A wrong temple, Angry monkeys, cock fights n food!
Trip Start
Unknown
1
32
44
Trip End
Ongoing
Ubud, Bali, Indonesia
Monday, June 22, 2009
We left early for Ubud taking transport from the hotel at 100,000 Rph, as we passed along the streets on the outskirts of Kuta, the whole of the streets where lined with various shops showcasing differing trades. Outdoor furniture, hand made wood carved furniture, stone carvings, some larger than 2 metres tall all for sale and no doubt all at cut down prices. It was only later on in the day whilst strolling around Ubud and its peripheries that we found out just how cheap they could be purchased. We stayed on monkey forest rd, the main street at a place called the Frog Pond Inn.
Ubud was instantly different from the madness of Kuta. There was a relaxed café culture charm to the place, where you imagined poets chatting to artists over a coffee. The backpackers we found where of a different ilk too, as Shelley put it “They’re right Geeks!” and she was right but a more euphemistic way to put it would be to say “the backpackers oozed culture!”
Walking around Ubud can be a tiresome experience
Gunung Kawi and Shelley
. You are constantly harassed by the hordes of supposed taxi drivers, men who are artists and want you to buy their painting. I challenge anyone to walk down monkey forest road, irrespective of what time of day or night it is and not be challenged with “Taxi! Taxi!” whilst a Balinese man simulates a driving motion with his hands, which is closely followed by a “Maybe tomorrow?” when you shun their offer. On one occasion I walked past the same guy 3 times in the space of Three minutes and each time was asked if I needed a Taxi by him!! Its strange because back home if you want a taxi you will flag one down or ask for it. Over here they don’t grasp that if you want or would like something, you will ask for it. Instead when you reply “No thanks!” they just say “YES!” all you hear down the street is ….Taxi man: “Taxi … Taxi…, you need transport?”
Tourist: “No thanks!”
Taxi man: “Yes!”
Tourist: “No mate I am off to that shop across the street”
Taxi man: “Yes …
Stopping off along the road
! Yes!!”Tourist: “No ! (becoming more irate)…. NO!
Taxi man: “Maybe tomorrow….. Yes?”
Now we understand there trying to make some money, but I can honestly say I never seen one tourist turn around and say… “You know what, go on then take us to the mini market over the road!”
There isn’t much nightlife in Ubud, but a big party scene isn’t what people go to Ubud for. We settled down in a restaurant and had some amazing food followed by a carafe of wine over looking the football field and a theatre area where a Labong Balinese dance and music act was being performed. Now I am the first to admit that im not cultured, I like the idea of being cultured but culture and I are like chalk and cheese! The Balinese music started at 19:30 and continued on till 21:00 hrs. That my friends is 1 and a half hours of tortuous music blaring out. Some travel writers may write numerous prose about the distinct sound. I will only say that Balinese music sounds like you’ve strapped some cymbals and drums to an elephants knees, gave a bunch of chimpanzees some flutes and various other woodwind instruments and locked them in a room
Nice monkey gives me a Banana... oh thanks fella
. Suddenly someone releases a couple of mice into the room, which scares the elephant half to death and makes him hop around the place whilst the Chimps join in beating the hell out of the flutes!!! That in a nutshell is my uncultured take on Balinese music…. There is no melody or rhyme and to be honest its dog shit! I had to laugh at Shelley when she turned around to me one hour into the dance, sipping her wine and said..“Sorry Simmo. I don’t think I could take 2 hours of that (pointing at the theatre) shit!”
And it was exactly what we both thought. Just because the Lonely Planet tells you its what you MUST do in Ubud, go and see a Balinese dance doesn’t mean you’ll love it, we knew our limitations, more Rose wine and then the Reggae bar Thank you!!
23rd June 2009.
Today we chose to venture around Ubud on scooter, taking in the village life of Bali as well as visiting Gunung Kawi. We thought it best to buy a map of Bali so that we wouldn’t get lost somewhere on the island
Gunung Kawi
. The fact that the map cost the same as the bike hire for the day is neither here nor there. Add to the fact that it was the shittest map ever! Left us using the Lonely planet guidebook more than the Bali Pathfinder map. We headed north towards Tampaksiring and the Gunung Kawi temple, stopping along the way to take in the views of the rice terraces. that’s been the best thing about travelling on a scooter. You can pull over whenever you feel like it and take in the views. You see a nice roadside café, just pull over and nip in, the freedom is amazing! Well unbeknown to us there are actually Two Gunung Kawi’s both within spitting distance of each other. We had stumbled upon the one in Sebatu which wasn’t the one we was looking for. Only when we left the temple the security guard told us there are two temples both with the same name and the one we wanted was a Km down the road.The ancient monuments of Gunung Kawi are alleged in legend to have been carved out by the mighty fingernails of Kebo Iwa in a single night. The statues are a massive 8 metres tall and are an imposing sight. The area around the monuments is a vivid green river valley and stepped rice terraces that we strolled around passing the time. As with all Hindu temples we had to wear a Sarong around the waist complete with a belt. Our outfits where a little muddy by the time we’d finished walking through paddy fields and handed them in
Periods not allowed!
! Back on the bike we headed north again towards Gunung Batur volcano and the lake nearby. The route we took was all along back roads passing through all the farming communities along the way. Everyone we met along the road gave us a “Hello” or waved and smiled as me and Shelley whizzed by returning the gestures. We where well and truly in the sticks and just using the compass on my watch to ensure we was heading in the right direction! Whenever we came to a fork in the road asked a local “Penelokan?” the name of the town we was looking for and they would point either left or right. This ride was an amazing experience and a great insight into how the farming communities worked and lived. It looked like a hard life but everyone was happy and smiling! They were still using tools that we in the west would deem useless now. As we drove deeper into the farm land the road became more perilous to drive on. What started out as one or two potholes soon turned into a potholed rocky mess, where it was harder to find the Tarmac. We bumped and bounced our way along until we hit the main tarmac road we where looking for which would lead us into Penelokan and onto Gunung Batur. We arrived by the lakeside just as the sun was setting. Up at this height the air was cooling but the view and the panorama distracted us from thoughts of the cold, we had to set off back soon and would be driving back to Ubud in the dark, in the cold armed with only a pair of shorts and t shirt and a dodgy map! The ride back was in pitch black and we both were freezing! As we drove the sound of our teeth chattering could be heard above the engine! We must of looked exactly like Harry and Lloyd of the film Dumb and Dumber, as Shelley clinged onto me trying to keep us both warm.There are no signs on the roads around Ubud so once again the compass and asking directions saved the day
hai ya!
. We arrived cold but in one piece at Ubud in time to go to a little restaurant just off the main street.Warung Asti has got to be the best unknown restaurant in Ubud. The garden setting is amazing, it overlooks a rice field at the front and the food was mouth watering. One of the owners gave us a starter and desert for free! We felt guilty that a five course meal had only cost the two of us 3 pounds 50p !! we will definitely recommend this little jewel of a restaurant. Not for the first time on this trip, we both commented that it was a sham that no one looks further than the recommendations of the lonely planet.
24th June 2009
Last night when we returned back to our room, I noticed my wall light wasn’t working. Si I decided to have a look at it and check that the bulb was screwed in properly, it was and that was fine. However I noticed the wall light was hanging loose from the wall. As I grabbed the metal light….BANG! I was zapped by 240 volts of electricity!! Jesus it hurt. It all happened in seconds, but initially the electricity clamped my hand onto the fixture. As the electricity shook through me I involuntary made a sound and my mouth just went “Awoowoough, woo wough wough!” and as my whole body shuddered I was thrown across the room as my grip on the light released, landing 4 ft away sprawled over Shelleys backpack which was at the foot of her bed
The Barnes strolling through Paddy fields
. Shelley was lying in her bed and all she did was raise her eyebrows and told me to stop messing about!!! Only when it took me a good few seconds to get to my feet did it dawn on her that I had just been electrocuted!! The compassion of a nurse eh! The whole light fixture was live! I told the guestroom owner and as he went to grab the light I stopped him. He didn’t understand really what I was telling him. No doubt he’ll soon find out the hard way.Today we did about a 6km walk around Ubud and the monkey forest sanctuary. This took us most of the day due to the fact that we just chilled and took everything in our stride. The monkey forest was full of Macaque monkeys that looked all doe eyed and innocent, until they sensed you had food and then it was a different story. They where like Gremlins that have just been exposed to water!! Any unsuspecting tourist foolish enough to have bananas in their bags or in fact any food, would find themselves swarmed by monkeys who would snatch away there bags and run off with the prized possession. We laughed as everyone fell foul to the monkeys, until Shelley took out her bottle of water and placed it on the side, as she prepared to take some photos. A monkey appeared from nowhere and claimed it for himself biting the bottle top off and trying to drink the contents. We knew they’d go for food but stealing our water surprised us
A prize cock!
! We continued on our walk stopping to take some photos of a newly born monkey that was playing with its parents and was just learning to climb. every time it fell Shelley would let out an “Awwww”Suddenly we was distracted by a cacophony of sound emanating from near the temple grounds. It was on our route so curiosity got the better of us and we went to seek out this raucous sound. As we passed through a bit of a security checkpoint we noticed groups of separate crowds all sat around playing some kind of gambling game involving dice. Three dice are rolled and the dice contain various images of animals on them and the men where betting on what animal would be shown face up! In the centre of all these separate gambling games was where the real noise was coming from. Above the changing of men was the unmistakable sound of Cockerels. On closer inspection it became apparent we had inadvertently stumbled upon a live cock fighting competition. As we neared the action you would see old men with Rattan cages bringing in there prize fighters and on the other side of the scale you would see men leaving the crowd stroking a bloodied cockerel that looked like it was on its last legs! On one occasion a man left with his non prize winning fighter which had obviously been killed in the fight. We gazed on at this event in part amusement and in part astonishment and horror. From what we could gleam from it all, first of all the two cocks are shown to the crowd and the noise heightens as betting commences
Yep... pigs arse!
. Money is waived in the air and how anyone knows who has bet on what is a mystery. Betting over and the chants die down as both cocks are placed in a mock ring area and provoked and pushed towards each other until they have a short fight. Once the action dies down it can be obvious which one is the victor due to the amount of blood. If the owner doesn’t withdraw the cockerel then its round Two.Round two is a slightly more sadistic affair. Both cocks are placed in the confined space of a rattan cage, therefore ensuring there is no retreat, and an outright winner will prevail. Here the crowd is so silent you could hear a pin drop. Except you cant hear a pin drop all you can hear is the cackle and squawks of two cockerels fighting to the death… as the cage is lifted the victor and defeated are obvious, the noise erupts. Money changes hands, whilst the owners of the animals retain them. One owner ecstatic and proud, the other looking like his honour has been tarnished. If this doesn’t seem particularly violent, then it was only later as I took a photo of one of the old men, showing off his winning fighter that I seen why there was so much blood about. One of the owners was brandishing two little, yet sharp knives about 2.5cm long with bindings on them. These blades are bound to the cocks feet turning them into deadly weapons.
Time for some local culinary delights
We decided that whilst we had participated in a local event we would also dine with the locals. So we sat down with them at a make shift table to eat what looked like a lovely Hog roast with rice. The woman serving the food scooped up the rice, placed it in our basket, followed by some juice, some off cuts of meat and some lentils. We became a slight spectacle as a pair of foreigners where sat eating lunch at a cock fight! Now I don’t particularly have an iron stomach but I will give most things a try, however, when we both looked down at our meal we both recoiled in horror and turned to each other and said at the same time….
“Shit ….. Is that the Pigs Arse!!!!”
It most certainly was! Just nestled in with the rice lay the pigs bum hole winking at us. The off cuts and crackling the woman had given us was all the offal of the pig, there was also part of the intestine mixed in as well. Making sure we didn’t inadvertently scoff down Anus flavoured crisps we ate all the meaty parts and rice in a bid to save face. When all that was left was poo pipe we kindly made our excuses and left the table buying water on the way to wash down our meal!
Betting on the cocks and the noise goes wild
We headed back into monkey forest forgetting that I was carrying a water bottle, discussing lunch when a rather large monkey just jumped out and bit the bottom of the bottle whilst I was still holding it. The monkey started to drink from the bottle and then snatched it clean from me. Concerned about littering I tried to collect up the plastic bottle, but as I reached for it the monkey hissed at me and bared all its teeth at me. They where sharp! And I wasn’t about to loose a pinky for the environment. It’ll degrade in time I reasoned as we sidestepped around the vicious beast.
Continuing on our walk we passed through paddy fields which were being tendered by the local farmers. Shelley decided to come with me and have a closer look in the fields and promptly fell into an irrigation ditch loosing her sandals and getting covered in thick mud! The rest of the walk was a peaceful walk through Penestanan village and back to Ubud, where we booked our trip to Lombok for the following day. That night Shelley opted to have a full body massage but I pussied out of it saying that I don’t quite fancy getting rubbed up by a Bali Boy… so I took myself off to the pub and watched Queensland beat NSW in the state of origin Rugby League Test. After tea we returned to the same pub listening to a Reggae band play. It turned out to be quite hilarious as towards the end of the night a fight broke out amongst the Bali men over a white girl. In the background the band played on with Bob Marley’s “One Love” as the Pub erupted into a brawl. The irony was superb! You couldn’t make it up!
Ubud was a quiet and charming area where you go to relax and shop for antiques or paintings. There isn’t any real nightlife and so it isn’t for everyone, but this felt more like the real Bali, especially when we ventured out into the surrounding countryside on our trusty steed the scooter…
