10 October 2012 - Bali, Indonesia

I knew the plan to visit Pura Lahu Batukau temple in the northern mountains of Bali, then also drive thru the Jatiluwih rice fields was ambitious, but BB looked up the times on Google Maps & felt assured that it was doable. In fact it took twice as long as the times on Google Maps, but it all worked out okay.

When we went to shore, I traded patches with the Navy guy I'd met 2 days ago. I was glad he came thru, cuz it's a cool patch.

Ketut, our driver, was early. He called to ask if he could come out to visit the boat, but we were running hard to get ready & had a lot of ground to cover, so we said maybe later.

Ketut had in mind to take us to a certain warung for lunch, but it was closed, so we chose a pecel place we passed, which is the food of Java. It was very good.

As we were going thru the big town of Tabanan, I noticed a big police HQ, so asked Ketut to stop there. I explained that I was only trading a patch, but he was very uncomfortable going in the gates. BB reminded me that Indonesia was a police state for many years, so it's understandable. He waited outside for us. We were there for over half an hour, since it seemed lots of people wanted to talk to us. BB hasn't always accompanied me on these ventures, so he finally got a taste of what fun it is to visit the police when nothing is wrong. We were ushered into the office of a lady chief who spoke passable English. Others came to visit with us as we sat waiting in her office, quizzing us on our life. When the chief’s young son finally appeared with a patch for us, I realized that he had probably run home to get it.

The drive up to the temple was interesting, as is all the driving in Bali. The air became cooler & the sky overcast as we climbed. We had the temple mostly to ourselves. We rented sarongs & belts for about 20c ea (free for Ketut) & walked thru the gates. It was a very peaceful place, with open walkways & patches of green with small temple buildings arranged systematically. As we walked thru the stone carvings, we admired the roofs made of atap - coconut fibers matted thickly with the edges cut perfectly. The multiple roofs make it look so exotic. We were forbidden to go to the altars, but were able to take lots of good photos in the places we were allowed to go. I envisioned my brother, who is an excellent photographer, spending a whole day there getting some amazing photos of that picturesque place. I could've sat & meditated on life for hours, but we had a schedule to keep, so we kept moving. We walked past the 5 flowing fountains & along the edge of the lily pond with another small temple structure in the center. I felt very pensive this day, & the beautiful surroundings were conducive to thinking. The advantages of visiting this particular temple are that it is very old & very infrequently visited. Only 2 other tour vehicles arrived while we were there, so it was easy to avoid the other tourists.

The drive to Jatiluwih was far & the road was poor, but it got considerably worse when we actually entered the World Heritage Site & paid the road toll. Then the road was really terrible & the going was slow. I had thought it was an 18km drive thru beautiful tiered rice fields, but it was really only an overlook, & although stunningly beautiful, not as special as our discovery of the rice paddies in Ubud, where we could walk & enjoy the many different views at our leisure. There were purposely no scarecrow devices to "mar" the scenery, but I like it better with the waving white material & noisemakers. We ventured down the hill for a walk, but  it was steep & muddy, & it felt as though we were invading the locals' workplace, which it didn't feel like in Ubud, where there was a paved path thru the fields. We both stuck a foot in the mud accidentally, which was a good laugh.

After taking lots of photos, we got ice cream & continued on the bad road until the other toll gate, when the road improved. So we paid for the worst bit, while the better road was free!

It was a couple hours back south to Ubud, leaving us just enough time to grab some sate off the street & eat it in the monkey forest, with monkeys just outside the car.

BB had done some research to find a good place for a massage, but Shangri-La didn't have enough masseuses, so we went next door to Eve Spa. It was much nicer than the first place we had a massage, but it was still a canned massage, not concentrating on any particular needs. It cracks us up when both girls say in a tiny little voice, almost in chorus, "scuse me, massage ok?" & "scuse me, massage finis".

The Wayang, the shadow puppet show, was attended by only a dozen white people, & as soon as it began, I recalled the time I saw it when I was here before. I experienced the same feelings of confusion & disappointment that it wasn't quite what I expected. The puppets were often held far from the screen, making them blurry, & often moved by too quickly. I wanted the whole thing to slow down & be a bit more organized, but since it is done by only one man, I guess that's how it must be. And I recall being dismayed that it is so violent - that the puppets are so often smashing into each other. The show has changed to include some jokes in barely understandable English since it is only tourists who attend, & I wasn't sure how I felt about that. In one way it's good, since we understand nothing else of what's going on, even with the paper they give us, also in very poor English. But in another respect it's a shame we can't appreciate it for what it is without the added jokes.

It was another late nite by the time we got back to the boat, but what an exciting day. We got to see a lot of different parts of Bali. We made arrangements for Ketut to visit Migration with his 12-year old son the next day.  

says ADR