22nd September - Lovina - Ubud - coffee - cacao - spices

Sunday 22^nd September

The past two days have been action-packed.

Not only did I suddenly become a whole year older, but we also whirled around Bali seeing SIGHTS and having experiences hither and yon.  Pete very sensibly hired a car AND a driver, Komang,

who was a joy and a delight to be with and who drove very carefully along the narrow, winding roads.  If Pete had been driving it would have been a white-knuckle affair and…maybe…not so much fun… And he would have missed out on the beautiful scenery.

We stayed the night in Ubud, up in the highlands, a very arty-crafty place, and on the way there and back we stopped at many MANY Places Of Interest.

Temples.

in serene gardens

The most wonderful temple of all was on a lake

This was very old (1700s), and beautifully restored, with lovely gardens.

and some slightly lurid larger-than-life dragons and tigers.

Pete managed to convince poor Komang that this one

is an authentic Tasmanian devil…

Possibly the experience we enjoyed least was the hot springs… It was a VERY hot day and we had our bathers, prepared to swim at the springs, which we had been assured were clean, with lockers, showers, security.  We locked and secured our stuff, although I was a bit puzzled by this sign in the change room:

They all said NO TISSING, and you could just vaguely see the palimpsest of a P replacing the T…

Well the thing is with hot springs is…they are hot… There was a series of springs and fountains, each hotter than the last.  Pete and I took the plunge but got out very soon, looking like Mr and Mrs TomatoHead.  Fortunately…there are no photos…

We also had quite a long hike to a waterfall, high up in the hills.  It was much cooler, at 1200 metres, so we could have swum there but we had left our hot wet swimming clothes in the car so we just looked at other people cooling off and taking photos of each other in front of the falls.

I bought some spices on the way back.  There were spice stalls along the way, selling dear little packets of this and that.  Bali is such a spice island!  The air is redolent with cloves, just wonderful.  Cloves grow on trees, high up –who knew??

Beautiful scenery, beautiful lakes.

It was apparently a good series of days for funerals and weddings.  Auspicious!  We passed several funeral processions, and when we got to Ubud, there was a huge ceremony in the monkey park, with at least 70 little shrines, with pyres being prepared.  We weren’t able to stay to watch the bodies being burnt – oh dear, never mind… Everybody looked wonderful, all dressed up.

Our Finnish friends Leena and Peter (Nikoni) were there, all dressed up in appropriate sarongs and headgear.

I loved this mother and daughter…

They actually looked quite pensive, although they brightened up when I showed them their photo.  But for the most part this large gathering was full of joy, music, laughter.

The room where we were staying was in Jalan Monkey Park, and indeed the monkey park was heaving with monkeys!  I bought $5 worth of bananas at the entrance, and I was mobbed before we had got very far in at all.  One of them actually mugged me, quite a big one.  He leapt onto my back and scampered up onto my head, with every intention of nicking my (very beloved and expensive) sunglasses.  I was very lucky, he kept his claws sheathed (if that is what monkeys do??) and he did NOT have rabies.

This was the very youngest monkey – SO cute…

I fed out my bananas at lightning speed, laughing slightly hysterically…monkeys RAN at me from every direction until I had chucked the last banana out of my bag.  As soon as the fruit had gone, they veered off to confront someone else.  Pete they left entirely alone – he was food-less.

The rice paddies around Ubud are simply breathtaking.  I would have loved to have time to wander around the little paths, but we were on a mission to get back down to sea level by 5.00, for a Rally welcoming ceremony, so we only had a few minutes to gaze upon the green intricacy of the terraces.

More Places Of Interest on the way down.  Also more funerals processions, and two weddings:

The bride is here, all colourful, in the midst of the women,

And the groom is even more resplendent, if possible.

We stopped at a coffee farm and just loved it.  Lots of information, which is not usually my favourite thing, but our guide, Madé, was gorgeous and made it all very interesting.

Bali is very fertile – lots of water, lots of irrigation channels (built by the Dutch during colonial days.)  So they not only grow coffee

Bu also cacao (for chocolate)

And a large variety of spices, and fruit.

Vanilla, for example!

It all smelled just heavenly!  Madé gave us a tray of tea and one of coffee, in little cups, to sample.  Such fun, so nice, until we went back down the long long drive to Singgaraja (which, incidentally, means Lion King.)  Lots of delays, for processions,

And no toilet opportunities… By the time we got to a petrol station, with facilities, I was breathing at a very shallow rate… I felt very guilty that we were using the toilets but not buying petrol, and was glad to see the station owner was fast asleep on a mattress in the shop.  Pete said, It wouldn’t have mattered, they had run out of fuel anyway.

We got back to Lovina with a bit of time to go out to the boat to check the fridges, and found, to our joy, that the new timer switch arrangement had worked well.  (Thanks to Jan, our Dutch friend, from Avanta.  Pete had worked on this system for several hours before we left, and Jan, in his quiet, competent way took over because we really had to go by 11 if we were to see anything of our tour…And he got it all working so that we didn’t come back to warm melted fridge spaces…)

The welcoming ceremony was spectacular.  A whole parade of dancers and musicians.  Fabulous!  In Bali they do not hold back, on costumes.  Gold!  Satin!  Shininess!

So pretty!

We didn’t actually go to the dinner…we slunk out of the ceremony half an hour before it ended because…well, it was fabulous but it WENT ON TOO LONG.  And we were very tired and hungry… We found a lovely little open bar-restaurant, with a little group of musicians playing the sort of stuff I like.  Various friends passed by for a chat

John and Irina, from Footloose

I was in a very good mood and when I saw the man who had been sitting next to me during the ceremony, I called him over.  John lives here in Bali, but is moving to live in Provence soon.  As you do…His wife is in London, visiting a new grandchild, so he was happy to come and chat.

He invited us to come and look at his favourite waterfall, about an hour’s drive, slightly off the beaten track, today.

And yes it was beautiful, and we enjoyed his company.

I am now sitting in a lovely little restaurant, looking at the people passing by, enjoying a cool breeze, and using the free WiFi and the electricity to charge my computer.  John has gone to do his washing; Pete has gone back to the boat – I HOPE for a rest and not to wrestle in the heat with another BoatProblem.