Location: Ubud, Bali
Another great big day -- my feet, knees and hips feel like they belong to someone else -- they sure don't feel like mine. I think I wore mine out.
We left the hotel at 6:30 AM for a 2.5 hour walk, which took us through a couple rice fields, two different villages, and a local market. It was all very interesting and quite different than our other rice field experiences. The villages and market were seriously rural -- running water and basic sanitation appear to be in scarce supply. A fascinating place to visit, but I wouldn't want to live there.
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| Breakfast, lunch and dinner! |
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| Meditation center in the rice field. |
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| Power line to the meditation center in the rice field. |
Jackie, I kept wondering how these villages compared with where you lived. I'm anxious to talk with you about it.
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| Flowers for offerings -- at the market. |
Because we left so early, we had a boxed breakfast, which we ate in a little shelter in the rice field. The shelter is just a covered platform where a person might stay to guard the rice when it's almost ready for harvest -- guarding it from birds and animals. I missed the banana vetoes that the hotel offers every morning, but the view compensated for their absence -- it was so peaceful relaxing.
At the end of our hike, we went to visit the family compound of our guide, Windra. That too was quite an experience -- the various buildings and their function and location were explained. So many rituals and traditions dictate everything from construction to who lives where to how the unit operates. 20 people live in Win's family compound. Win and his wife, kids and G-kids do not live In his family compound, though he goes there at least once a week and is responsible for a portion of it's maintenance. It was all very interesting.
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| The temples at Win's family compound. |
We were back at Tjampuhan by 11:30.
This afternoon 13 of us made our way to The Royal Palace where we met with the Princess -- Ibu Atun. This meeting was arranged by Arifin who is an old friend of the Princess. It was an unusual time to visit and we were very fortunate to be able to -- her step-mother died a couple days ago and everything and everyone in the palace was revolving around the death. I was surprised that she still was able to meet with us.
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| Me with Ibu Atun at the Royal Place, Ubud, Bali |
Government administrators and their wives were paying their respects and the "sympathy cards/placards/arrangements" added an unusual look to the scene -- like nothing I've ever seen before. Atun appeared to be happy to receive us. The original plan was that we would meet her for afternoon tea, but because of all the people coming to pay their respects, we were offered lunch too. Quite an event. The funeral isn't until August 18, so I guess this will all go on for a while. They were hauling away truckloads of the giant sympathy panels and replacing them with new arrivals. I'd love to come back for the funeral, I suspect it will be quite the event.
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| The "sympathy card" from the President of Indonesia. |
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| Lots of sparks and flames go flying around when you are in a trance and dancing around barefoot through a fire! |
It's a wild and whacky world -- and that's about all I can say about this whole adventure !!!!
That, and I'm going to bed :)
Stay tuned, it ain't over yet!!
XO
Mum/Nancy
PS: MJ, Leyla and I went to Cafe Wayan tonight -- another great place to eat. At this rate I will gain back the weight I lost in Yogya.
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