Initial look back at Bali (24th August to 22nd September)

Now I'm back on Bribie Island, I'm just gathering my initial thoughts on my month on Bali, virtually all of it spent in Ubud. I've not been online much in that time as I've been too busy enjoying myself and soaking up the experience.

I'm not into beach holidays, so while I've been aware of Bali's tremendous reputation in that area, it's not something that's ever attracted me. When Jubbly mentioned she wanted to go to the cultural and craft centre, Ubud, my initial reading up intrigued me - certainly being inland it was going to mean a very different feel compared to the traditional beach holiday. But neither of us really knew just what to expect, probably an idyllic peaceful arty-craft place but that was just a thumbnail view.

Our first views were around 11pm at night being driven to our hotel, about an hour away from the airport, so it was dark and we were limited by what we could see. However, we seemed to drive past the most amazing (Hindu) stone statues and temples which certainly intrigued even more. We stayed at a lovely place that first night, but it was one night only as our preferred accommodation wasn't available until the following day.

The first detailed views of Ubud in the day were a shock - far from being quiet and peaceful it was heaving with traffic and very very busy, certainly not what we expected. Our location was about a mile away from the centre of Ubud along an extremely busy road, mostly without a pavement, so walking in wasn't that easy with all the traffic. But after unpacking we made it in, despite the cars and bikes - after a late lunch, Jubbly went back to the hotel while I went deeper into the town to explore.

Great initial impressions, going into the Monkey Forest itself was positive. One of the main streets in town, Jalan Monkey Forest (part of the three road one-way system around the centre) was just heaving with small hotels, massage spas, restaurants and shops selling tourist trinkets. Extremely busy and certainly not a peaceful place. But it had a fairly up-market feel with some designer shops contributing to that impression. And some great Hindu-related architecture.

The following day I explored the other two streets in the one-way system, Jalan Hanoman and Jalan Raya Ubud. The first was, again, lots of tourist related establishments but it appealed more because it wasn't as flash as Jl Monkey Forest, much more down to earth, with none of the big designer names. Jl Raya Ubud was a bit more of the same but it had a few spectacular features, the Market and Ubud Palace being the main ones. The Market was a totally fascinating place with lots of small traders selling largely tourist related items, such as carvings, paintings, bags, jewellery and clothes ranging from sarongs to tee-shirts, etc. - the home of haggling, something I've never done and only previously seen my father do, much to my embarrassment as a young kid.

A couple of themes started to emerge over those first few days, one was the sheer number of guys hustling for driving work - every few metres on Jl Monkey Forest. Another was the high quality of the food in the restaurants and the artistry in their presentation. But the big one was the incredible friendliness of the locals, so many people smiling - with their friends, families, colleagues and visitors! Quite infectious and I found myself reciprocating without any difficulty.

Gradually, I started getting a handle on life in Ubud, for both tourist and locals alike. Foreigners ("Bules" in Indonesian and pronounced "boo-lay") such as myself probably find the gap in wealth between locals and tourists is incredibly difficult to comprehend. But let's put some meat on the bone - a fairly typical monthly wage for a shopworker would be around 300,000 Rupiah (currently approx. GBP21, USD 32.66). A fairly typical main course in one of the tourist restaurants would be around 50,000 Rupiah - ONE SIXTH of total monthly income! Yet that same meal would probably cost me around 15-20 GBP in the UK, maybe 5 times more than on Bali. So, very very inexpensive for me but horrendously pricey for the locals. But despite life being indescribably hard for the locals, they maintain their cheery optimism, "maybe tomorrow?" being their response after being rejected for taxi work by the "bule".

Those of you who know me will be aware of my political leanings and my distaste for commercialisation and globalisation. Seeing a Ralph Lauren shop on Jl Monkey Forest certainly exacerbated those feelings into total revulsion. I find it abhorrent seeing shops of that kind in an area where decent folk are trying to scratch out a meagre living. Quite frankly, I really wonder what they contribute to the local economy of Ubud and how their presence is of any significant benefit to the locals. Sure, it may attract to Bali those people with more money than sense, those who are stupid enough to lured by designer labels - the direct benefit may be half a dozen jobs (paid at Bali rates) and a contribution to local business rates and the services such as heating and lighting. But I would be interested in learning what proportion of the products sold by such shops were of Balinese/Indonesian origin. One thing is for sure, the lion's share of their earnings would go overseas, as profits, back to their already rich parent companies and lost to the Balinese economy. That's what made me look towards supporting, as much as possible, those businesses with local ownership in preference to those with foreign parents unless there was some real commitment towards the local economy.

When it came to bartering, I knew I was a total amateur at the mercy of the locals and, rather than try to screw down a price which was already cheap by Western standards, I decided to enter into the fun of the occasion, teasing them about the whole process and turning it into entertainment. I've no problem with the concept of a dual "parallel" economy and while I have earned UK sterling, I don't mind paying "bule" prices.

On my second day in Ubud I saw the first of a number of Hindu religious ceremonies, in this case, the purification of the soul following a cremation. It was a wonderful gathering, full of ritual and extremely colourful. I also saw two temple ceremony processions and a cremation and, again, fabulous experiences, especially the latter. I find many organised religions to be very preachy, full of dogma and instilling fear of non-believing, but Hinduism seemed to be very gentle, peaceful, positive and optimistic, not unlike the Balinese! It's a very giving religion, with the daily rituals of thanks - an episode that really touched my heart was when I woke up one morning to find a young girl opening the gate to my rented villa and placing an offering on a shrine. To realise that someone who was a stranger was thinking of me as a matter of course and giving thanks to the Gods for my good fortune was very reassuring - that this was the result of a religion was doubly comforting.

On Bali, Hinduism is at the very centre of life, uniting and bonding the people. There are so many rituals and ceremonies and these have the effect of uniting people and strengthening the community. I've met three people (two were male drivers and one was a lady shop assistant) who had responsibilities relating to their temple and these were taken very seriously by the individuals concerned. Bali seems to be two parallel universes, totally different, yet happily co-existing alongside each other. For the Balinese, keeping tradition alive is important, even though commercialisation is inevitable. But in Ubud, on any night you will have the choice of a number of venues offering traditional Balinese dance, exotic, mysterious, colourful, fascinating and totally captivating - I went to five in all and still didn't exhaust all the venues offering these wonderful performances.

Countless times I was told how only ten years or so ago, Jl Monkey Forest had many less shops and had quite a few rice paddies directly visible from that road. Nowadays, this is not the case as all frontage has been developed commercially. At the same time, the move from bicycles to motor bikes is being followed by the switch from motor bikes to cars, bringing with it a real danger of the centre being totally gridlocked.

Yet all is not lost. I soon realised that Jl Monkey Forest was not real Ubud, it was only "bule" Ubud. Straying down any path or side street will still bring you back to the real world within 100 metres or so - rice paddies, traditional warungs offering inexpensive food and locals going about everyday life.

It will be obvious to anyone who has read my posts over the last month that I really bonded with the locals. Put quite simply, I have never smiled so much in my entire life, nor have I ever had such a good time sharing the crack with the locals, all total strangers. I was once complimented on my smile to which my reply was "How can I NOT smile? I'm only returning the beautiful gift given to me by all the locals". Maybe I'm a fool, but I responded to each request for "massage?" or "taxi?", acknowledging each person and giving my apologies if appropriate, but each time with a smile. Getting rejected thousands of times a day must be hard, but if I can't give them any business, the least I can do for these beautiful people is to leave them with some dignity - virtually always I was thanked and wished a good day. I was told many times that the typical "bule" doesn't smile, looks down at the pavement or directly ahead into thin air avoiding eye contact and ignores them - well, if that's the case, then I'm glad I'm not the typical "bule". It was lovely being recognised on subsequent occasions by the people I'd met previously and having a bit of a catch-up conversation - I think both of us began to treat each other as a friend. I was invited to a driver's house and spent time with his family on a couple of occasions, very moved and touched by the honour.

This being my first visit to Asia (which started on my stopover in Malaysia in late July) I knew I was in for a shock and that certainly was the case in Ubud. It's a chaotic place yet it works. You see thousands of motorbikes invariably loaded with maybe 4 or 5 people (including 2 or 3 kiddies) - a typical sight would be a child standing on the bike between the handlebars and the driver (or maybe asleep in mother's lap) and a couple of kiddies behind, or a driver with a lady behind riding sidesaddle carrying a massive shopping load. It's the sort of sight that would result in the Health and Safety brigade in Europe having kittens, yet I didn't see one accident. You have to be aged seventeen to be able to drive a bike legally over there, yet I saw countless kids under that age (probably 14 or so) going to and from school on a motorbike - it wasn't done to break the law in a wanton way, because all the kids I saw were very well behaved and respectful, it's just that driving under 17 wasn't a big deal! On my first day in Ubud I was walking along one of the major streets and there was a paving slab missing with a visible drop of maybe a metre down to the drains underneath - big deal, you just walk around it! It's a big shock when you come from over-regulated Europe, yet it works and the sky doesn't fall in because of crooked and uneven pavements. You just get on with it. there are far more important things to get on with.

The area around Ubud really is such a vibrant creative place with an abundance of talent in painting, wood carving and silver work, just to name a few, not forgetting the performing arts. The original plan was to spend a week in Ubud, a week on the rest of Bali then two weeks on Java, but that didn't happen because I was in Ubud all the time, staying at five very different places in different parts of the town, each with its own distinctive feel. I walked for miles each day, down the main streets and down the side and back streets too, getting a feel for the flavour of the locality. I was happiest at my last location which was also the simplest in some ways, only some 500 metres from Ubud Palace. I recall arriving there, having booked for 3 nights and realising to my initial disappointment that there was no fridge - then the penny dropped. As long as I had food in my belly, a roof over my head, a bed to sleep in and was safe and had water to wash, that's all that mattered (apart from having the internet, LOL). If I wanted a cool drink, I just needed to go to the warung 100 metres away and get one from their fridge, so where's the big deal? My initial booking for three nights was extended in less than 24 hours to seven nights and subsequently to nine!

It would be remiss of me to ignore the ladies - those who know me will know how much I like brunettes, especially the long haired variety. That, together with gorgeous brown skin, is a killer combination and I was stunned by the number of beautiful ladies of all ages, no matter where they were or what they were doing. This was so evident at temple ceremonies where they were impeccably dressed and with the most beautiful lace tops. "Balinese" and "beauty" are certainly two words that go together so naturally.

I've realised the big benefits of a simpler lifestyle and the real value of community and friendship, something where Ubud just excelled. The very brief view of Sanur I had (an overnight stay before flying out of Ngurah Rai International Airport the following day) was that it wasn't for me (I wanted to be with locals not with tourists in some sanitised tourist village) and while I liked what I saw of Denpasar, it didn't give me a feeling of intimacy with the people in the way that Ubud had done (although, in fairness, I didn't stay overnight, just had a few trips in mainly for specific computer/camera equipment).

Bali, especially Ubud, has been the most incredible - totally life-changing - experience, in particular, it's the people who have touched me very deeply. It's given me a view of a very different world and confirmed that I don't want to be in Europe anymore. I know that it's unwise to be making speedy decisions without seeing other places, so I do need to travel more - that includes the rest of Indonesia (particularly Java), Thailand and the Philippines especially as they are my top contenders, with Vietnam as an outsider, for where I think I will end up living. While I loved Malaysia a lot, I am discounting it, very simply because that's a country chasing "progress" and the Western dream very aggressively - having spent all my life in the West, we've lost the plot, I've been there and don't want it anymore. While Ubud is slowly embracing change, it recognises the value of what it does have, a caring, vibrant and strong community.

I took nearly 14,000 pictures during my stay and I'm going to have great fun going through them and posting a selection grouped by various themes. There will be other blogs where I may expand on specific subjects and they too will come in time.

It would be remiss of me to ignore the fun I had with Jubbly, my travelling companion. We flew in together and had the first week at the same place, enjoying many laughs. While I tried to embrace the basics of the language, "Bahasa Indonesia", Jubbly had the locals in hysterics developing her own version "Bahasa Jubbly" with the universal greeting "Nasi Goreng" (a fried rice dish with a fried egg on top, LOL!) which, interchangeably, could mean "Good morning", "Good evening", "How are you?", "Where is the nearest khasi?" and "My! You ARE a big boy, aren't you?". "Nasi Goreng" it was to all the staff who adopted the greeting themselves! One puzzled German guesthouse owner took her to one side and gently tried to find out why she was saying "fried rice" in all situations only to be faced by one of his staff greeting Jubbly a few seconds later with.. yes, you got it! "Nasi Goreng"!!!

I also need to thank her for the ritual humilation every time we were in a taxi together or in a restaurant where she would explain that we were just good friends, "No sex" and would then go on to say that I was smitten by the nice Balinese ladies and was looking for one..... in the case of the girls "were they married?", with the drivers "did they have a sister?"

Then there was the final night in Sanur - she hadn't seen me in about 2 weeks and decided I should have a haircut. We went to a salon where she had highlights done and I had my haircut - the initial routine humiliation was surpassed this time when she got the girls to give me a pedicure (the first in my life) and a shoulder and head massage. So there I was with my top off, stupid tea towel on my head and my tits hanging out while the girls worked on my feet and all the world passing by the salon was peeing itself at the idiotic spectacle clearly visible from the street. Errrmm, thanks pal, I think. How I narrowly missed having a Brazilian done I will never know but maybe they realised they didn't want to be responsible for a murder on their hands, LOL.

As we hadn't seen each other in a while we spent most of the night yacking and catching up and, apart from a couple of hours sleep, we were still chatting at 5am and managed to catch the sunrise on the beautiful beach, one of those idyllic views I will never forget.

Thanks, gal, you were a scream! "Nasi goreng!"

I've been typing this listening to Balinese music and a DVD of a women's performance of the Kecak and while doing so, an incense stick has been lit, its gentle aroma filling the room and instilling peace all around. Mmmm, nice!

Final words well.... Gotta love Bali and yes, it will come as no surprise when I say I'm in love! I DEFINITELY *LOVE* Ubud! Can't wait to get back.

Lots of love


Alan
xxxx