Total Miles Traveled: 34,615
Ahh, Ubud. It is described by many as a sanctuary for yoga, meditation, and just getting away from it all. The book – and now film – “Eat, Pray, Love” has put Ubud in the spotlight since the main character finds her love there. The film shot locally in Ubud with Julia Roberts, which has made Ubud even more of a destination. Tour guides will inevitably mention it. The funny thing is, we talked to a local and long-term expat about the book He said the description of the “hunky”, love interest – Felipe – gave him a chuckle once he realized it was the aging, balding guy he knew. (Apparently the real guy looks NOTHING like Javier Bardem who portrays him in the movie.)
So, don’t let the book/film over-romanticize the place for you, because you’ll enjoy it that much more. Despite all of the development and tourism, Ubud is still a pretty awesome place. There’s a little bit for everyone – adventure, trekking, great food, cooking classes, yoga, meditation retreats, and some great shopping for clothes, jewelry, and home goods.
Interspersed between all of the fancy new buildings selling things in Ubud, there are still rice paddies with real farmers working on them to make a living. Up to 80% of Balinese people are now involved with tourism according to one person we talked to. The cynical part of me wouldn’t be surprised if some of these farmers are subsidized to keep the look and feel of the place intact. In fact, if I were a public official, I’d definitely do it.
So, while Ubud is pretty developed, you still see slices of life as it was, like a boy flying his kite while running through the rice paddies.
One thing that surprised us was the amount of women doing heavy manual labor. These ladies are removing dirt from a small space between two modern buildings on the main street of Ubud. They shovel the dirt into the bucket, lift it up on their heads, and then dump it in to the truck.
One other memory we have is killing mosquitoes. We stayed for a few days at Rumah David Sanctuary, where the rooms/bathrooms are indoor/outdoor. And since Bali is a tropical climate with lots of standing water (think rice paddies), there can be lots (read tons) of mosquitoes. Fortunately, there was an electric, rechargeable mosquito/fly swatter, which was a lot of fun to wave around the room and hear the snap, crackle, pop of things being zapped. A bit weird? Maybe. But quite cathartic when these guys are constantly trying to bite you!
We also remember the food and drinks being excellent in Ubud. On one of our first nights, we hit up Cinta Grill for their buy-one-get-one-free mojito happy hour. Fresh ginger mojitos, passion fruit mojitos, classic – we had’em all. On subsequent days, we had some fantastic meals at Minami (Japanese), Lamak (Asian fusion), and Warung Enak (Indonesian). At the latter, we took a cooking class which we’re write about in our next post. Here’s Tony enjoying the BYGO Free.
A Bike Tour through the Backroads
Our local expat friend told us to take a bike ride through the villages north and east of Ubud with a company called Bali Eco Bike Tours (a.k.a. Budaya Tours, I think). It was a full day affair that takes you to various interesting points in the countryside via bus and bike. The idea is to experience a slice of authentic Bali life.
On one of our more touristy stops, we got to try Luwak coffee and learn how Bali coffee is made. Here’s a cacao gourd/fruit.
Luwak coffee is a specific type of coffee where the civit cat (below), eats the cacao beans and then “passes” them through their digestive systems. The “poo beans” are washed thoroughly (thankfully), and then roasted. It’s very expensive and rare, since it’s such low production, fetching up to $50USD/pound. So getting to try it was a treat.
Here’s a shot of Balinese coffee being roasted…
The interesting thing about Balinese coffee in general is that there are “male” and “female” beans, with the male ones being smaller and in smaller quantities.
Here’s Lisa getting ready to try female Bali coffee (the most common and served in restaurants), male coffee (slightly bitter, like espresso – and more expensive), luwak (civit poo) coffee ($50USD per pound, nutty smooth flavor), ginseng coffee, hot chocolate, and ginger tea.
So what was the result? Lisa liked the luwak (and most expensive) coffee the most. Tony liked the female Balinese (and most common) coffee. Go figure!
Getting back on our bikes, we stop at a household complex. Rural families live in a complex of buildings, with a kitchen in one building, bedrooms in another, a temple, and so on. Here’s the address sign for the one we visited. It includes a tally of how many people are living there, as specific as how many boys live there.
Here’s a typical kitchen:
Football (a.k.a. soccer to us Americans and Aussies) is truly popular around the world, including Bali.
In Bali, women will carry things, sometimes very heavy things, on their heads. WOW.
The great thing about our tour was that you got to ride your bike through paved and unpaved paths through rice paddies, and mostly downhill.
You got to see things like rice being dried:
Here’s an interesting tree along one of our stops:
Wood Carving
On another stop, we checked out people doing carved wooden doors. Wood carving is big business in Bali for export. We saw factories with tons of motorbikes parked outside where statues are mass produced by hand. And along the roads, you can see stores with people carving doors, totem-like poles, and other decorations. Maybe these people used to be farmers, but now are making products for export since it’s much more profitable.
One of these doors costs about $750 USD and takes about 1 month to make. That’s very cheap for something of this caliber. Imagine it after it’s stained and finished – dark wood carved front doors opening up in to your foyer. Stunning. We’ll be coming back to buy one (or more) of these some day when we have a home!
Lots of work goes into these carvings, but these guys are actually really quick. And while each piece can be unique, there are patterns that they use to make it go faster.
Speaking of homes…here’s our future home. Well, not really. But, we’ll be copying it eventually. It’s owned by some wealthy Balinese businessman who owns a bunch of tourist-oriented clothing and souvenir stores. You can’t see it here, but his front door is a giant carved wooden door. Really impressive.
The Balinese People
As we rode through the backroads, we got to see what life is really like. Like this photo below, where a rice farmer carries her hoe on her HEAD, yes, her head, and her sickle in hand. The other women are making clay offerings which will later be heated to harden them, and offered up to their god at the temple behind them.
One thing we’ve realized in our travels is that kids seem to be the same everywhere we go – they play the same, act the same, throw hissy-fits the same way. And are all fun, too. Do you agree?
This guy approached us on the side of the road wanting to get a look at us and our cameras. He kind of reminds me of my dad. He’s wearing traditional headwear and a sarong for worshipping at temples. We wish you could see the smile on his face when we showed him this picture in our digital camera.
Finally, the bike tour came to an end for a late lunch:
Ubud was definitely worth the visit. If you get a chance to go to Bali, make time (more than two days — in fact more than a week) to get to know this area. There’s plenty to see and do. It can rejuvenate your spirit, even if you don’t do yoga or meditate!
For more photos, check our the slideshow below.
[flickrslideshow acct_name=”tony-chen” id=”72157624935808461″]