The Snowlady Chronicles: Ubud

Wednesday May 7, 2014

Jimbaran, Bali Indonesia

Cool in AM and late PM but HOT in between (and finally got good enough internet access to load photos!)

Wow, after a day of travelling got to Ubud, Bali around 11pm on Saturday night. I'm spending a week in Bali with BFF Sandra for some R&R.

A really nice guy picked me up at the airport and drove me to our hotel Oka Wati in Ubud. It's a nice reasonable hotel, quiet because it's off Monkey Road with nicely decorated room and a fantastic breakfast. Sandra travelled over 24 hours to get to Ubud and was sound asleep when I arrived. She was so tired that she did not hear me knock (loudly I might add) that the hotel attendant had to get a key to let me in. She did not hear me at all although I was making lots of noises unpacking, taking a shower and finally woke up with I dropped my vanity bag!

Anyhow, had a good night's sleep, and after a fantastic breakfast which included homemade yogurt, we met our wonderful tour guide Apple for a whole day tour.

The day started by going to the countryside where we saw the famous terraced rice paddies on Ubud. They are stunning. We then went to Lake Batur, the largest lake in Bali which was formed by a super volcano. It's quite incredible. And the temperatures were cool as we were up high in the mountains. The scenery is stunning!

The famous rice terraces

Our fabulous guy Apple owner of Wayan Tours. I highly recommend him. Here he is explaining the details of the offerings.

A beautiful Balinese lady distributing morning offerings to her neighborhood

I believe this is Agung the tallest mountain in Bali

Lake Batur, created by the super volcano

Fruit Vendor. Luv the fruits!

While Apple was taking us to our next destination - Gunung Kawi Temple, we stopped along the way to take photos of the lovely villagers. I found that everyone in Bali loves to smile and are extremely friendly. We learned from Apple as we started our tour of the Temple that the two guards at the entrance are always smiling to bring happiness to folks who enter. So maybe that is why everyone in Bali is always smiling! The temple was gorgeous! and very peaceful. It also had a bathing area for the village folks. I underestimated the role of HInduism in Balinese culture. Although I am not religious, it made me ponder, that having god in your life can bring happiness and peace to one's soul.

Gunang Kawi Temple

Kids feeding Koi at the temple

I really enjoyed Apple stopping and having us meet some local villagers. We even met one of the women who were distributing offerings to the town. All offerings contain beautiful flowers to add color to life, something green to represent life, and the betel leaf for energy.

Village Woman

Village woman and dog

Village man asking if Sandra is married

Village kids playing

Rice Harvest Time

Bride and Groom!

After spending the morning learning about the culture, Apple took us around to do some shopping. I was very interested in silver and art. Ubud is the cultural center of Indonesia and one of the art capitals of Southeast Asia. The art in Ubud was very influential in the 1920s where many famous avant-garde artists like Walter Spies moved to Ubud to paint!

The first gallery Apple took us too was "interesting". Firstly, it was HUGE. But most surprisingly is they had very cheap ugly and may I say tacky painting mixed was the most beautiful and stunning masterpieces. And the most beautiful paintings were placed where the lighting was very poor. I found a most beautiful painting by a local artist of women working in the field. The painting was displayed above a window by the staircase. It turned out to be by one of the most famous Ubud artists (name I can't remember) in Ubud. They wanted 5000 USD for it so I passed. Apple then took us to another gallery that was just as huge but I would label this one grand. It was tastefully done. Both Sandra and I found an artist we liked there alot - Nyoman Sukaya. So we splurged. I'm still thinking of the 5000 USD painting but I do love the smaller and more reasonably priced art from Nyoman Sukaya. Will post of photo of it once I get it framed.

Next stop is the town of Celuk for silver. Celuk is a town of silversmiths, where very high quality silver and most recently gold jewelry can be custom made or bought. Apple took us to a fabulous store which had the most unique and gorgeous jewelry at a reasonable price. Sandra bought a pair of earrings and I bought a gorgeous bracelet and 2 sets of earrings (one for me and one for my sister).

Last shopping stop was the batik factory where we learned how traditional batik is made. It is quite time consuming to do it all by hand! Most batik these days are "prints" that is made by machine. When doing batik by hand one has to "paint" the front AND the back. We saw some gorgeous batik artwork but ended up not buying anything. Instead I bought an inexpensive "moo-moo" to wear as the heat was becoming unbearable for me. (I don't do well in hot weather).

Last stop was to have a cup of coffee. We were going to try Luwak coffee. Apple took us to a small coffee shop/plantation that serves us the coffee. There is a lot of controversy regarding this coffee as it is made from the beans that have been "pooped" from the wild civet cat. Unfortunately, I did not do any research about the abuse until after the visit. In the past, folks had to go to the forests to forage the "poop". But now, the civets are farm raised which has led to some animal abuse incidents. The place we went to had farmed civets but was reputable - Negari Agro plantation. We had a very interesting coffee and tea tasting which included the Lewak Coffee. We liked it, but we also discovered ginseng and ginger flavored coffees which we liked even better. And I have to say, seeing the animals in cages (not only civets but a baby monkey, bats, etc) was very sad. And after returning to the hotel and doing research on the coffee, I will never have another cup of Luwak coffee again as it will only encourage more abuse to these gentle creatures.

Our day started at 8am and ended around 5pm. Apple is a GREAT tour guide and we will see him again on Wednesday. Sandra and I had a delicious dinner at a restaurant very near our hotel and called it a night. The next few days are not packed with actiivities as after all, we are hear to relax!

I want this!