Bali Part 1: Call Me Katut.

My impression of Bali has always been that it's the Cancun of S.E. Asia.  But instead of drunken American Tourists looking for a good, cheap time, its Aussies.  (The people I met in Changi Airport on the way to Bali, automatically assumed I was from Australia when I told them where I was going...as if my accent didn't throw them off?!?!)  At least, that is what I was told.  But rumors, and impressions, can be deceiving. 

Bali is truly a magical place.  I felt it as soon as I landed and met Kadek, the man who drove me from Depensar (where the airport was) to Ubud (where my hotel was).  Along the way, Kadek told me a little bit about Bali and about his family.  I learned that my name in Bali would be Katut, because in Bali, they name their children in order of birth.  The first born (Christine, that would be you!) is named Wyan, the second (Andrea, and my driver) is named Kadek; the third (yes Victoria, no longer just Vicki) Nyoman (pronounced without the "N") and the lovely fourth child is named Katut (kind of cute, dontcha think?!)

By the time I got to my hotel, it was so late that the receptionist insisted I wait til morning to check in.  They took me to my room, and it's a lovely villa ish place, with a veranda overlooking a spectacular jungle view.  Since it rained nearly every night, it felt as though I was living in a rain forest, and the birds and other creatures I heard added to that ambiance.  Each morning you wake up to a fresh pot of tea served on your veranda.  Simply delightful.  After tea, I go to the restaurant for breakfast, which is included.  They serve you a plate of fresh fruit and a choice of a western or Indonesian breakfasts.  The front entrance of Nick's Pension is through the village of Ubud, and you have to walk through rice fields to get to the villas.  To exit Nick's from the opposite end of the property, you have to walk through jungle, and across a river (via the bamboo bridge) to get to Monkey Forest Road, one of the main streets in Ubud.  First, let's take a look at some of the photos of where I stayed:

Nick's Pension

In Bali, I stayed in Ubud, which is the artistic and cultural center of the island.  It's in the center, nowhere near the beach, so it is slightly less touristy.  Actually, there are parts of Ubud that are not touristy at all, but Ubud is still a place that clearly caters to tourists, especially with all the cafes lining the main street. But in Ubud, everyone in the village is a painter, or wood carver or weaver.  Mostly painters.  It's spectacular to see the artwork that is produced here!  All along the streets are studios and galleries and locals painting and whatnot.  Take a look at some photos of Ubud as we walk through the streets:

This is Boris.  The Swiss Organic Chemist I met one night at dinner.

Bali Part 2: Monkeying Around

So I stopped in shops along Ubud's main road, all the while headed towards the Monkey Forest.  I didn't really know what to expect, I had never seen monkeys real up close before, outside of a zoo.  I just kind of expected to see trees and maybe some monkeys flying up above.  No, this was like a monkey sanctuary...monkeys everywhere!  At first, I was a bit frightened at the proximity of the monkeys, and then the amount of monkeys, everywhere!!  You could buy bananas to feed to the monkeys.  I chose not to.  I didn't want to get attacked!  In addition to viewing monkeys, this was a very nice jungle setting as well.  Let's take a look at some of my (more favorite) monkey photos, as I took a lot:

After the monkey forest, I went to my first of three Bali spas.  For $10-15 USD you can get a two hour spa treatment; with massage, scrubs, and floral baths!  They massage you for an hour, the put on an exfoliating scrub, like yogurt, then you get in a bath filled with rose petals and other pretty flowers...though the first time, I did feel like I was living in the middle of American Beauty...and they serve you tea and fruit or cookies, it's delightful.

After a meal, I went to see traditional Balinese dancing.  The dance I saw was called Kecak Fire and Trance Dance (well, there were two dances in total, I suppose).

The Kecak dance is accompanied by the gamelan suara, a choir of a hundred men sitting in concentric circles, swaying, standing up, lying, etc.  Over the chanting, a story is told by one voice.  In the Kecak dance, the story is a part of the Hindu epic, Ramayana:  Prince Rama and his wife Sita have been banished from the Kingdom (Ayodya) by King Dasarata as a result of trickery by Rama's stepmother.  The story starts when Rama's brother, Laksmana, arrives in the forest of Dandaka.  There are splendid costumes and masks and headdresses that the characters wear throughout the telling of the story.  The performances is kind of a cross between theater and dance.

The Trance Dance, known as the Sanghyang Djaran, is a dance inspired by the gods, in order to protect society against evil forces and epidemics.  This particular dance involves horses (Djaran means horse).  The "horse rider" is lulled into trance by repetitive sounds of the gamelan suara and in his tranced state, walks on a bed of burning coconut husks responding to the rising and falling of the sounds of the gamelan.

Both dances used fire.  The first, had a fire pit in the center that they danced around.   The second lit coconut husks on fire, which spreads all over the dance floor.  There were lots of drumming and chanting and swaying.  Very different from any performance I'd ever seen!

It poured all day and all night.  I'm not talking about constant rain, I'm talking about what a monsoon feels like.  It rained so much and so hard that my only pair of pants were ruined for the rest of my vacation.  By the end of the night I was drenched, and cold.  The next day I couldn't do the volcano trekking I had hoped for, because of the weather.  Instead, I took a walk to Ubud's market, and ended up bartering for several gifts to take back home (including a drum, and a tea set!).  That afternoon, I hired a moped driver to take me around the island.