bali photos
Originally uploaded by Robbi Baba.
While Krista was taking this picture, I was being mobbed by vendors trying to sell me carvings. These terraces have been here a very long time!
Wednesday, April 06, 2005
Our wood carver's work
bali photos
Originally uploaded by Robbi Baba.
Some work by the fellow who will be carving "Mother Tree" for us!
Life is (mostly) good.
We had a wonderful time last night. We bought tickets to a gamelon/dance performance from a street vendor--he told us it was a special women-only performance and many of the dancers children as young as 8! It was in a different venue than the first one we went to with Joyce. Turns out it was at an actual palace! We walked around a gate and there was a long path through a huge lily pond, dramatically lit with torches and lots of statuary shooting out water into the pond. Ahead was a fairy like temple scene, lit up but also dark with shadows--in the classic Bali orange brick with gray carvings all around. The gamelons (which are themselves stunningly beautiful, all gold and red with carvings galore) were laid out in the courtyard. There was only one other person sitting in the small set of chairs for the audience. We sat down just as it started sprinkling. After a few minutes a fellow came out and said they were going to move the whole show into a covered pavillion next to the palace. We walked over and ended up with front row center seats in this rather small space. The gamelon set up on both sides, the dancers practically in our laps. I was a bit nervous about the close space. The last show had been so incredibly loud it hurt. I was the only one with earplugs, but it turned out that the women played softer somehow. I actually enjoyed the music, rather than endured it.
There were about 28 women in the orchestra, mostly older women. It was wonderful having such a bird's eye view of them playing. Very intimate.
The dancers were just great. Some of them seemed to be maybe 9 years old! But they were sophisticated dancers. We enjoyed every minute of the whole shebang, and it went on for almost two hours. Being front row center in such a tiny venue meant the dancers were CLOSE and that meant lots of eye contact. And they do all kinds of weird eye movements as part of the dance. It was a bit intense at times! India was next to me and was almost freaked out a few times. It was a real high point for all of us.
After the show we went across the street to a resturaunt we hadn't tried yet. Turned out to be fabulous gourmet food with an extensive menu. We had a wonderful dinner and walked home in the rain, happy as could be. Given that I had had a great massage in the afternoon, and had actually bought a beautiful shirt for myself (from a guy named Loopy!), it was my favorite day in Bai so far.
Today was the bird park..I posted a few photos. I took the girls so Krista could get some design work done. We had such a great time, despite the pouring rain when we got there. We got to see (along with many many wonders) fruit bats, or flying foxes as they're called, in a huge aviary. They were quite active, chowing down on fruit and flying about. They are really big! The kids had to drag me away from that one.
We also got to see a real live Komodo dragon lizard. We were admiring him when his Balinese keeper showed up and started telling us about him. I've always heard how these lizards are really nasty, and very dangerous (which they are). But the keeper jumped into the enclosure with him and walked right up and started stroking him. We were freaked! He told us he's been taking care of the fellow for 8 years. The lizards eyes closed as his head was stroked. The keeper thumped him like a drum and massaged him and finally dragged him by his tail--this is a creature about 8 feet long! He told us the lizard likes when he pulls loose skin off him and he pulled off a little flake and handed it to us! What a trip. An exotic souvenier for sure.
Krista's designing is going well. We are hoping to make cheap sarongs for the Oregon Country Fair (to sell after hours). And maybe some fine silk wall hangings to boot.
We are talking about the possibility of extending our stay in Bali an extra 5 days or so. To get some work done and some sightseeing. Seems like it took almost two weeks just to settle in. I hate to take time away from NZ though.
It's interesting to meet Americans who come to Bali for extended stays. One can live very cheaply in the most beautiful settings and engage the talents of some of the finest craftspeople in the world (who are very grateful to get the work!), in order to get clothes or jewelry made, etc. Go back home and sell the stuff...
There's more to write, but it's late and a long walk back...
hope you are all well back home,
love
rob
There were about 28 women in the orchestra, mostly older women. It was wonderful having such a bird's eye view of them playing. Very intimate.
The dancers were just great. Some of them seemed to be maybe 9 years old! But they were sophisticated dancers. We enjoyed every minute of the whole shebang, and it went on for almost two hours. Being front row center in such a tiny venue meant the dancers were CLOSE and that meant lots of eye contact. And they do all kinds of weird eye movements as part of the dance. It was a bit intense at times! India was next to me and was almost freaked out a few times. It was a real high point for all of us.
After the show we went across the street to a resturaunt we hadn't tried yet. Turned out to be fabulous gourmet food with an extensive menu. We had a wonderful dinner and walked home in the rain, happy as could be. Given that I had had a great massage in the afternoon, and had actually bought a beautiful shirt for myself (from a guy named Loopy!), it was my favorite day in Bai so far.
Today was the bird park..I posted a few photos. I took the girls so Krista could get some design work done. We had such a great time, despite the pouring rain when we got there. We got to see (along with many many wonders) fruit bats, or flying foxes as they're called, in a huge aviary. They were quite active, chowing down on fruit and flying about. They are really big! The kids had to drag me away from that one.
We also got to see a real live Komodo dragon lizard. We were admiring him when his Balinese keeper showed up and started telling us about him. I've always heard how these lizards are really nasty, and very dangerous (which they are). But the keeper jumped into the enclosure with him and walked right up and started stroking him. We were freaked! He told us he's been taking care of the fellow for 8 years. The lizards eyes closed as his head was stroked. The keeper thumped him like a drum and massaged him and finally dragged him by his tail--this is a creature about 8 feet long! He told us the lizard likes when he pulls loose skin off him and he pulled off a little flake and handed it to us! What a trip. An exotic souvenier for sure.
Krista's designing is going well. We are hoping to make cheap sarongs for the Oregon Country Fair (to sell after hours). And maybe some fine silk wall hangings to boot.
We are talking about the possibility of extending our stay in Bali an extra 5 days or so. To get some work done and some sightseeing. Seems like it took almost two weeks just to settle in. I hate to take time away from NZ though.
It's interesting to meet Americans who come to Bali for extended stays. One can live very cheaply in the most beautiful settings and engage the talents of some of the finest craftspeople in the world (who are very grateful to get the work!), in order to get clothes or jewelry made, etc. Go back home and sell the stuff...
There's more to write, but it's late and a long walk back...
hope you are all well back home,
love
rob
Tuesday, April 05, 2005
News from the Lotus Eaters
One of the things that facinates me here is the driving. The roads are narrow and crowded with cars, motorscooters, bikes, kids, old folks, dogs, people pushing carts. There are very few traffic lights. It seems that each light has a little hut to go with it, on the side of the road, with police there. Our driver explained that the police are needed because the lights cause confusion.
I think that the Oriental mind, in general, is less focused on individuality. There's more of a collective consciouness here, and in Thailand, and this enables drivers to negotiate traffic situations that would leave most Westerners cringing or diving for cover. Just turning right across oncoming traffic--our driver will just start to go and the people oncoming have to slow or even stop. There's a hierarchy of some kind, I'm guessing, that allows the judgement of when to go or wait. Unfathomable to me.
I think it would be hilarious to organize a tour for retired California Highway Patrol Officers. They'd just have a fit.
The downside is that I haven't had the guts, or lapse of reason, to rent a scooter here. This means relying on drivers, which means we aren't as able to explore the countryside.
Yesterday our driver took us for a long ride out of Ubud up to a village Telang Legong. It's about 10 miles or so and 80% of it was packed with little or big shops fronting 'factories' making mostly woodcarvings. Out of soft wood. The damned cats, etc. . But also everything else in the world. Therer was furniture, and bamboo stuff, and some ceramic, musical instruments, glittery mosaic mirrors, huge gold painted buddhas, handcarved picture frames. It was truly astounding.
We were on a mission of sorts. There is a style of carving, essentially bas relief, often to a depth of 3 or 4 inches. I'm talking flat panels anywhere from 8 x 10 inches to 2 by 3 feet, or even whole split doors. The carvings are highly skilled and beautiful. I had the idea of getting one of Krista's paintings carved into a panel--Mother Tree (see www.devaluna.com). We passed by alot of cats and other 3-d statuary. Finally we saw some of this style and stopped. There were some truly phenomenal works out front. Extremely elaborate, with every leaf, bat, elephant or mountain peak in stunning detail. We explained to the young carver what we were after. We ended up ordering 5, and rather smaller than we wanted. He's supposed to bring a sample by in 4 days. 100,000rp each. It was inspiring and frustrating at the same time. We are confident in his abilities, but we aren't sure how clear the translation was. We're not sure what we'll end up with.
Today we met with a second Batik factory owner. She and her husband picked us up at the Tutmak, our favorite breakfast place, and wisked us off to their place. Our friend Bryon had reccomended her and we decided to have several samples made. We had already orderd 6 samples from another guy in town.
Krista really loves the silk. They are able to do subtle shadings and really fine lines. Neither of us really wanted to just have the old images done up, but that's pretty much what we did for the samples. She did crank out one new design, based on our old sticker Fairy Queen.
We're still gathering information. I'm hoping we can come up with a new product to jump start our poor tired old business.
Otherwise we have been really lazy. Or really resting. I can't remember if I've written much about our home away from home. It's very very nice. We have a big wide porch and got a lovely hammock hung up to swing in. The pool, with it's lovely statuary and plantings is right there in our front yard, with rice paddies along side and beyond. The bathroom is well above average for Bali--it has a big tub so the floor stays pretty dry. The walls and high ceiling are woven bamboo. We've got big beds and pretty furniture. It's awesome. We're spending about $18 a night, laying about reading or swimming or short jaunts about town. This has been our beautiful nest whilst recovering from Bali Belly and sinking into the pace here.
We've learned how to bargain, how to get a ride and good places to eat, fancy and funky alike. We've sat out on the alley way (to our guesthouse) talking and playing guitar with some local guys who work in this funky art studio. They make huge ugly abstract paintings that must get sold somewhere. They seem to be dirt poor and all have big friendly smiles. They got me to sing Hotel California while one played it on the guitar, using a cut off piece of plastic for a pick.
One of the guys climbed a little tree across the alley, picked some green nuts and came back to rub them on his feet. They seemed to have some sort of sap or juice. trippy.
The evil goat frogs are around, but far enough away that they don't keep me up. Unlike the damned Finns. One reason we moved was to get away from them--they were right next door and like to stay up very late chainsmoking and talking. They drink a lot of beer. Last night they were up all hours and it kept waking us up. Oh well. They seem like nice folks otherwise, but I tend to wake up about 7am no matter how little sleep I get. I've been restraining this urge to go over and sing Waltzing Matilda very loud outside their windows. Wake Up!
Tonight we are going to a tourist's temple dance and gamelon--an all women gamelon! And a lot of the dancers are kids (as young as 7). I'm hoping Eden will love it. We're bringing earplugs! Gamelon is LOUD.
anyhow,
love and hugs
rob
I think that the Oriental mind, in general, is less focused on individuality. There's more of a collective consciouness here, and in Thailand, and this enables drivers to negotiate traffic situations that would leave most Westerners cringing or diving for cover. Just turning right across oncoming traffic--our driver will just start to go and the people oncoming have to slow or even stop. There's a hierarchy of some kind, I'm guessing, that allows the judgement of when to go or wait. Unfathomable to me.
I think it would be hilarious to organize a tour for retired California Highway Patrol Officers. They'd just have a fit.
The downside is that I haven't had the guts, or lapse of reason, to rent a scooter here. This means relying on drivers, which means we aren't as able to explore the countryside.
Yesterday our driver took us for a long ride out of Ubud up to a village Telang Legong. It's about 10 miles or so and 80% of it was packed with little or big shops fronting 'factories' making mostly woodcarvings. Out of soft wood. The damned cats, etc. . But also everything else in the world. Therer was furniture, and bamboo stuff, and some ceramic, musical instruments, glittery mosaic mirrors, huge gold painted buddhas, handcarved picture frames. It was truly astounding.
We were on a mission of sorts. There is a style of carving, essentially bas relief, often to a depth of 3 or 4 inches. I'm talking flat panels anywhere from 8 x 10 inches to 2 by 3 feet, or even whole split doors. The carvings are highly skilled and beautiful. I had the idea of getting one of Krista's paintings carved into a panel--Mother Tree (see www.devaluna.com). We passed by alot of cats and other 3-d statuary. Finally we saw some of this style and stopped. There were some truly phenomenal works out front. Extremely elaborate, with every leaf, bat, elephant or mountain peak in stunning detail. We explained to the young carver what we were after. We ended up ordering 5, and rather smaller than we wanted. He's supposed to bring a sample by in 4 days. 100,000rp each. It was inspiring and frustrating at the same time. We are confident in his abilities, but we aren't sure how clear the translation was. We're not sure what we'll end up with.
Today we met with a second Batik factory owner. She and her husband picked us up at the Tutmak, our favorite breakfast place, and wisked us off to their place. Our friend Bryon had reccomended her and we decided to have several samples made. We had already orderd 6 samples from another guy in town.
Krista really loves the silk. They are able to do subtle shadings and really fine lines. Neither of us really wanted to just have the old images done up, but that's pretty much what we did for the samples. She did crank out one new design, based on our old sticker Fairy Queen.
We're still gathering information. I'm hoping we can come up with a new product to jump start our poor tired old business.
Otherwise we have been really lazy. Or really resting. I can't remember if I've written much about our home away from home. It's very very nice. We have a big wide porch and got a lovely hammock hung up to swing in. The pool, with it's lovely statuary and plantings is right there in our front yard, with rice paddies along side and beyond. The bathroom is well above average for Bali--it has a big tub so the floor stays pretty dry. The walls and high ceiling are woven bamboo. We've got big beds and pretty furniture. It's awesome. We're spending about $18 a night, laying about reading or swimming or short jaunts about town. This has been our beautiful nest whilst recovering from Bali Belly and sinking into the pace here.
We've learned how to bargain, how to get a ride and good places to eat, fancy and funky alike. We've sat out on the alley way (to our guesthouse) talking and playing guitar with some local guys who work in this funky art studio. They make huge ugly abstract paintings that must get sold somewhere. They seem to be dirt poor and all have big friendly smiles. They got me to sing Hotel California while one played it on the guitar, using a cut off piece of plastic for a pick.
One of the guys climbed a little tree across the alley, picked some green nuts and came back to rub them on his feet. They seemed to have some sort of sap or juice. trippy.
The evil goat frogs are around, but far enough away that they don't keep me up. Unlike the damned Finns. One reason we moved was to get away from them--they were right next door and like to stay up very late chainsmoking and talking. They drink a lot of beer. Last night they were up all hours and it kept waking us up. Oh well. They seem like nice folks otherwise, but I tend to wake up about 7am no matter how little sleep I get. I've been restraining this urge to go over and sing Waltzing Matilda very loud outside their windows. Wake Up!
Tonight we are going to a tourist's temple dance and gamelon--an all women gamelon! And a lot of the dancers are kids (as young as 7). I'm hoping Eden will love it. We're bringing earplugs! Gamelon is LOUD.
anyhow,
love and hugs
rob
Monday, March 28, 2005
even more photos!
more and more from Thailand!
"Now and then it's good to pause in our pursuit of happiness and just be happy"
---anonymous
www.rbaba.blogspot.com (my ranting blog)
www.robbibaba.blogspot.com (our travel blog)
even more photos!
more and more from Thailand!
"Now and then it's good to pause in our pursuit of happiness and just be happy"
---anonymous
www.rbaba.blogspot.com (my ranting blog)
www.robbibaba.blogspot.com (our travel blog)
even more photos!
more and more from Thailand!
"Now and then it's good to pause in our pursuit of happiness and just be happy"
---anonymous
www.rbaba.blogspot.com (my ranting blog)
www.robbibaba.blogspot.com (our travel blog)
even more photos!
more and more from Thailand!
"Now and then it's good to pause in our pursuit of happiness and just be happy"
---anonymous
www.rbaba.blogspot.com (my ranting blog)
www.robbibaba.blogspot.com (our travel blog)
Bali high
You just can't believe everything you read--like the sign on this business advertising the fastest connection in Ubud. Well, maybe...I'm trying to do a massive photo upload. It seems to be slower than ever...
Sorry for that last post. Actually things got a little better after some more weirdness (we hired a driver for the day and he ended up taking us only to places where he'd get a kickback--this became quite obvious after a bit and really sucked. He took us way the hell out of town to this touristy area overlooking a volcano but it started pouring rain. Turned out his funky suv leaked like a sieve and had no defrosters! I had to keep mopping the windshield with India's sorong. Even so we almost died on the windy crazy congested little Bali roads that we got kindof used to it. We were just so glad to get back alive! Joyce, I must say, remained amazingly upbeat all throughout. I was embarrassed for choosing such a lousy driver). We moved to another guesthouse, the prettiest one yet, with lots and lots of carvings and sculpture everywhere and the nicest pool I think I've ever been in. It's also in a great location to walk, close to our favorite resturaunt too. Like most Bali guesthouses we've seen (all really) it has a skanky bathroom. And noisy chainsmoking neighbors. But it's set back in the rice paddys and since Krista is feeling ill again, we're staying put for now. It's only $10 a night! Incredible.
I had a wonderful massage at a funky little spa for 30,000rp. I gave the gal a 50,000rp tip! She was awesome. I'd like to be going there daily. But somehow the days have been taken up.
Actually, now that Joyce is winging home (or just about landed I hope) I feel it's time to change gears and just hunker down--no more sightseeing for a bit, no more trying to shop. Swim, eat, read, play with the kids and recover from Bali Belly is our new agenda. For a bit.
A nice German couple staying next door is in the import business. They told us where to go to buy wholesale. It's so tempting to buy a load of beautiful handcrafted stuff and have it shipped home! The people here are just amazing artists and craftsmen. But we don't have a house! And we don't have any room left in our storage locker!
They also told us about some tiny islands off of Lombok where we could just hang out on white sand beaches while Krista writes her children's book and all. We'll see.
We've just met a friend from the OCF! Lynzee Deva, who has been here since December getting clothes made to sell back home. She's leaving Thursday but we hope to connect enough for her to bring us somewhat up to speed!
Sorry for that last post. Actually things got a little better after some more weirdness (we hired a driver for the day and he ended up taking us only to places where he'd get a kickback--this became quite obvious after a bit and really sucked. He took us way the hell out of town to this touristy area overlooking a volcano but it started pouring rain. Turned out his funky suv leaked like a sieve and had no defrosters! I had to keep mopping the windshield with India's sorong. Even so we almost died on the windy crazy congested little Bali roads that we got kindof used to it. We were just so glad to get back alive! Joyce, I must say, remained amazingly upbeat all throughout. I was embarrassed for choosing such a lousy driver). We moved to another guesthouse, the prettiest one yet, with lots and lots of carvings and sculpture everywhere and the nicest pool I think I've ever been in. It's also in a great location to walk, close to our favorite resturaunt too. Like most Bali guesthouses we've seen (all really) it has a skanky bathroom. And noisy chainsmoking neighbors. But it's set back in the rice paddys and since Krista is feeling ill again, we're staying put for now. It's only $10 a night! Incredible.
I had a wonderful massage at a funky little spa for 30,000rp. I gave the gal a 50,000rp tip! She was awesome. I'd like to be going there daily. But somehow the days have been taken up.
Actually, now that Joyce is winging home (or just about landed I hope) I feel it's time to change gears and just hunker down--no more sightseeing for a bit, no more trying to shop. Swim, eat, read, play with the kids and recover from Bali Belly is our new agenda. For a bit.
A nice German couple staying next door is in the import business. They told us where to go to buy wholesale. It's so tempting to buy a load of beautiful handcrafted stuff and have it shipped home! The people here are just amazing artists and craftsmen. But we don't have a house! And we don't have any room left in our storage locker!
They also told us about some tiny islands off of Lombok where we could just hang out on white sand beaches while Krista writes her children's book and all. We'll see.
We've just met a friend from the OCF! Lynzee Deva, who has been here since December getting clothes made to sell back home. She's leaving Thursday but we hope to connect enough for her to bring us somewhat up to speed!
Friday, March 25, 2005
bali blues
Warning!!!! This entry is one long complaint. I'm going to whine and you should feel free to skip this one. Really.
It's 9:37 pm and next door is a temple with a song and dance/gamelon performance going on. It's loud and weird sounding, so I came down from our room where I was looking at an early bedtime. The performance is not a tourist thing. A few of us 'farang' (not a Balinese word, or even concept from what I can gather) were standing on tiptoe looking in. There are hundreds of locals in temple garb watching, walking around, chatting, zooming off on motorbikes.
Joyce, India and I tried to attend a temple event last night--something about the full moon. We got real authentic bali sarongs and I even got the funny hat thing the men seem to all wear to temple, but we were turned away. We couldn't figure out why. It's all very strange. Unlike the straight forward and inclusive Buddhism of Thailand, the Balinese religion seems bizare and unapproachable. I don't get it.
I've been avoiding writing due to a negative head space. To my great surprise I have not been enjoying Bali much, and have been really missing gritty old Thailand. I shouldn't compare the two, but I can't seem to help it.
Part of this is surely due to being ill. My guts have been all messed up and my energy very low ever since we got here. I also have a horrible cramp in my neck from carrying too much luggage through too many airports. But there's something else. All through Thailand, with a few exceptions, I felt capable as the family guide and agent. And it was relatively easy to handle the money, the transportation, the accomodations, the shopping, the sightseeing. Bali has me flummoxed (sp?).
We met lots of people in Thailand who would ask top dollar for a tuk tuk ride, or a shirt. But top dollar doesn't mean cheating someone. Here people are out for blood. They mjght ask 10 times what something is 'worth'. Not everyone, but many many people here seem to see us as moving targets.
The staff at our first guesthouse pulled every trick in the book to get our money. They lied and cheated all the while smiling warmly at us. I was too weak and ill to battle them. It really only came out to a small amount of money, but the spirit of the exchange sickened us all. Yuk.
As a result we've hardly bought anything. It's really weird! Our first full day we went out for a long walk to 'go shopping' but ended up marching past most of the stores. It was really weird! India got very frustrated, and I didn't get it at first. But Krista explained--until you know roughly what something should cost you can't make an initial offer. And their initial offers are too often outrageous. It's too confusing. If we buy something we end up feeling cheated again. And almost every shopkeeper jumps on us, trying to aggressively make a sale. We just get the hell out!
Same with transportation, which is confusing and unmarked anyway. The two times we've actually used a 'taxi' we were grossly overcharged! We didn't know how to bargain. To avoid being cheated we've just walked everywhere, which is very tiring because the sun is so very strong here. God it's hot. How I miss the tuk tuks and songtheaws!
We've have met a few nice people, mostly resturaunt workers. There are many beautiful cafes and resturaunts here. and since the prices are (apparently) fixed we can relax a bit. One of the guys who works in our new guesthouse is really nice too.
But Ubud is not really what I expected. As Joyce put it 'it's the Carmel (or Beverly Hills) of Bali. The main streets are lined with beautifully appointed shops, chic cafes, internet dives, guest houses, temples, funky shops, funky resturaunts, guest houses, internet cafes, etc...in an endlessly repeating pattern. It's mostly very pretty, and kindof exotic, but it feels like one big strip mall.
Today we got off the main streets looking for a better guest house, and there really is a village, or town, here. Sort of. But we seem to be about 15 years too late. I think most of the people are just sick of tourists, or maybe resentful for being so dependent on their whims and dollars. Also, it seems that there are more people struggling here, to get by. I'm not really sure about that, but it feels that way. Maybe there's not much middle class?
Another weird thing is that so much of the stuff in the stores is also endlessly repeated. Much of it crap, some beautiful things, but the same stuff over and over. The great majority of it having nothing at all to do with Balinese culture. I read that the Balinese craftspeople are mostly all poor and can't afford to take risks. So Western designers come in and have a bunch of cats holding fishing poles made, or fake aboriginal stuff, and whammo, it's in every store. Of course it can't really work for long. Who the hell's going to buy a cat with a fishing pole anymore? It's kind of a shame.
Especially since the Balinese do make things very well. Nearly every guesthouse we've seen is, on some level, gorgeous. Some are spectacular. Of course from the outside they mostly all look exactly the same, as do most of the temples! Repetition is our theme here.
Our place now has orchids and hibiscus and all sorts of green plants and flowering shrubs. It has big tiled porches, carvings, wonderful stone work and pathways. Our room is only 50,ooo rp (about $6 a night). Unfortunately last night the temple noise went till about 11pm, then scooters roaring, then dogs barking and barking, then this horrible horrible frog that sounds exactly like a bleating goat! The frog went on ALL night till I was nearly frantic. Especially with Eden flopping her hot sticky leg on me. We hardly slept at all.
But I will say, there don't seem to be mosquitoes here! Not many anyway, which none of us can figure out. Sure there are bats swooping all over (one parked on our porch ceiling) and millions of geckos. But there are flooded rice paddys all over the place.
Oh well, sorry to waste your time. I'll try to gave a good day tomorrow and some exotic experience to entertain you with next time.
love
rob
It's 9:37 pm and next door is a temple with a song and dance/gamelon performance going on. It's loud and weird sounding, so I came down from our room where I was looking at an early bedtime. The performance is not a tourist thing. A few of us 'farang' (not a Balinese word, or even concept from what I can gather) were standing on tiptoe looking in. There are hundreds of locals in temple garb watching, walking around, chatting, zooming off on motorbikes.
Joyce, India and I tried to attend a temple event last night--something about the full moon. We got real authentic bali sarongs and I even got the funny hat thing the men seem to all wear to temple, but we were turned away. We couldn't figure out why. It's all very strange. Unlike the straight forward and inclusive Buddhism of Thailand, the Balinese religion seems bizare and unapproachable. I don't get it.
I've been avoiding writing due to a negative head space. To my great surprise I have not been enjoying Bali much, and have been really missing gritty old Thailand. I shouldn't compare the two, but I can't seem to help it.
Part of this is surely due to being ill. My guts have been all messed up and my energy very low ever since we got here. I also have a horrible cramp in my neck from carrying too much luggage through too many airports. But there's something else. All through Thailand, with a few exceptions, I felt capable as the family guide and agent. And it was relatively easy to handle the money, the transportation, the accomodations, the shopping, the sightseeing. Bali has me flummoxed (sp?).
We met lots of people in Thailand who would ask top dollar for a tuk tuk ride, or a shirt. But top dollar doesn't mean cheating someone. Here people are out for blood. They mjght ask 10 times what something is 'worth'. Not everyone, but many many people here seem to see us as moving targets.
The staff at our first guesthouse pulled every trick in the book to get our money. They lied and cheated all the while smiling warmly at us. I was too weak and ill to battle them. It really only came out to a small amount of money, but the spirit of the exchange sickened us all. Yuk.
As a result we've hardly bought anything. It's really weird! Our first full day we went out for a long walk to 'go shopping' but ended up marching past most of the stores. It was really weird! India got very frustrated, and I didn't get it at first. But Krista explained--until you know roughly what something should cost you can't make an initial offer. And their initial offers are too often outrageous. It's too confusing. If we buy something we end up feeling cheated again. And almost every shopkeeper jumps on us, trying to aggressively make a sale. We just get the hell out!
Same with transportation, which is confusing and unmarked anyway. The two times we've actually used a 'taxi' we were grossly overcharged! We didn't know how to bargain. To avoid being cheated we've just walked everywhere, which is very tiring because the sun is so very strong here. God it's hot. How I miss the tuk tuks and songtheaws!
We've have met a few nice people, mostly resturaunt workers. There are many beautiful cafes and resturaunts here. and since the prices are (apparently) fixed we can relax a bit. One of the guys who works in our new guesthouse is really nice too.
But Ubud is not really what I expected. As Joyce put it 'it's the Carmel (or Beverly Hills) of Bali. The main streets are lined with beautifully appointed shops, chic cafes, internet dives, guest houses, temples, funky shops, funky resturaunts, guest houses, internet cafes, etc...in an endlessly repeating pattern. It's mostly very pretty, and kindof exotic, but it feels like one big strip mall.
Today we got off the main streets looking for a better guest house, and there really is a village, or town, here. Sort of. But we seem to be about 15 years too late. I think most of the people are just sick of tourists, or maybe resentful for being so dependent on their whims and dollars. Also, it seems that there are more people struggling here, to get by. I'm not really sure about that, but it feels that way. Maybe there's not much middle class?
Another weird thing is that so much of the stuff in the stores is also endlessly repeated. Much of it crap, some beautiful things, but the same stuff over and over. The great majority of it having nothing at all to do with Balinese culture. I read that the Balinese craftspeople are mostly all poor and can't afford to take risks. So Western designers come in and have a bunch of cats holding fishing poles made, or fake aboriginal stuff, and whammo, it's in every store. Of course it can't really work for long. Who the hell's going to buy a cat with a fishing pole anymore? It's kind of a shame.
Especially since the Balinese do make things very well. Nearly every guesthouse we've seen is, on some level, gorgeous. Some are spectacular. Of course from the outside they mostly all look exactly the same, as do most of the temples! Repetition is our theme here.
Our place now has orchids and hibiscus and all sorts of green plants and flowering shrubs. It has big tiled porches, carvings, wonderful stone work and pathways. Our room is only 50,ooo rp (about $6 a night). Unfortunately last night the temple noise went till about 11pm, then scooters roaring, then dogs barking and barking, then this horrible horrible frog that sounds exactly like a bleating goat! The frog went on ALL night till I was nearly frantic. Especially with Eden flopping her hot sticky leg on me. We hardly slept at all.
But I will say, there don't seem to be mosquitoes here! Not many anyway, which none of us can figure out. Sure there are bats swooping all over (one parked on our porch ceiling) and millions of geckos. But there are flooded rice paddys all over the place.
Oh well, sorry to waste your time. I'll try to gave a good day tomorrow and some exotic experience to entertain you with next time.
love
rob
Wednesday, March 23, 2005
Ubud
We made it. The landing was much softer in Bali. An official airport taxi (fixed price) whisked us up to Ubud and dropped us off at some friend's guesthouse. At first glance it seemed magnificent! Beautiful gardens and the building is architecturally beautiful. Big porches, a gorgeous pool, carved furniture. Just a little grungy around the edges and the upstairs room was HOT with a weak fan and no ac. We were too tired to fret (except for the two humongous cockroaches in the downstairs room). I set up a mosquitoe net for eden and we crashed.
Our last meal in Thailand, alas, was at a Burger King! They had vege burgers. I got sick. Not too bad, but I had a rough morning today. We took a very long walk into Ubud proper and while the gals had lunch I found us a beautiful new homestay. No pool, but CLEAN and more centrally located. We are staying a second night at the pool place and getting reamed I might add---it's 200,000 rp plus tax, although breakfast is include. Our new place is 50,000 rp and 90,000 for Joyce's penthouse suite, complete with outdoor tub. From her patio we can see into the temple across the street and the proprietor says there will be a big festival tomorrow night. He's cooking for it.
One big difference here is that it's really beautiful. Green and lush, with almost none of the urban grime and ugliness that plauged Thailand. And temples everywhere. And almost every resturaunt and homestay has some fantastic stone facade. I think we'll like it here, once we get our bearings. We've been stuck on kind of a busy road so far. Too tired to explore very far. Also, the money has us a bit flumoxed. It's about 9100rp to the dollar. So our new digs will be about $5.00 and $9.00 respectively (including breakfast!). Our pizzas tonight cost about $2.50. But it's still confusing. People tend not to give exact change--they round up in their own favor. When it's 750rp that seems wrong to us, but then it's only about seven and a half cents! Weird.
Sorry this is so dull, but I spent most of the day laying on our bed.
more later.
love
rob
Our last meal in Thailand, alas, was at a Burger King! They had vege burgers. I got sick. Not too bad, but I had a rough morning today. We took a very long walk into Ubud proper and while the gals had lunch I found us a beautiful new homestay. No pool, but CLEAN and more centrally located. We are staying a second night at the pool place and getting reamed I might add---it's 200,000 rp plus tax, although breakfast is include. Our new place is 50,000 rp and 90,000 for Joyce's penthouse suite, complete with outdoor tub. From her patio we can see into the temple across the street and the proprietor says there will be a big festival tomorrow night. He's cooking for it.
One big difference here is that it's really beautiful. Green and lush, with almost none of the urban grime and ugliness that plauged Thailand. And temples everywhere. And almost every resturaunt and homestay has some fantastic stone facade. I think we'll like it here, once we get our bearings. We've been stuck on kind of a busy road so far. Too tired to explore very far. Also, the money has us a bit flumoxed. It's about 9100rp to the dollar. So our new digs will be about $5.00 and $9.00 respectively (including breakfast!). Our pizzas tonight cost about $2.50. But it's still confusing. People tend not to give exact change--they round up in their own favor. When it's 750rp that seems wrong to us, but then it's only about seven and a half cents! Weird.
Sorry this is so dull, but I spent most of the day laying on our bed.
more later.
love
rob
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