Today, after breakfast, I will become Hindu again and visit the renowned Tirta Empul Holy Water Spring Temple with Ketut and Kadek. It’s sort of a Hindu baptism. They visit the temple a couple of times a year to pray and make offerings, but also to bathe in, drink, collect, and bless the holy water that comes from this sacred spring. They then take the blessed water home with them and share it with their family members so they may also be purified.

We’re here!

The temple was built around a clear spring in 962 AD during the time when the Balinese king reigned. People came from the entire island to worship here. Some call this the Balinese Ganges, and I get that, seeing the line of people patiently waiting to get to the sacred fountains. Nowadays, people come from all over the world. It’s especially nice to go with Ketut and Kadek, because they are not just taking me there, they are allowing me to participate in this ceremony with them. Actually, it turned out that Ketut was the one who led me through the process.

Decorated for ceremony

First, you pay your approx $1 to get in. Balinese get in for free. I noticed a group of Asians wearing Harley Davidson t-shirts pass by us. Then K&K took me to the side of the temple, where Kadek produced a not-so-fancy sarong and sash for me to wear. T-shirt was ok. That gets us into the temple area. We went up to see the place where the underground spring gushes out, took some pics, then off to the lockers. I take my shirt off and tie the sarong around my neck, making sort of a dress. Bra stays on. We’re ready to take the waters.

I get by with a little help from my friends

Kadek stays out to take pictures, so I hop in the water, following Ketut. The line is long, mostly Balinese with the assorted western or Japanese person thrown in. The temperature of the water is cool, but after the first moment, it feels nice. It’s a little cloudy today, though, not as warm as usual, and soon Ketut is freezing. There are 13 fountains altogether, and there is a certain order of visitation. Ketut has brought a huge jug, and I am persuaded to buy a small jug of my own to take home. It takes about 45 minutes to get to the first fountain. There are large fish, koi, I hope, swimming around my legs. I think I felt him take a nibble of my leg. Eeek.

The locker room

When you finally get to the first fountain, here’s the drill: face the fountain and say a prayer. Each of these fountains is good for something different – there is a Sanskrit word written on each of the fountains and the water passes over it as it gushes out. I’m sure the Balinese say a different prayer at each one, but me, I’m just thankful, and happy, and want to continue to be so. After prayer, cup your hands, right over left, and drink 3 times. Then dunk your head underneath. Then, take your jug and put it under the fountain, getting a little water inside, but not filling it all in one spot. You want water from each of the 13 fountains, so be sure and leave room. Repeat this process, skipping the two fountains that are only for funerary purposes only. Ketut follows me. Out we go to another pool where there are 2 fountains. At this one, we do the same process, but Ketut tells me the last one is for Om Shanti. I sing/say out loud, Om, Shanti, Om, and receive smiles from the Balinese around me.

The line is long when we first get here

But we’re not done. We get out of our wet clothes, change into some dry ones, and go to the inner temple where Ketut prepares the offerings. We bring our jugs to the altar, stuffing the offerings through the jug handles. Then we find the right place to sit, make prayers (the bowing, drinking, sprinkling, and rice on the forehead), then grab our jugs and go. Kadek says I should share this water with everyone in my family; it’s extremely special and healing.

After visiting the source of the spring, we take our jugs and join the line

I’m pretty hungry now, and ask K&K if they want to stop for some grub, my treat. Their favorite restaurant serves Babi Guling, suckling pig, and rice. They order and for less than $6 we all get a plate of rice with different parts of pig: meat, skin, sausage, and a couple of chewy things that uh, I really don’t want to know what part of the pig it came from. Spicy soup sauce is on the side. And there’s orange soda. It’s really good.

They drop me off at the Nest and head home to their kids. I like to think that my spirit is a little more cleansed after this experience. What I know for sure is that I am extremely thankful and happy. Thankful for K&K and all the people I’ve met here so far, thankful for my friends and family back in the US, and grateful for the opportunity to be here, alive, and happy.

First, to pray

Next, to drink

Third, to cleanse the outer body

Then a bit from each one for take-out

Now prepare the offering for the jugs, leave them on the altar and pray

Dinner time!

Parking lot of the restaurant

Yum

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Start the day with mangosteen

It’s just another Saturday in Bali. Begin with the fruit of the day, mangosteen (squeeze the red ball of the fruit until it cracks, peel the thick skin off, eat the white part, spit out the big seed in some of the sections) and a Bali coffee before Kadek comes to make her yummy rice/milk breakfast.

Black rice cooked with condensed milk – yum!

Today, Gus and Krista head for the surfer’s town of Canggu and I enjoy another heavenly massage from Kadek. When she’s gone, I have the place to myself and it looks like no other guests are expected. Since I was out and about all day yesterday, I am taking a break today and just hanging out, doing some writing, photo editing, and reading my smutty novel (thanks, Michelle!) This is a fantastic place to just be. I walked to Mama’s for a solo dinner, visiting with my friend Manik, then back to the quiet (well, except for the roosters, bugs, and frogs) house. I thought, though, that I would just post some photos of other random stuff going on this week.

One of the things we did earlier this week was attend the kecak dance. This is another telling of the Ramayana story but with no music, just 100 bare-chested men chanting “chak chak chak chak chak” at various volumes and speeds. Not sure exactly what happens in the story here, but at the end, they clear the floor, pile a bunch of coconut husks in the center of the room, throw some lighter fluid on them, making a huge bonfire, then a guy comes out as a horse rider and gallops around it then stomps through it. Impressive.

Enjoy the photos!

The lotus temple right behind the Starbuck’s

Fighting roosters ready for transport by our next door neighbor

Notice the tail in the upper left hand corner. Sadly, the lizard did not make it.

Only served after it falls to the ground?

Setting the scene

Dancers tell a story

The gang’s all here

Lighting the fire

Horse guy riding around the fire

Horse guy in the fire

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Rice paddies of Ubud

You know, normally this time of year I travel with my friend Susie. We’ve been to Italy, Alaska, Costa Rica, Spain, Switzerland, and a number of other places. This is the first May vacation where we are not together. Susie is a Master Naturalist, birder extraordinaire, and all around nature gal. We’re always on the lookout for local flora, fauna, and partiularly the birds a-flying (or nesting, or tweeting, or whatever birds do).

Spotted Dove

So in honor of my friend, I have signed up for the Bird Walk of Bali, a guided walking/birding tour through the rice paddies around Ubud. Besides going out with Ketut and Kadek to some temples and walking around town, I really haven’t seen much of the area surrounding Ubud, so I’m excited to get out and see some stuff.

Rice fields with mountains in the background

Our guide is Sumadi (Su – can’t go birding with Susie, so I’ll go with Su), a lifelong resident of Ubud. There’s 5 of us total, and she makes sure we each have a pair of binoculars, essential for the day. We also get a list of over 100 birds that we may or may not see, depending on our luck and the season. The restaurant (warung) overlooks a deep gorge lined with tropical foliage. I want to keep the list handy to check the birds off as we see them, but she says she will remember each sighting and we will see how we did after the tour.

The birding begins from the balcony of the warung. A spotted dove sits in the tree right in front of us, swiftlets (white-bellied and edible-nest types) dive and dart above. Su says they fly all day, even napping on the wing. She sees some other birds in the distance, but says we’ll get a better look at them later. Up the hill, through a neighborhood, we points out snails, butterflies, and other insects. This woman knows her nature!

Harvesting Rice

Overlooking an empty field we see the gorgeous java kingfisher (there’s one that visits the Nest – I’ve seen him in some mornings) and a brief flash of the java sparrow, this one only found here in Indonesia. Then we head up into the rice fields. Su is one of the best birding guides I’ve seen, finding birds from just a speck of movement and not explaining what it is until she makes sure everyone can see it.

The rice paddies are a great spot for, duh, finding the birds who like to eat rice. Su’s family owned some rice fields, and it was her job to go out there each day and shoo them away. That’s what all the colorful flags are for in the middle of the fields; they look like decoration, but they are actually makeshift scarecrows. But they don’t do the job well enough, we see kids and older women walking through the fields waving big red plastic bags to scare the birds and save the rice.

Going to town

Transporting straw for roof repair

But it’s not just birds that we are learning about today, we talk about the community rice culture, harvesting, and irrigation systems as we see a team harvesting the rice. She points out cinnamon trees and wild lemongrass, turmeric plants and huge ficuses. We got a great look at the design of the St. Andrew’s Cross spider and saw some iridescent butterful chrysalis’ as well. We talked about elder care and retirement, foreigners buying up the rice fields for luxury condos, and the fact that most of the rice fields we walked by are for home consumption only. Balinese have rice three times a day, and we saw both white rice (unprocessed) and black rice. People pass us transporting different types of materials, sometimes, Su says, from 2 hours walk away.

We picked up a snack of sweet rice cake from an old man on the trail, then at midpoint stopped at a small food stand for some fresh coconut and taro chips. As we wound back into town along a canal, we could see the new construction she was talking about. No low-walled Balinese family compounds here – villas and western-style houses try to blend in, but really look out of place.

Eventually we get back to the main road and hop a taxi back to the warung where we started. The $37 tour included the snacks, taxi, and a fabulous lunch with lemongrass tea. We pulled out our list and checked off about 20 different types of birds. Pretty good, she said, for this time of year.

Lovely moth

St. Andrew’s Cross Spider

After lunch I walked back up the hill to meet Gus at Starbuck’s (yes, there’s a Starbucks here, filled with Japanese and American tourists). We were going to go to the monkey forest temple, but he has some other errands to run and I’m still looking for bigger balls. Turns out by the time we get to the monkey forest temple, we don’t have enough time to explore it because the Yoga Barn offers karma (free to the community) yoga tonight and you’ve got to get there early. I snap a couple of pics of the college students feeding the monkeys in the street and we head to yoga, which we do not want to miss because the fabulous Violeta, healer and pathfinder extraordinaire, is teaching. Gus has been seeing her and has been raving about her all week. The insights! The cleansing! I’ve got to check this out.

Chrysalis

The class, a yummy yin class (few poses held longer), was fantastic. We found fellow nester Krista there and all went to our favorite Mama’s for a last meal together before Gus an Krista head out to Canggu, the surf beach town, tomorrow.

When we get back to the Nest (appropriate after the bird walk, no?) we call it a night. Susie, you would have really loved this!

Red for scaring birds

Taking a break

Beautiful!

Wild lemongrass (in so many Asian recipes!)

Careful!

Dragonfly

After you drink the coconut water, scrape out this juicy meat

Su and the group at coconut stop

Chicken for lunch

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First place to look

This ball is too small

These are the right type of balls

My friend Peggy wants me to find some Balinese Balls for her. They’re special balls, Harmony Balls, which are shiny brass and have little fairies inside of them (or something) that sounds magical. When these balls are shaken, they emit a tinkling that sounds like you have captured some stars in that ball and they are happily colliding. Supposedly the balls that come from Bali are the best.

Entrance to the Ubud market

Coconut, anyone?

Now, I haven’t had much time for shopping, or more truthfully, the energy or desire. But I’ve been here a week now and it’s time to see what’s out there. I’ve been to the Gianyar market, the K-Mart of the area, so now it’s time to look at the Ubud market, which has not really been high on my list because it’s so touristy. Finding some balls for Peggy is at the top of my list.

Getting ready to set up their stall

First, I find a jewelry store on the street. Silver is the precious metal of choice here, and there are many stores. In the store, I ask the woman, do you have any balls? She does have ballls, but they are small, the size of big marbles. Peggy needs big balls, the size of a small orange. The size that you can comfortably cup in your open palm. Where can I find big balls, I ask? Check the market. OK, will do.

On a shopping street

In the market, I see a woman selling silver earrings, bracelets, etc. from a cart. Does she have balls? Yes, but they are also too small. How big do they have to be, she asks? I show her using my hands, cupping the air. Oh, she says. You be here tomorrow? I’ll have them then. Hmmm, I say. Thanks.

I stop at every silver seller looking for big balls. Finally I find a store that has the right size balls, but the woman there only has one ball. I need two, maybe three if I get one for myself. One ball is not enough. Maybe she’ll have some more later this week. Another store has two balls, but they are not shiny brass, they are inlaid silver, a little rough. I don’t think these balls are the quality of balls that Peggy needs. She wants balls of superior quality, I’m sure.

Monkey Forest Road

Of all the places in Bali, I would have bet that Ubud, yoga/new age/spiritual healing center of Bali would have amazing balls on every corner, or at least in every nice store, but no. Big balls are surprisingly hard to find.

Finally, near the Monkey Forest, I find a store (the first store run by a man, no joke) that has big balls, made here in Bali. Big balls of brass as well as silver. Whoa. He says he always has these balls in stock. Always. I’m not ready to buy these balls yet, because I have another place to search for them. My friend Kadek says she’ll take me shopping to the place outside of town where her friend makes jewelry. She’s never heard of these balls, but you never know.

I’m not saying it

I emailed Peggy, informing her about my search. The website she sent me that sells these balls has them packed in a silk-lined box with a special ball stand. The Monkey Forest Road man’s balls do not come in a box, but in a plastic bag. Will balls in a bag do? Do they have to be brass balls or would she like silver balls? She emails me back with some sound files of how the balls should and shouldn’t sound. Balls in a bag are ok, as long as they tinkle with the right amount of magic. Ok, now that I’ve got that straight, I’ve got to go back to that store and give a good listen to that man’s balls. Haven’t done that yet, I’ll keep you posted.

Fish satay lady with sauces

Fish satay staff

Chef Gus at work

Stopped at the satay stand for some grilled fish on a stick, met Gus at the Yoga Barn for a nice yin class, and back to the Nest, where Gus is cooking cleansing soup with rice again. Yum!

This soup is sooo good!

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Chokorda Rai at work

Today we see the famous Chokorda Rai, Balinese healer. Not that I have any particular physical malady that needs to be cured, but with all of the stress since the first of the year, I just want to cover my bases, you know? Maybe he can see something that I might need to address. And really, I haven’t been sleeping very well.

Bali living room

Gus, waiting for the healer

I persuaded Gus to go with me. He’s also interested in all types of health care and such, so this is right up his alley. Ketut picks us up; he hasn’t been to see this healer, ever, but is always up for learning something new.

Chokorda Rai, age 86, is a traditional Balinese healer. He has learned his craft through a set of books that have been in his family for generations. This ancient knowledge is written in Sanskrit, Old Javanese, and Balinese. He has taken these writings and has created his own way of diagnosing and healing as a channel of divine knowledge. You can read dozens of testimonials in the blogosphere; people have been radically changed after seeing him.

So I’ve got to check this out.

We get to his home compound and drive through the gate and around the yard until we get to his garage. It’s early, maybe 1030am, and we wander around his yard trying to figure out where to go. He has some lovely art and architecture. We stop and wait at what looks like the fanciest platform, but then Ketut calls us over to another platform nearer the house. Out comes a really old guy, all dressed in white. He doesn’t have the wide smile that most Balinese greet us with. I wonder if we woke him up?

Art around the Balinese house

Nevertheless, he’s ready to go. Ladies first! He sits in a chair and I sit on the floor at his feet, facing away. He starts with my temples, then pokes at different places around my head and ears, working the energy meridians, I’m guessing. When he pokes my lymph nodes just under my jaw, I yelp. Ow! Much anxiety, he says. How old are you, he asks. Fifty-five, I say. He asks me more questions, pointing just below my belly, I think regarding menopause, and I say I’m done with that. A little more head poking, then I’m instructed to lie down.

The colorful other living room

He then goes to my feet, pulls out a little stick, and starts to poke me between the toes. Doesn’t tickle, doesn’t hurt… until Ow! That hurt, he asks, as he pokes that sensitive spot once again. OW! I say. Ok then, he has a diagnosis. Seems that my ovaries are blocked, and he will try to unblock them. He will try.

He then stands up at my feet, facing me, and begins to chant and wave his stick around. Am I supposed to get up? No, stay down. I feel like I should close my eyes but I can’t not watch him. Will he poke something else that hurts? He finishes and then goes back to my toes. Poking, poking, poking, but no Ow. Success! My ovaries are unblocked. He pats me on the leg and says I can get up now.

I ask him if he has some sort of prescription of behavior or diet. “Don’t worry, be happy.” Yeah, he really said that. Lol.

He then did the same sort of procedure with Gus. So interesting. Gus yelped at a different poking place. Too much thinking, that’s the problem. Then to the toes, then the standing incantations, then back to the toes. All better now. And all for $25.

Beautiful detail!

While I was being seen, a Russian guy came with his Indonesian guide. Since this is really not a private procedure, we hung out to see what C.R. would say to him. I would have like to stay longer to see what he says and does to each person, but Ketut is ready to roll. When I ask Ketut his opinion, he said C.R. seemed angry. Huh.

Do I feel different? Ehhh, no, but perhaps (and I’m sticking to this story) it’s not a thunderbolt treatment but a slow-acting over time type of treatment.

Back at the Nest, Gus is off and I’m writing and editing photos when Kevin comes in. I put all that aside to get some tea and just hang out with him, sharing stories and trading insights. A great way to spend the afternoon.

Gus is back and I accompany him to the Yoga Barn free lecure on Shamanic Astrology. Cool. Then back to the Nest, where Gus, who is on a cleanse-type diet, makes us Balinese Pumpkin soup with black rice. Yum. New to the Nest is Krista, fresh from her Annapurna Trek in Nepal (she was not near the earthquake the week before). I learned from her that this walk around one of the greatest peaks of Asia can be done solo, like the Camino. That’s what she did. Walked at her own pace, met some amazing people. We are now Facebook friends so when I am ready to go, she will help me prepare.Yay!

I love this place.

Healer’s office

To the toes

Unblocking

The Nesters – me, Krista, Ketut, Kadek, Gus

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Top of Mount Batur at 630am with Marsha and Gus

The alarm goes off at 215am. Strangely, 5 minutes later, I hear the alarm go off in Gus’s room next to mine. I chuckle a little because it is the same ringtone my son Morgan uses. Sounds like the most obnoxious car horn: Honk! Honk! Honk! Soon I’m ready and Ketut, our driver, is at the door. Here comes Marsha, also ready. And here comes Gus, joining us after a late night invite from Marsha. Great! The more the merrier!

The drive should be about an hour, so we all try to get some shut-eye. It’s hard to sleep, though, with the bright lights of oncoming trucks and roadside ATM stations coming through my eyelids. We get there in record time, 320am, and pile out of the car. We persuade Ketut to join us on this trek; normally he stays in the car and sleeps. Ketut connects us to Nyoman, our guide, an extremely sturdy woman. We agree on the price and begin our trek up the mountain, fast-walking to get ahead of the groups still milling around in the parking lot. Everyone has a flashlight.

I get a chance to chat with Gus on the way up. He’s been working from his computer in Thailand and other places in Southeast Asia for money, but his passion is fitness and health. He’s in amazing shape and this trek should be a piece of cake for him. Hey, I’m in good shape, too, and I’ve climbed volcanoes in Guatemala and Nicaragua before, this should be fun! Even though the almost-full moon is out, it’s hard to see the top of the mountain, our destination, but soon we gain some height and can see the moon’s reflection on the lake below. Seems like we’re making good time. Why did we have to leave so early?

Then we really start to climb. After about an hour, the flat trail through the fields turns into rocky stairsteps. Not actual stairs, though, just climbing up the trail, over rocks, big and small. Ok, no problem. How hard can this be? We climb some, then rest, climb some, then rest. We leapfrog past other groups resting, then they pass us. Each resting spot under this full moon is more lovely as we can see more of the lake appearing below. Now we can see, pretty much straight up, a line of lights, some even at the top, of those ahead of us. Each time we stop, finding a “moon watching rock” we see the trail of lights lengthen below us. The stops are getting more frequent. My thighs start to burn. Some of the rocky stairsteps are so big that Nyoman has to reach down and haul me up. Geez, she’s strong! Sometimes she hauls Marsha up. When she’s not hauling me up, she asks, “Marsha, you ok?” When she’s not hauling Marsha up, she says, “Julie, you ok?” Ketut is bringing up the rear, also huffing and puffing. It’s his first time doing this, and I think, like me, he didn’t know exactly what he was getting himself into.

After a little over 2 hours of climing now, we reach a spot where there is a platform and they are selling coffee and tea. I’m thinking, “We made it! Thank God!” My breath was ragged and my legs were a bit wobbly. Small rest, says Nyoman. Half hour more. Sure enough, I look up and around to see the trail of lights above us. Really? I had heard stories of some people not making it all the way to the top, but thought it would be just the out of shape and elderly. No, they are not here. I consider for a nano second just to stay here; the view is actually quite nice. But it’s not the top and my companions are ready to go. Besides, it’s just about half an hour. No time at alll, right?

The trail is different now. No rocky stairsteps. Phew! Now it’s sand. Sand is easier, right? But this is deep lava sand. The kind of sand that, when you take a step up, you slide back halfway. The kind of sand that gets in your shoes, under your socks, and between your toes with each step. The only way to make headway is to snowplow your feet and take it slow. This is truly torture, but I keep going. “You ok, Julie?” Yep, I’m ok. Finally, thankfully, we are back to a rocky climb (never thought I’d be thankful for more stairstep climing!) Ten more minutes! Climb, rest, climb, rest. Finally, with one big step that once again, I need to be hauled over, we make it to the top! The jackets and scarf that came off during the hike come back on.

Sunrise from Mt. Batur, Lombok island peaks in the clouds

The sunrise comes up over the clouds in front of us. Bali’s biggest mountain (we’re on the second biggest, Mt. Batur) rises up in front of us. The tops of the mountains of the island of Lombok float above the clouds. Behind us, the moon is making a descent. We try to take photos but the light is bad. Some things, though, are maybe better left just in memory. We are at the top edge of a huge crater and can see 360 degrees.

Sunrise from Mt. Batur, Mt. Agung straight ahead

Once the light gets better, we begin taking photos: tree pose on the mountain, mountain pose on the mountain (not so interesting), group pics. We order coffee and hot cocoa and congratulate ourselves and profusely thank Nyoman for her strength and encouragement. She does this every day. Amazing.

Then the monkeys come. They live in the valley below but know that when the sun is up, it’s breakfast time. They are fun to watch, as long as they stay far enough away. Gus wants to take home the puppy that is wandering through the now crowded mountain top. Ketut brought some snacks for breakfast. We are a little too worn out to eat, but have some fruit.

The other side of the sunrise

Here comes the sun!

Coffee never tasted so good!

The last lava flow was in the 1920’s

Lucky monkey

Nyoman, our intrepid guide

We stay as long as we possibly can, almost the last group left at the summit. Then we head down. As I learned on Camino, climbing down can be just as hard, if not harder, than climbing up. So we gingerly take our time, protecting our knees. When we get to the lava sand, Nyoman starts running down, so we do too, lava sand surfing, laughing with abandon. Farther down, we stop at a cave where the steam is coming out of the rock. We breathe in air from the center of the earth. There are some monks there who trek up every day to leave offerings to the mountain gods. They let us take their picture.

Yes, we climbed up this for 3 hours

And now we are resting

1717 meters

Finished with the offering and on the way down

We are all very good friends by now. You don’t share an experience like that with strangers. At the bottom of the hill, farmers are growing tomatoes. Nyoman encourages us to poach some for snacks. They taste real good, even the green ones. We look up to see the mountain we just climbed. We are proud. At 1030am, we are back at the car. The parking lot is mostly empty. We finish the snack that Kadek packed for us, got in the car, stopped a couple of times for photos, and make it back to the Nest by noon.

Steep!

I hang out, write a bit, run a couple of errands, take a nap. Gus wants to go to the Yoga Barn for a lecture on fasting and I join him. We grab at bite at Mama’s and it becomes his new favorite restaurant. Mine, too!

Moon watching rock

You had better believe that I slept well that night!

The last part is a bit flatter

Mountain bloom

Poaching tomatoes

Came to say hello

Yep, we climbed that!

At the bottom!

PB&J snack

Too bad we don’t have time to visit the hot springs here

Panorama – we climbed the one on the left

Greens for dinner – morning glory at Mama’s – about $1

Saw this little celebration of the full moon on the way to lecture – all you need is a bridge for music, food, and prayers!

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After the home Hindu ceremony with the Pandit, yes, I’m soaked!

Today my Balinese transformation begins with a cooking class, by Kadek, of course. Yesterday as we were finishing our omelets, we noticed that Kadek brought something different for breakfast for herself. Rice and some kind of greens and tofu. The omelets are great, but why don’t we have that for breakfast? Hm, after she got the go-ahead from Kevin, she said she would get the ingredients and make it today. Yum! Balinese cooking class!

Boil the peanuts, chilis, and garlic

Greens, tofu, and chili mixture before blending

Putting it all together, first tofu, then greens, then sauce. Yum!

She starts with cooking the rice. Balinese rice is white, but not processed, a little sticky but not much. There’s a rice cooker here, so that’s easy. Then she puts a couple of cups of coconut oil in a pan and gets it boiling. When it’s good and rolling, she adds some tofu, a special kind made by her neighbor. When that is fried, she removes the tofu and adds some peanuts, a few cloves of garlic, and some chilis, tops on to the boiling oil. This boils for about maybe 10-15 minutes. In the meantime, in another pan she boils water for the greens. This is water spinach, a relative of the morning glory. She cuts the hard parts of the stem off and slices them before dropping them in the water. They boil for just a few minutes. While everything is still boiling, she puts some shrimp paste on a fork and sticks it in the fire under the pan. When the peanut/garlic/chili mixture is good and ready, she drains the oil and puts it in the blender with some coconut water and regular water, blending until it forms a paste, adding more liquid to make a sauce. Putting the rice in a mold and topping it with fried onions in the middle of the plate, she puts the tofu in a bowl, places greens on top, then covers it all with the spicy peanut sauce. YUM. Best breakfast ever.

This is sooo good!

It’s pretty rainy today, so we just hang out around here, talking and sharing stories. It’s nap time again. Soon we’re getting ready to go to Manik’s for the Hindu ceremony. However, it’s just pouring outside, that tropical rain that just drowns everything. Mitsuyo has her kebaya all ready made from last week, so she is beautiful. My kebaya won’t be ready til Monday, so I have to cobble together a sarong, belt, and shirt that covers my shoulders (no corset required!), which is not cool for temple but is ok for a home visit.

We walk to Mama’s (Manik’s), see her there, and go across the street to get blessed and offer prayers. There are a bunch of people kneeling and praying in one area and a man in a white shirt and pants sitting up on a platform loaded with flowers and food. He’s the priest, or pandit. We go up to the platform, one step down, and wait for the family ahead of us to finish their blessing. Now it’s our turn.

At Mama’s – Manik’s house is right across the street

We step in front of him and he gives us a big smile before he puts on his serious face and begins to speak. I don’t know exactly what he is saying, being in Balinese and all, but he’s got the prayer voice of a good preacher. First the prayer. Palms together, up between the eyes. Break. Palms together, this time with flowers. Break. Put one flower behind ear. Palms together again, with different flowers. Break. Put flower behind other ear. Palms together more flowers. Break. Find an ear that has room for another flower. Last time, palms together with smoke from incense. First part done.

Family Home Temple – first prayer station

Second part begins as we hold our hands open in front of us. The pandit continues speaking. Then he gets a little brush of sticks, dips it in water, and sprinkles it over us several times. We then are instructed (Manik is there, walking us through this) to cup our hands, right over left. The pandit now has a sort of teapot with a long spout and he pours water into our hands. We bring our hands to our mouths and drink. It’s smoky-tasting. Two more times we receive and drink, dribbling a bit in the process. The third time we take the water from our palms and put the water on our heads. The pandit continues his invocation. Hands out again, this time for rice. Grab some rice with your right hand and put it in your left. It’s sticky and a bit wet. Stick some on your forehead, right between your eyebrows. Stick some on the hollow at the base of your neck. Eat some. For the finale, he then takes some long leaves and flowers and makes us each a little headband. That’s it. Big smiles all around.

Then we go down to the second platform and kneel, repeating the ceremony all over again without the pandit. Thank goodness for Manik, or we would be totally lost. Then it’s done. We are wet, but have communicated with the gods, thanking the good and trying to appease the more mischievous. It feels good.

Family compound – second praying station

It’s Mitsuyo’s last night so we go to her favorite sushi place for happy hour. Two for one mojitos and $5 huge sushi rolls. We’ve shared so much, and I’m really going to miss her! Joining us is her friend from Singapore who also stayed at the Nest for a while before doing a bit of traveling. She is interested in visiting a Balinese healer, as am I. We compare notes and want to see the same guy. She introduces me to WhatsApp and we connect. We’ll see what happens later this week.

Inside the family compound

You might be thinking, where are the pictures of beautiful scenery and the awesome temples? That’s for Tourist Julie, and right now that’s not where I’m at. Tomorrow, the Hindu ceremony continues as we are invited to return to Manik’s.

Sushi and mojitos!

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Let’s go! Off to the fabric store!

Usually, when I travel, I have a pretty good idea of what I want to do each day, where I want to do it, and when it will be done. I’ve done tons of research and know just about all of the options. I create and follow a loose, but busy itinerary that will cover every sightseeing opportunity and eating experience to get the maximum “benefit” of each place.

This trip is different.

I have almost three weeks in one place. And not one thing planned. With all of the stuff I had going on these last few months, I have had precious little time to devote to travel planning. I wasn’t even sure until two weeks before departure that I was going to be able to go here at all. I know that there are many things to do, but heck, some people do Ubud in one day, so I figured I’d have lots of time to rest and see what comes up.

The one thing I most wanted to do was to try to be Balinese. I wanted to immediately transport my experience from tourist mode to “I live here” mode. I wasn’t sure exactly how that was going to be done, except to begin in a guesthouse, rather than a hotel or hostel. A guesthouse where my host was someone who actually lived here and knew their way around.

Staying at The Nest was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. And it’s funny, although I’ve learned a bunch from my expat host Kevin, my first real Balinese teacher/friend/tour guide has been the lovely Kadek, who makes our breakfasts, cleans our rooms, and sets out the offerings. We had a talk yesterday and made some plans to go to some of the Hindu temples during the upcoming 2-week full moon ceremony period. Most Balinese are Hindu, so that’s where I’m going to start as I become Balinese. I really know very little about the Hindu religion, except that it’s extremely colorful and they have many gods and great stories for every one of them.

But first, to go to the temple during the ceremony, you need special clothes. Kadek brought some of her mother’s clothes for me to borrow, but alas, they were too small. What to do? Have one specially made, of course! When she was done with her work around the Nest, we hopped on her motorbike and made our way to the market. Not the touristy Ubud market, but the local Gianyar market, about 20 minutes away.

The motorbike ride was a thrill in itself. There are more motorbikes than cars here, and almost everybody has one. Before I left Virginia, I had thought I might rent one just to zip around on, even procuring the required International Driver’s license from AAA. However, after careening down the road on the left side, sometimes almost knee to knee with the motorbike riders next to us, cutting in front of trucks or going around practically on the sidewalk, I think I’ll take a pass. I’m holding on to Kadek for dear life!

We park the motorbike at the market and it is a burst of vendors, colors, and smells. Not rotten or sewery smells, though, Bali smells sweet and full. We wind past the fruit vendors to the stalls inside until we get to her friend’s fabric shop.

Kadek and her friend Mamek at the fabric store

So many choices!

Blue is for jacket, orange is for sarong, orange belt on top, black corset underneath

The kebaya (what women wear) is made up of 4 main pieces. We begin with the lacy fabric for the jacket, the one thing that has to be custom made. What color do I like? Blue. Ok, which blue? So many choices!! Finally we find a color that suits. Now we need a sarong, a big piece of fabric wrapped around like a long skirt. Searching through piles and piles of possibilities we find a gorgeous match. Now the belt, which pulls the whole outfit together. Kadek’s friend finds the perfect one. Last but not least is the underwear. Since the top is lacy and see-through, they use a corset, black, to make sure the shape over the skin-tight jacket is, uh, womanly. Sort of a Balinese spanx, there’s a band around my midsection that must be pulled tight and hooked up, then zip up the middle, flattening the belly while enhancing the bosom. Wow, all this for less than $50.

Balinese tailor

From here, we buy some mangosteens (yummy fruit, I get a lesson on how to choose the best ones) and back on the motorbike, out of the market, back to Ubud, and out to the rice fields where the tailor’s shop is located. It starts to rain, no biggie, just pull out the poncho and we’re good. My grip on Kadek’s hips has relaxed to the point I’m not even really holding on anymore. Just lean into it, yeah.

No one at the tailor’s speaks much english, but they are all smiles and we exchange names. I get properly measured as Kedak gives her directions. The sewing machines are old Chinese models that are operated by treadle. Soon we are finished and with a flurry of thank you’s and goodbyes we are back on the motorbike heading back to the Nest.

Mitsuyo is waiting and we chat a bit then head off to early dinner. This time, it’s a different Mama’s, same street, but a few doors to the right. Mitsuyo is sort of a regular here and knows the owner, Manik. Manik is the 6th Mama sister, the other Mama sister is the 2nd. We eat another incredibly delicious Balinese meal and share stories. A rainbow appears. Wow. We find out that this full moon ceremony begins this weekend with people going to pray at a home temple. If you live in a Balinese family compound, there are 4 or 5 homes surrounding a courtyard where there are various small temples and at least one large one. Manik lives just across the street and we are invited to her home tomorrow for our first ceremony. We’re on!

Back to the room for an early night. I’m starting to feel less western already.

Coconut pineapple chicken soup

Mama’s gado gado, peanut sauce in the middle

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