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A Walk Around Ubud

Wednesday April 19, 2006

Posted In: Indonesia | Comments: 5 | Written By: Kai Conragan

Yellow cloth decorated with beads hangs from a statue and glimmers in the sunlight at a Balinese wedding in Ubud

The kindness of the Balinese people continues to amaze me. Julie and I stood dripping on the side of the road, hiding in some shade offered by a tree from the mid-day sun. What had drawn us to this spot, besides the shade, was the music. Following the advice of Lonely Planet we had set out earlier in the morning for a walk outside of Ubud.

A baby monkey hangs from mom’s tail

We started with a visit to the Sacred Monkey Forest Sanctuary to get a look at the grey-haired, long-tailed Balinese Macacques. The sanctuary is nestled at the southern end of Ubud and houses three holy temples in addition to the curious monkeys. The sanctuary is admittedly touristy, but the monkeys are a delight to watch. They wrestle with each other, make faces at you, and generally carry on in a playful manner. But there is a softer side to them too, and it’s hard not to feel an empathy with them. Perhaps it’s the expressions in their face or the way a mother and father tenderly holds their newborn, maybe I’m just a sucker.

The monkeys have become very used to humans, and they scurry up to you when you enter the park, hoping you’ve brought them a banana. If you have none, as we did not, they give you a look of disgust and go about wrestling with each other. It was sitting on the steps of a walkway that one of the monkeys got his revenge for not having received his banana: I felt what I thought were a few raindrops on the bill of my hat, only to look up and realize too late that the drops were monkey piss, and the culprit monkey was shrieking with glee and shaking himself.

Rice terraces

Emerging from the cool shade brought by the canopy of trees and into the already blazing sun, we continued our walk. Though small and narrow, the road down which we walked was constantly humming with motor scooters. We walked passed myriad Batik woodcarving shops, each displaying their goods of carved turtles, dolphins, elephants and larger carvings of Hindu gods and goddesses. Each little shop had a hand-painted sign, usually with just their name and smaller letters below stating “Made to Order”. Everything can be made to order. The local artisans have realized that they can make a living catering to the Westerners who want carved statues for their gardens and small shops back home. Yet it is sad to see that there is very little creativity or originality to these carvings. The artists are obviously talented, yet much of what they produce looks repetitive, mass-produced even. The Balinese for centuries have produced beautiful works of art, from stone statues to wood carving to ornate and elaborate paintings. Yet all of the artwork was for a purpose: religion and, more specifically, the decoration of temples. It wasn’t until Westerners arrived that Balinese began producing art strictly for art (or a buck’s) sake, and even then only with a little encouragment from enterprizing visitors. As such, it seems the Balinese have not been able, or perhaps willing, to transfer their talent and creativity to the open-market.

A gate made of coconut frans and bamboo invites in wedding guests

We continued our walk down the busy street, the sun now scorching in the mid-day heat. It was here that we found ourselves, dripping in sweat, me with monkey piss on my hat, that we heard the music. It sounded like traditional Balinese music, of which we had been hearing a lot of in the numerous shops of Ubud. But this music was different, it was live. Flutes rang out in harmony while a strong rhythm of percussion instruments drove the music forward. It was coming from across the street from what appeared to be a family compound. The short set of stairs leading to the entrance were covered in beautiful orange flowers. Palm fronds lined the stairs and rose up and over the entrance, swaying in the breeze like party streamers. A man in a dark blue sarong and linen colored shirt motioned for us to come over. We approached slowly, unsure if we had disrupted a procession in our staring. He motioned for us more eagerly as we approached, and then gestured for us to come in. Stepping through the ornately carved gateway was like stepping into another world. The music we had heard from the street was now clear and vibrant. All around us were colors manifesting in myriad forms: Yellow silk waved lazily in the sun and pink and purple ornaments hung from orantely carved stone statues. Directly in front of us were two 8 foot tall sculptures, all entirely made out of food, from brightly colored rice crackers to sugar and coconut. The man who had invited us in handed us each a bamboo plate and gestured for us to help ourselves to some snacks that were on hand and simply said, “Welcome to our wedding”.

The Bride and Groom in traditional costume

A delicious banquet of food

The man’s name was Made (second born) and his brother, the groom, was the one getting married. The bride and groom were dressed in traditional Balinese wedding outfits. The woman wore a pink, silk dress with yellow lining and an elaborate gold headdress. The man wore matching colors with a black and silver jacket and a traditional Balinese dagger on his back. They sat in chairs and greeted each guest. The food on hand was simply mouth-watering. Giant bamboo baskets held white rice. Dishes were placed all around the baskets including babi guling (spit roast pig), grilled whole fish with spicy chili pepper sauce, slow-cooked spiced chicken, pickled cucumbers and carrots, and chicken and red peper satay with sugarcane. We helped ourselves to a little of all of it.

This is the kindness which I speak about in Bali. This family invited two strangers in off the street to their wedding, one with monkey piss on his hat, both dripping in sweat and neither with an appropriate sarong or sash. They made us feel welcome and insisted we we eat their food though certainly it, and indeed the whole day, had come at great financial cost to the family. After the bride and groom departed, Julie and I bid our thanks to the family and headed back to downtown Ubud elated with the experience.

Back at our room at the Sayong House, we sat lazily on our balcony that overlooks downtown and watched the sun drop behind the mountains. Ubud is charming, reminiscent of Berkely, or perhpas Santa Cruz, another traveler we met even mentioned Italy: Narrow streets lined with small boutiques, used book stores, and shops selling silk sarongs, local paintings and carvings. There are a plethora of great, cheap places to eat. Exhausted from the 12km walk and the heat, we decided to splurge and treat ourselves to a 1 hour, full-body massage. The cost was $6 each.

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