day that I did it and then forgot to post it until today!

Barb, Tami, Julie, and I also attended a musical concert at a nearby location called Bambu Indah.  It is a unique world class resort that is re-knowned for being “green”.  Everything, as the name suggests, is made from Bamboo and the resort is massive.  It is home to several traditionally styled bungalows where guests can stay.  It is also home to a restaurant, pools, a bamboo elevator, and gardens carved into nature that rival anything you’ve ever seen.  In addition, the building’s architect collaborated with a musician (who makes his own instruments, often from bamboo) to create a space where could discover music wherever they were.  Sometimes the music comes from the wind in the bamboo surrounding the area you’re sitting.  Other times it comes from under your table in the restaurant when you find the harp strings strung there.  Or perhaps it comes at dusk from the frogs in the pond that surrounds an outdoor patio. Or maybe you’ll find it in the strings that are strung on the bamboo support poles that hold up one of the common buildings.  It even comes from walking on the floors as the natural material that’s been bound together squeaks and groans as the poles shift and grind against one another under your weight.  Bambu Indah is definitely a one of a kind place!  We were there to enjoy a performance by the creator of the musical spaces on site.  He’d brought several of his instruments and a few of his friends who then conspired with their gamelon (traditional Balinese xylophone like instrument), their singing bowls, their drums, and their dancing to make magic in this magical space.  We ended that evening with the entire cast and audience cozy together in one of the larger traditional style bungalows. It was easily large enough to accommodate all of us (about 25) and we only were on the main floor. Some people lounged on the beds, others were on the floor, and a few of us were fortunate enough to get a ledge or a bench to use as a chair.  It seems to matter not how long I am here....I still prefer a chair to sitting on the floor!  LOL. :-). 

Another wonderful experience we’ve been able to have again this visit is to see AwaHoshi.  She is an internationally acclaimed sound healer who uses crystal bowls.  We had a small group (just the 5 of us - Tami, Barb, Rhiannon, Julie, and I) session on her deck and it was just as fantastic as I remember from last year.  Laying on mats on her deck while listening to the tune of her range of crystal bowls (she actually plays music with them) and looking up at the wind in the leaves of the surrounding trees is pretty darn perfect!  Even the birds and the wind join in her song.  Today I went back to have a private session with her and I had a butterfly who stayed for the full hour of sound!  Butterflies are a symbol of transformation and so whatever my next steps are I have no doubt they’re going to be supported and successful!  :-)

Food continues to be a very popular theme of our time in Ubud.  It’s easy to have as a theme as there are just so many fantastic options.  It’s hard though because we want to return to places we love but that means that we then cannot discover new places to love.  We’re feeling pretty good about having gotten to as many as we have though and also feeling good that we’ve maintained a balance between slightly higher end options and simple Warungs.  We met up with Jati and Rhiannon for another delicious meal at Ubud Inn (just a couple doors down from us on Monkey Forest) the other night and Ubud Inn did not disappoint.  Not only is it a gorgeous little venue nestled between the street and their gardens but it also has consistently delicious food with a menu so varied they boast entrees from almost every nation in the world!  They also have lava cakes so are one of Barb’s favourite spots to stop AND....they’re so close to home we can literally roll ourselves up the street and down the gang (skinny little walkway) to our rooms. 

Our next big adventure was a bike trip with my friend Komang and 4 of his friends.  Barb, Tami, Rhiannon, Kaye (yes....she’s back from Oz), and I set out at 10:00 in the morning for an Ogoh Ogoh tour through the villages that surround Ubud.  We didn’t have to look hard or travel far before they began to show up and they’re easy to spot from a distance!  Ogoh Ogoh’s are built by individual districts within cities and villages in Bali.  They are massive and each is an incredible piece of art made from wooden forms, paper mache, paint, and both an engineer and an artist’s skill.  Ogoh Ogoh’s are meant to be ugly and scary and believe me....they are!  Their purpose is to invite the spirits from the underworld to join them (ie: enter the cavity inside them).  This invitation is made both by the appearance of the Ogoh Ogoh along with the noise that the people make during “noisy day” between noon and midnight.  The ogoh Ogoh’s are paraded to a central location and each is carried by the men of the village or district that made it.  They’re very proud of their ogoh ogoh and to have been chosen to be a carrier...it is an honour!  They carry these massive and HEAVY creatures on a bamboo platform with a grid of bamboo poles beneath that.  Each man stands in a square of the bamboo grid and holds that grid on his shoulder.  The weight of the grid alone must be massive!  The noise they (and everyone) makes also is believed to conjure up the gods that will bring the carriers of the ogoh ogoh the strength they need for the task.  In truth....I’ve spoken with some of them and they swear that they are able to carry these massive loads with relative ease when the gods are in their corner.  More evidence of the power of belief!

Today is actually noisy day in Bali and so we had to leave Ubud much earlier than necessary because many of the streets between Ubud and the airport will begin shutting down completely around noon.  We weren’t too worried about us getting to the airport but.....there would be huge problems for Jati to get back from the airport to Ubud (about 1 1/2 hrs).  After he gets back he still has to drop off the car, pick up his bike and Rhiannon, and head home to Kintimani in the mountains (also about 1 1/2 hrs away from Ubud in the other direction) before the final ceremonies for Nyepi (silent day) are finished.  Once all of those spirits from the underworld are inside of the Ogoh Ogoh’s at midnight tonight they will be taken to the forest and burned.  This way the spirits from the underworld will be gone in time for Nyepi (silent day) which begins right after midnight tonight.  Silent Day is also New Year’s Day in the Balinese calendar and you may find it interesting to know that this year the calendar is turning over to 1940 so as we’ve been here in Bali we’ve gone ahead in time according to our Gregorian calendar and our clock but we’ve also gone back in time according to the Balinese calendar!  How’s that for time travel?! :-). 

This afternoon and this evening all of Bali will be alive with partying.  There will be parades and music and dancing and shouting and banging of pots and pans and anything else that will make as much noise as possible to bring out the evil spirits.  Once that job is done and silent day begins the exact opposite will begin.  On Nyepi the entire island shuts down.  Even the international airport will be closed.  No ships will come into port and no vehicles will be on the highways.  No people will be on the streets and no shops or restaurants will be open.  I’m not exaggerating.....all of Bali will be closed!  On Nyepi there are many norms that must be followed.  No one makes any noise...they speak in hushed tones....they spend time with family....there is no electricity (eg. lights) or technology used....many of them will fast for the day.....none of them will use a knife or cut anything in any way....they won’t do any work at all....they will use the time to meditate or consider the year just past and the one they’re entering into.  It is a time for reflection and calm.  

This morning as we drove out of Ubud we could see already that so many Ogoh Ogoh’s were being placed on the streets for the parade that would happen later in the day.  Already we could sense an energy in the air that was precursor to what would begin this afternoon.  As we drove we also began to reflect on some of the things we’ve experienced and the sights we’ve been privy to over the past couple of months.  Nyepi and the preparations for it tend to bring that out in everyone....Balinese or otherwise.  We marvelled at the fact that what was such an unusual sight to us just a few weeks ago now seems to be the norm.  We basked in the warmth of the memories of water blessings, holy places, and the company of friends (new and old).  We considered the reality of the fact that this may be the last time we see these friends or this beautiful place for a very long time or even ever.  We bubbled over with new energy to learn just “one more thing” before saying good bye and we felt grateful for all that we’ve learned.

So on this the eve of Nyepi....we bid Bali a fond farewell ever grateful for this time in a place where the walls between “here” and “there” are very very thin.

Till the next trip.....

Lorrie, Barb, and Tami

March 9, 2018

OMG!  How did that much time pass since I last wrote in this blog?!  Honestly it is a mystery to me how it is possible that when you first begin a trip/adventure the time seems to stretch out in front of you like it is endless but the nearer you get to the end date....that same time begins to FLY BY!  This is definitely the case for us.  We’ve been using a calendar (thanks Summerland Credit Union) to have a common visual that is easy to access and update.  Those little squares have been so full the past several days that there is little white space left on the page!

My last post referenced a movie we were going to see...(I’m Not Your Negro) at BetelNut.  It was a great documentary that proved to be very thought provoking and encouraging of interesting conversation for the rest of that evening but by the next morning our thoughts had turned to what was on our calendar for that day.  A Balinese Cooking class.  :-). What a delicious way to spend a day!  Delicious for so many reasons.  Of course there was the obvious ...that we’d get to eat all that we cooked and boy were we stuffed when we rolled out of there mid afternoon!  But it was also delicious to visit the Ubud market where we learned about everything from Balinese ceremonial offerings to spices and exotic fruit and veg.  We got to experience the back recesses of the market first hand.  For me, it was reminiscent of my very first market in India so many years ago.  The dichotomy of smells that simultaneously assault the senses....fresh and stale/animal and human/perfume of incense blended with the stench of garbage/ the unique aromas of items like durian (smells a bit like a strong cheese) and pandan (smells something like freshly mowed grass)/exotic spices/coffee/and...well you get the idea....  On top of that there is the heat and humidity, the slippery floors, the noise of people bargaining/trolleys making their way down the narrow aisles/dogs barking/vehicles honking/vendors setting up their tourist wares as others take down their domestic produce and local items.  Yes, it is truly a place all abustle!  Life in the market begins before the sun is even up every morning (about 4 a.m.) and it doesn’t really end until about 11 pm.  The switch from a focus on local to tourist sales takes place around 10 or 11 a.m.  But enough about the market because I haven’t even gotten to the cooking yet!

We were taken by van to Ketut’s Cooking School (formerly Payuk Cooking School) in a little village about 15 minutes from the market.  The road led us through rice fields and residential areas.....all sights of the city were left behind.  Did you know there are 4 kinds of ginger?!  Well there are!  And did you know that you have to rock your wrist back and forth in a mortar and pestle about a million times to crush roasted peanuts enough to turn them into peanut sauce?  Well you do! And did you know that Bumbu Bali is a blend of spices (16 I think there were) that are turned into a paste that was then used in every single dish we made at the school?  How did we turn them into a paste you ask.....well.....we had to use a massive log as a pestle (almost as tall as me) that we smashed into an oversized mortar that was on the floor at our feet.....and again......approximately one million smashes are required.  Cooking Bali style is a whole new type of exercise program!  In the end we enjoyed: soup, rice, fried noodles, chicken curry, chicken satay, peanut sauce, fish cooked in banana leaf, sambal (a spicy sauce that has many many recipes but that is served with every meal so the guests can spice things up to their liking), and caramelized bananas with ice cream (we used cooking bananas/plantains that are much firmer and less sweet than the bananas we have at home).  Is your mouth watering yet?  Ours sure were by the time we were finished preparing everything and ready to sit down to eat!  It was all unbelievably delicious and all of the grinding and pounding and chopping was totally worth it.  :-). By the time we arrived back to our rooms all we could think of was laying down in a cool air conditioned room for a quick little cat nap....something we seem to be growing quite accustomed to of late.  LOL!

The next big event we attended was a royal cremation.  I feel so fortunate to have been able to experience one of these both times I’ve been here but for Tami and Barb it was a new experience.  Rhiannon decided to join us for the day and so there were four.  It is difficult to describe just what a royal cremation is like but in an attempt to do so I’ll ask you to imagine that the courtyard outside the Vatican (when the pope is making an appearance) is filled beyond capacity.  Many of the people are devout and others are curious tourists anxious to get a feel for this very unique and special occasion.  Now cross that scene with a busy day at Disneyland.....there are vendors and people are having fun.  It is hot and made even more so by the fact that you’re in the middle of a massive crowd.  The humidity is stifling and you’re not sure if you need a shower or just had one as you’re soaked right through.  Are you getting the picture?  I am not exaggerating.  There are literally thousands of people crammed into the crossroads in front of the Ubud Palace as this is the only city where royal cremations ever take place.  The tower that will carry the body of the deceased (who passed away about 6 weeks earlier) has been under construction at this location for at least a month.  It is 27 meters tall and has been decorated with wings and faces and snakes and a turtle.  It truly is a work of art!  The top.  Section of this tower was just added this morning.  It is a pagoda shaped structure that sits above the body and feels like we’ve just watched the “cake” be iced via a feat of engineering the likes of which none of us has ever seen before.  The pagoda shaped topper is tall.....almost as tall as the tower was before it was added.  This entire structure is built of bamboo and wood.  It must be HEAVY and as we’ve walked past it during its construction we’ve marvelled at the fact that it is supported by nothing more than a few single bamboo poles.  Men have been climbing all over the structure using a portable type of scaffolding to attach the various decorations (wings etc) and never once have we seen it even wiggle on it’s foundation!  If we’d seen nothing else other than the construction of this tower we would have had a forever memory locked in there but honestly....the tower is just one aspect of the grandeur.  In addition to the tower there has been a massive bull built elsewhere and transported to the front of the palace where it has been watching over the proceedings for the two weeks preceding the actual cremation day.  The bull is also massive!  I’m not certain of the height of it but my best guess is that it is about 20’ tall and then add to that the fact that it sits atop a platform that is about 3 feet tall....it too is an imposing figure.  The bull is beautiful!  It is likely made of a wooden framework and paper mache that has then been covered with fabric that actually looks like the hair you’d see on a beautiful big black bull.   This bull is designed to be exactly accurate in all ways.  The ratios of leg to neck and body to head all make it appear like there is really a massive bull standing there in front of the palace!  In addition, the bull’s anatomy is added in detail too.  This year I noticed something I didn’t see last year (but that I’m assured is always there) was the string of sperm that is attached to the bull’s erect penis....yes you read that right!  Even to that detail this bull is perfection and able to demonstrate his good health and fertility as he carries the deceased into the next life.  That is his purpose you see....the body will be carried through the streets (followed by thousands) on that very tall tower for a little more than a km.  Once the cremation site is reached the body will be moved from the tower to inside the body of that bull as it’s back will have been cut open at the cremation site.  Once final prayers have been made over the body now inside the bull it, and the bull, will be burned till there is nothing but ash left.  This year, the same as last, I felt a combination of emotion at being privy to this auspicious event and marvel at the engineering and logistics feat that it all is.  This ceremony (from the time that the body is placed into the tower until it is finished burning) takes the better part of a full day and the entire ceremony (there are many events that occur prior to this and that will take place afterward) will take several weeks (maybe as much as a month).  By the time the body had been moved into the bull I was ready to call it a day and begin to head in the direction of home (still a long walk on a hot day. Very early in the day Barb had become separated from the rest of us so  it was just three of us making our way home around 4:30 that afternoon.  We learned later that Barb had stayed longer and had witnessed the actual cremation so we were able to swap stories about our experiences.  She’d missed the moving of the body from the tower to the bull and we’d missed the burning but in the end we got to hear about and see photos of it all.  

This particular cremation had been for one of the queen’s (second wife of the old king or second mother to the current king if the info I have is actually accurate and there is no guarantee of that! LOL). I am certain it was a queen but the details of which one are where it gets a little murky.  When it is a royal cremation it takes place at this Ubud Palace and it happens within a few weeks of their death but for every other Balinese person the location would be their own village/temple and the cremation would not take place immediately following the death.  In fact, it may be up to 5 years before their body will be cremated and the rest of the ceremonies will occur.  Cremations and the associated ceremonies are very expensive and so villages band together to have group cremations.  Individuals are buried when they die and then exhumed when it is time for the cremation.  Just one more very very interesting thing that is the norm here in Bali.  And just one more fantastic example of what we’ve been privy to as we’ve been given the gift of peeking behind the curtain of this beautiful culture.

So much has happened since I last wrote and with all this running around I’ve found myself in need of a couple new tops so decided to visit Wayan the tailor at Rai Pasti (just a little way up the street and down another tiny gang much like the one we take to get to our accommodation).  I have him a couple of my tops, some fabric I’d picked up in Seminyak, and he promised to get them back to me asap.  I was counting on the ASAP part as I don’t have many clothes here to start with so being without a couple of them meant that I’d be wearing the same thing pretty much every day!  In the end, Wayan came through and I now have my old stuff plus a couple new things to mix it up for the last couple weeks of my time here.  

Neither Barb nor Tami had ever seen Uluwatu and it really is a place that everyone who visits Bali must experience soooo.....we decided to make a massive road trip of it and do both Uluwatu and Tanah Lot in the same day!  And...since we were already in a westerly direction and since Tami hadn’t yet been to La Laguna in Canggu and since Barb and I were happy to go there again....we decided to make it our final stop of the day for sunset at the beach.  What a great day it turned out to be!  We had to be in the car and on the road by 8 a.m. which is early but.....we’re glad we made the effort.  We were slightly ahead of some of the traffic and it meant that we could be at both Uluwatu and Tanah Lot ahead of the afternoon crowds that flock to both places for sunset.  The weather couldn’t have been better (but it was HOT).  Even Barb was sweating for part of it!  That truly is an indication of how hot and humid it was.  Tami is a pretty good sweat’er and I am literally a professional sweat’er but when Barb sweats you know there may soon be flames shooting up from the earth’s surface or that one of us (likely Lorrie) may spontaneously combust at any second!  Even at the top of Tanah Lot (where there is a shaded area that usually is home to a beautiful cross breeze) it was hot enough for the lizards to be moving slow enough that Tami was able to photograph one of them from up close!  In spite of that heat both temples were once again highlights for all three of us.  You could never get tired of visiting either of those phenomenally naturally beautiful locations that are home to a sense of spirituality born in the fact that people have been using them to pray, give offerings, worship, and meditate for thousands of years.  I’ve said it before but I’ll say it again...I attribute some of the magic of Bali and the ‘love bubble’ that is Ubud to the fact that the spiritual practice of the Balinese people is constant and ever present.  All those offerings and gratitude and contemplative intentional practice does something to the ether....the gentle goodness that lives here is tangible.

After a day of wandering the cliff sides and trails of those two special temples we set off for Canggu and La Laguna.  Canggu is another little city that is generally most popular with a younger crowd but it is also home to some great scenery and in particular one restaurant on the beach that both Barb and I really enjoy and that we wanted to introduce Tami to.  As usual, Jati’s timing was perfect and so we arrived at La Laguna with just the right amount of lead time to find the “best” table to watch the sun set over the Indian Ocean.  It was exquisite!  Honestly, it may stick in my memory bank as one of the most perfect sunsets I’ve ever seen.  Not that the skies were super clear, in fact there were lots of cloud BUT thanks to Tami we saw shapes in those clouds that actually told a story and that were as clear as if they were written on paper. In addition, there was a small pool of water on the beach directly between our table and the ocean/sunset so we got the sunset as a reflection almost more clearly than we did in the sky!  Dinner at La Laguna was also perfect.  All of our meals were delicious and coupled with the view.....nothing could have made it any better.  La Laguna is designed around a gypsy style decor. Nothing particularly Balinese about it except that it conjures up a zen and tranquil and slightly exotic vibe that has everything to do with Bali.  By the time we arrived home that night 13 hours had passed since we’d climbed in the car that morning...yes....it was a long day but a good one!

The next day Barb and I decided we’d treat ourselves to some R and R in the form of a visit to Verona (my favourite local spa).  I opted for the four hand with Ngurah and Mila.  This talented twosome are magical in my estimation and so if you’re in Ubud at Verona on Monkey Forest Rd I encourage you to ask for them by name.  I’ve had other four hand massages but the one they give is different and I LOVE IT!  If there was a way I could bring them home....honestly....I would!  While I was off in la la land with my 4 hand, Barb was enjoying a spice massage and bath.  That meant that her therapist used a blend of spices in the body scrub that followed her massage and that her bath was filled with a spicy sachet vs the flower petals that I was soaking in over in my own little oasis.  Two hours later both of us rolled out of there with smiles on our faces and a second appointment booked for the following week.

I will leave this post here for now and come back to write another as soon as I can. 

So....till then,

Lorrie, Barb, and Tami