Bali Part 3: Rice, Rice, and More Rice!

 

I hired a moped driver to show me around the island.  Nothing is more exhilarating than riding on the back of a moped while seeing a place so magical and new to you!  First, he took me to one of Ubud's most prominent art gallery.  The gallery hosts an array of Balinese paintings, with over 150 artists represented.  I was shown around the gallery, and fell in love with one of the paintings, which I impulsively bought.  It's a huge canvas and I don't have a home, but someday it will hang on the walls of where I live!  Along with The Point of No Return canvas that my good friends in DC were kind enough to hang and display in their own home while I'm away.

Next, he took me to a Rice Terrace to see a lovely view of some rice fields (see photos above).   And then we drove further to see a temple.  It was a nice ride through the country side, and up a steep mountain, with a beautiful view below.  It was interesting to see the Hindu temple; very different from the temples in Singapore.  I learned that women who are menstruating are not allowed in the temple (an awkward moment passed when my guide asked me, to make sure it was appropriate for me to enter).  I'm not sure why (I was too embarrassed by that point to ask).  In order to enter, I had to wear a sarong.  I did not learn much more about the temple, but it was interesting to see.  The rain was really coming down now, so we didn't spend much time there.  Instead, we drove back to Ubud (at this point, we were about an hour out of Ubud).

The next day, after yet another relaxing spa treatment the night before, I woke up early to go on a Bike Tour through Bali.  (Bike as in cycling, not mopeds.)  A friend of mine referred me to this tour, led by a local named Buggy (Spelling?)  It was definitely worth waking up at 7am for!  I couldn't help but think all that day, how, this is why I came to Singapore, to have experiences like this; to see cultures so unfamiliar to my own; to absorb different cultures and landscapes and to really learn about them.   I got picked up at my hotel and we picked up an Aussie couple along the way; simply lovely people.  They had children my age, and we chatted away as we drove about an hour's distance.  First on the agenda was breakfast at another spot overlooking a beautiful rice terrace:

Here we met up with the rest of our group:  A newly wed couple from England and a young woman lawyer from DC.  There were six of us in total, a nice small bunch; we had fun getting to know each other through the course of the day!  (In fact, the lawyer from DC came to Singapore and I showed her around one day.)  We had a lovely breakfast, and then drove about another 20 minutes to the spot where our bikes were waiting for us.

In total, it was a 26km bike ride.  Our first stop was a Balinese Family Compound.  The guide took us to a Balinese home, and told us about life in Bali, and explained the caste system.  In this home, 13 members of the family lived together (which is small, usually it's up to 30, sometimes 40).  They showed us where the eldest member of the family lives, and told us about the teeth filing ceremony for when the children start to hit puberty.  They also showed us where they planted the placenta of each child in the family (which they often take good-omen offerings to).  The guide asked us what we did with placenta in our cultures....uhh, anyone?

We got an extensive tour of the plantation, where they grow everything from fruits and veggies, to spices, and cocoa, and coffee, and live stock; each family compound also has a rice field.  This compound was raising roosters for cockfights.  They explained each spice, etc, and what it's used for. It's amazing how everything is grown on location and used so efficiently to make food, survive, etc.  In many aspects, it's a much simpler life than we're used to.  No one's concerned with material things, like cars or designer clothes or technology.  Everything is done with two hands and a heart.

 

After we left the plantation, we biked through some more rural villages.  Other than a few cyclists, these places have been untouched by tourists.  It was great to see how much of Bali lives; school children coming home, people cultivating their rice fields, etc.  In fact, our next stop was at a rice field to learn how to cultivate rice!  I even got to try my hand at it!

After we biked through more villages and saw some temples, we ended the tour at our guide's Balinese home, where his wife cooked us a beautiful spread of Indonesian food.  It was delicious.

That afternoon, I went to one more spa and then headed to airport; refreshed, relaxed, and cultured.  Bali is a place I hope to return to someday.  It was a beautiful, artistic, warm and friendly island.  There is something in the air there.  I met an elderly Aussie woman who said she'd been coming to Bali for 30 years and rediscovers its magic every time.  (She looked to be about 80 years old!)  I hope I'm still traveling and re-discovering the magic and adventure of a place when I'm her age.  And I hope to someday return to Bali, if not, at least I can say I've been there!