Solo in Ubud

KVD here...

On Sunday morning I left Jon in Kuta for a solo adventure in the Ubud region. Ubud is the cultural centre of Bali, and is located in the central highlands of the country. I've seen many amazing sights since I arrived.

When I first got here, I found a place to stay and explored the city a bit. After that, I went to a Legong Dance performance at Ubud Palace, a community meeting place and open-air stage in downtown Ubud. What an experience of sound, colour, and movement! I found it a more intense experience than seeing a really great play in Stratford. I'm planning to go to another performance tonight, one called a Lecak Fire Dance.






My first full day in Ubud I went on a "nature walk." Actually, it was a community farming walk, but that was good for me too. Our guide was from the countryside originally, and knew a lot about farming methods, plants, and regional knowledge. Here's a photo of a woman processing rice. She's beating the rice to make the grain fall out, and then the stalks are used for making thatch or feeding the cows.



Here's a photo of women cutting rice in the field. There's a communal work system here in Bali, so they are all helping with the harvest. All work is done according to the Balinese calendar, which is a religious tool by which people pick the auspicious days, or "good days" to do something. Cutting of rice is supposed to start on a Sunday according to this calendar. These women started to cut on Sunday, and continued to work on Monday, when we saw them.



Our countryside tour took us to a "legendary" spring, where people go to bathe and drink for its healing properties. It is supposed to give a man children if he can't have them, and help with other health problems. In the river beside the spring, we saw a Bali Aga man (a "primitive", according to our guide) trying to set a trap for a crocodile. Our tour continued with a little drive to Lebih Beach, which is famous for its fishing boats and fresh seafood. The sea was really rough when we were there, so no boats were out on the water. They were all pulled up on the sand, like this one:


We ate a delicious feast of fish dishes - fish soup, fish satay, fish in a banana leaf, served with rice and greens. Really tasty! I drank "es campur" for the first time - a mixture of shaved ice, condensed milk, coconut, and fermented fruit. It was delicious, and a little dangerous to eat, according to the guidebooks. I braved the dangers of Bali Belly and truly enjoyed the drink.

Our tour continued to see three village workshops and shops: a painting gallery, a place where fabric is woven and dyed, and a silversmith. Here's a shot of a woman weaving a piece of cloth by hand. The work was so beautiful, and I bought a woven bedcover in purples, reds, and yellows for my bedroom back home.



What a day it was - I got back to my hotel really tired, a little sun-touched, and crossing my fingers that the es campur and raw coconut milk wouldn't interfere with the epic mountain bike ride I had planned for the next day.