Ubud

Chicken Gordon Blue

Our little bungalow

Part of the homestead

 

Grandfather's place

 

Temple at the Monkey Forest

Monkey

And more monkeys...

Rice paddies everywhere

 

My fans... maybe they think I'm Julia Roberts out here in the rice paddies.

Wayan Jr. with Gordon

 

A boy and his chicken--or, as his mother said, "Poor chicken."

 

In a nutshell, most Balinese people have only one of a few names. It's all based on birth order.  If you're first born you are Wayan, Putu, Gede or Ni Luh.  Second born- Made, Kedak or Nengah. Third Born- Nyoman or Komang. Fourth born- Ketut. If you have a fifth child he/she is often called Wayan Balik (or Wayan "again.") This is a way over-simplified explanation and there are lots of variations based on caste and what your occupation is, but we've met quite a few Wayans and Mades (pronounced Ma-day.) It can be really confusing when someone says, "Go to my brother's warung (street side restaurant)- it's called Made's Warung," and then you find out there could be three or four Made's Warungs in the same city.

In the very touristy places the locals will adopt western names to make it easier. We met a guy named Bobby and another one who called himself Donut, but I'm guessing their names were really Wayan or Made. We're kind of getting the hang of it...

We found ourselves staying at the lovely homestay of Wayan and Kedak here in Ubud. A homestay is kind of like the Asian version of the English B and B. It includes a private room or bungalow with an en suite bathroom and breakfast. It can be right in someone's home or in a compound like it is here in Bali. This homestay is very traditional, with the cool Balinese architecture and lots of activity- prayers and offerings, chickens and dogs running around, scooters rolling in and out, lots of people coming and going. We have our own little porch to sit on and they bring us tea and a yummy breakfast of green banana pancakes and fresh fruit.

In Bali it's common for many generations to live in a walled compound. There are separate little houses for each generation, temple areas and communal living spaces. Wayan and Kadek have an adorable 2 year old son. Wayan's father lives here too, as well as a lot of other folks that come and go that we're not fully sure of how they're related, but are clearly family. There is also the rooster in the cage. We call him Gordon, named after a popular dish we see on many of the menus here- Chicken Gordon Blue. We were feeling kind of sorry for him staying in that cage all day. Then he kept us up all night with his crowing, and the cage seemed like a gentle thing after all. We also realized he comes out every morning when he gets a chance to peck around and then get squeezed and dragged around by Wayan Jr--a further case of justice served.

Ubud is a pretty cool place--the cultural epicenter of Bali. Lots of art, music, dance and temples. It's also a place for yoga, spa treatments, juice bars and fresh healthy food. It's become really popular since the whole Eat, Pray, Love phenomena. This is where Elizabeth Gilbert came for the "Love" part and the movie was filmed. The countryside is idyllic, but the city itself is kind of crazy. I am enjoying all of the fresh veggies. The traditional Balinese food doesn't have a ton of veggies; rather, lots of rice, a little meat, and usually a mix of cabbage and carrots, all swimming around in a small pool of oil.  I've been eating huge salads here with lots of beets, avocados, sprouts, jicama, mixed greens- so yummy! We also found a good place for decent Mexican and ate some suckling pig today at a place that Anthony Bourdain said was the best pork he'd ever eaten. It was pretty darn good.

We visited some temples which seem to grace every corner here, too. Bali is Hindu (while the rest of the country is largely Muslim.) It is different then what we've experienced in other places. Different rituals and traditions, but sweet and beautiful.  Spirituality, it seems, is a part of every activity all through the day.

We went to a temple in the Monkey Forest Sanctuary. It's a park filled with hundreds of macaques roaming around the inevitable temples. They seem well cared for and pretty much roam free, pigging out on bananas and corn and some kind of potato thing.There are warning signs asking you not to panic if they jump on you. We did see monkeys climbing on people, but mostly if they had a bag or some of the bananas that they bought at the entrance. We went in and out really quickly. I just think they are really nasty creatures- especially macaques.

We've decided to head up into the hills for a few days. We'll leave my big bag here and pack a small bag so we can ride a motorbike up. There are volcanoes to visit, more temples, coffee plantations, some waterfalls. After we'll come back to Ubud for a few days and then we'll head to a beach for the last few days before we go to Hong Kong.