Unscheduled time to roam

Tuesday, June 11, 2013

Most mornings I get up early with the first light, before it gets too hot, and walk up to the road that leads to the rice paddies. I look to the east at the big volcano Agung in the distance and watch the sun appear on its flank. To the west is a chain of volcanoes that one can see through the mist in the far distance. Along the narrow, muddy path I can see life beginning to hum. I see a woman washing her clothes in the irrigation ditch full of fast flowing water. I see ducks systematically eating their way through the rice paddies, doing insect control and natural fertilization, making quite a racket. I pass farmers going off to work their fields. We greet each other with “Selamat pagi” (Good morning). “Ke mana?” (Where are you going?) “Jalan Jalan.” (Just walking around). “Selamat jalan.” (Happy walking around). The narrow path leads me through dense jungle-like vegetation, then loops back along the rice fields and ends up on the main road which is a jolting experience after the peace of the walk in nature. The main street is polluted and noisy, with cars and motor scooters choking the street, traveling at high velocity, making crossing the street a harrowing experience. I reach our street, Jalan Kajeng, walk the half mile up the quiet road to our beautiful and peaceful bungalows and join my neighbors for breakfast on a large balcony that overlooks a rice paddy surrounded by an abundance of tropical vegetation. By the way, this beautiful hotel where the OG’s (older generation) are staying costs $20 a day I'm told, breakfast included.

Last Sunday morning we left at 6:30 am to go to a famous “water” temple far into the countryside. The moss-covered temple is located at the bottom of a steep walled valley with a fast flowing river running through it. Into the sides of the cliffs on both sides of the valley are carved gigantic bas relief temples, so ancient that they predate the Balinese people.  The temple itself includes a few caves where the former king came to meditate. Until recently the caves were off limits to visitors.  After we silently prowled around in our bare feet, exploring every nook and cranny, Gaylon asked us to go find a place to meditate for an hour. I waded out to a rock in the middle of the river, sat motionless, and went into an altered state of deep peace as I watched and listened to the water flow all around me.

The rest of Sunday was free time. We all headed off in different directions. My neighbor let me use his bathroom to bathe and wash my clothes since he has hot water and I don’t. The clothes will take at least a couple of days to dry, even hanging outside on a drying rack. I could pay less than a dollar to have my laundry done, but I prefer not wearing clothes that smell of laundry detergent and fabric softener.

It felt luxurious to have unscheduled time for ourselves…a whole day of it. I headed down our peaceful road, Jalan Kajeng, lined with little shops and inviting restaurants. As I was heading into a restaurant to get a young coconut juice, a woman came up to me and asked if I would like a foot treatment which would include soaking and washing the feet, cutting the nails, and massaging the feet and lower legs. The price was so low, I couldn’t resist. She led me into her beautiful home and into what looked like her bedroom. There was a large bed with an intricately hand carved wooden frame in the middle of the room. No massage table. For a half hour she worked on my feet. I was so relaxed I could barely get out of the chair. She asked if I would like a facial. Without hesitation, I said yes. That was another half hour of bliss. Again, I had a hard time getting off her bed. She asked if I would like an hour long total body massage. Again, I said yes without hesitation or deliberation. Two hours had passed by the time I finally got off her bed. As I was getting dressed, I noticed an offering of flowers and tiny piles of food in a little box made of banana leaves that are seen everywhere. The woman explained that each day of the week she buys 50 of those offerings at the open air market and puts them around the house in special places to assure the health of her family and the prosperity of her business. When I asked about the price of her treatment, she said it would cost me 160,000 rupias, the equivalent of $16. I gave her a 40% tip which still didn’t amount to much. It took me a while to get re-oriented as I left her home and her lovely presence and stepped back into the street with its comings and goings.

The main streets are full of tourists and ex-pats. There are plenty of Aussies here, For them, going to Bali is the equivalent of us going to Mexico in terms of distance.  There are quite a few Chinese tourists as well. And of course Americans are everywhere. The Europeans don’t start arriving in droves until July and August, I’m told.

I walked along main street until I reached the open air market which I found intriguing, especially the food part with all the marvelous spices. I’m not much of a shopper. It’s not my favorite activity, but I do enjoy seeing the unusual handmade items in some of the stores, especially the beautiful fabrics. I bought a little handmade mask to keep away the evil spirits, a silk scarf, and some Indonesian handmade batik fabric which I took to a seamstress to have made into pants. I walked along Hanoman Street and then Monkey Forest Road which led to an actual monkey forest. I didn’t stay too long in the monkey forest because the monkeys were known to be rather aggressive and sometimes jumped up on people and even bit them. A person staying at our hotel saw a monkey jump up onto a lady’s head and pick at her hair. I stayed long enough to watch a large male monkey grab a tourist’s water bottle, unscrew the top and take a drink and then spill the rest of the water onto the ground.

On my walk back to my bungalow on the side streets, I was intrigued by the architecture of the buildings. Traditional Balinese houses are handsome, with unusual architecture. The roofs of the buildings appear to be made of three different materials. In the countryside, one can see roofs made from palm fronds, especially on the houses of those with less wealth. The roofs of the temple structures are made of thatch prepared from the fibers of the coconut palm tree. Many of the roofs of the older homes as well as the expensive newer homes that are rented to tourists have tiled roofs. The edges of these tiled roofs slant upwards like the roofs one sees on temples throughout Asia. I find this medley of architectural styles appealing to my sense of aesthetics.

It is hard sometimes to distinguish between a family compound and a temple. Family compounds are made up mostly of outdoor spaces within the perimeter walls. They have spacious courtyards within which are found the private family temples. It is in these courtyards where most family activities take place. When we take classes in puppet making and painting, we work outside in the courtyard of the artist’s family home. When it rains, we take shelter in little covered pavilions where we continue our work. It’s so pleasant to spend much of our days here in Bali outside.

The Bali language is very easy to learn because there is so little grammar. Actually, it’s not Balinese I’m learning. It’s Indonesian, the language in which the many linguistically different ethnic groups in this archipelago can communicate. It is also the language of commerce in these parts. In their homes, the Bali people speak Balinese which is quite different from Indonesian. I’ve made a special effort to learn a few words of Balinese because it invariably makes the Bali people laugh out loud and creates an instant connection.

That’s all for now. I’ll try to get some more pictures to you as soon as the internet is running more consistently.

Selamat tido (have a good sleep---literally, happy sleeping)