Advertisement
Published: November 23rd 2023
If you are happy you can always learn to dance… ~ Indonesian Proverb
HE SAID... Today we were continuing to explore the mountain town of
Ubud– by foot.
Location Ubud is a bustling mountain town in central Bali.
Transport Walking (with a brief minibus trip).
Accommodation Puri Padi. An extensive hotel complex with well-kept gardens. The walk from reception to our room was quite a distance, but enjoyable enough. The room itself was large but basic, with heavy wooden furniture. We also had a small private terrace, where I settled in the late afternoon and caught up on my travel notes with a local Singaraja beer. It was pure heaven.
Cuisine …Breakfast (Puri Padi, Ubud)…
The open-sided dining area at Puri Padi was small and intimate. We were offered a choice between two breakfast options – American or Indonesian. My choice? Indonesian. I enjoyed
nasi goreng (stir-fried rice) with a plate of fresh pineapple and watermelon, orange cordial and tea.
…Lunch (Kedaton, Ubud)…
This small local eatery just along from our hotel was an absolute standout (and a brilliant find). There was a small selection of dishes on display behind a glass petition, and you simply pointed at the ones you wanted, which were then served onto
a plate with white or yellow rice and carried to your table. This was
nasi campur (mixed rice with whatever is being served on the day) at its very best. We opted for aubergine salad, bean salad, fried tempeh, fried tofu, corn fritters and boiled eggs, all of which were enhanced by a tasty sambal on the side. It was such a delicious meal.
…Dinner (Puri Padi, Ubud)…
Snacks in our hotel room.
Highlights …Exploring Keliki by foot…
We wandered out of the hotel at 8:30am and clambered into a waiting minibus. We were heading to Keliki, a small village on the outskirts of Ubud, for a guided walking tour. It was a fairly steep drive to get there, so we knew we were higher up in the mountains than Ubud’s town centre. We started the tour around 9am, and it was a relief to explore quiet country lanes rather than busy crowded streets. The tour offered an insight into daily village life, which we always try to experience when we travel.
We visited a family compound in the village, where we were greeted by two playful, barky and very self-important dogs. As guests in the family
compound, we were served coffee and tea, along with:
> a parcel of sticky rice with a coconut and peanut filling
> a parcel of sticky rice with sweet banana wrapped in banana leaf.
As guests in the family compound, we were shown how to assemble an offering to the house spirit. We moulded a pre-cut and pre-folded palm leaf into a small open basket, securing the folds with thin bamboo skewers. We filled the box with different coloured flowers and an incense stick, which all had to be ordered in a very specific pattern. We then placed the colourful box in front of the family temple and sprinkled holy water over it – as an offering to the house spirit. This was such a local experience, and the family was so incredibly welcoming of us all (with the exception of a surly sister-in-law who lived in the compound and was seemingly not impressed with our presence).
Our guide shared several facts about Balinese life as we wandered through the quiet village, and two of these piqued my interest.
Fact 1: 88% of Balinese people follow Hinduism. I’d noticed that Hinduism was the prevalent religion in Bali,
but I didn’t realise that nine of every ten residents have embraced Hinduism as a way of life.
Fact 2: For a village to be recognised in Bali, it must have the following three elements:
> a temple area
> a housing area
> an environmental area (e.g. rice fields).
…The Campuhan Ridge Walk…
As we made our way back to Ubud’s town centre on foot (in a southward direction), we encountered the Campuhan Ridge, a picturesque trail that follows the path of two streams, with stunning views of rice fields and lush forest. Julia Roberts walks this trail in the popular 2010 self-discovery biopic
Eat Pray Love, which formed part of our research for our Indonesian adventure. It was a beautiful and peaceful walk.
We eventually arrived at Pura Gunung Lebah, an old Hindu temple with a multi-tiered shrine. This tranquil and secluded temple sits on a jutting rock at the confluence of two rivers. The moss-covered walls of the temple were cool, which was a sanctuary from the searing afternoon sun. After resting in the serene aura of the ancient stone temple, we walked along a busy road that felt like a tunnel (due to
its sheltered cover of weeping banyan tree branches and roots). This busy road led us back into the main town centre of Ubud.
…Exploring Ubud by foot…
We had been walking for more than two hours in Ubud’s wilting humidity, so it was time for a cool drink. On a recommendation from two fellow travellers, we settled at Simply Social, a bustling café in the very heart of Ubud. Apart from the dissonance created by a couple of tone-deaf performers, the atmosphere in the café was great. We refreshed with the following:
> simply berry smoothie (strawberry, mango, yoghurt, honey and milk)
> iced ginger mint tea.
Feeling re-energised, we wandered Ubud’s busy streets, chancing upon a beautiful furniture and clothing store in one of the narrow market lanes near Ubud Palace. I was mesmerised by the music being played through the boutique store’s sound system, so I asked what it was. The friendly owner checked her laptop and said she was streaming an album called ‘Chill Bali’. I’m determined to find a copy.
It was time to head back to the hotel, as we were attending a traditional Kecak dance performance in the evening, and we
needed to be organised by 6pm. We dropped into Coco Supermarket on the way to pick up some postcards, beer, chips and fruit juice. We stored our supermarket provisions in our room, then headed out for a late lunch. We decided on Kedaton, a small local eatery just along from our hotel. It was an amazing experience, which I touch on in my
cuisine section above.
…Kecak chanting…
We headed out at 6pm to witness and experience a traditional Kecak dance performance and fire dance. We settled in plastic chairs close to the front of the performance area, which was staged in one of the temples in Jl Hanoman. I was a little sceptical, as I have endured some onerous cultural performances over the years, where the music, performance and/or staging have been difficult to listen to or watch – possibly because of my pre-conceived ideas of what is ‘good’ and ‘bad’ in music. I needn’t have worried with this performance, because it was mesmerising.
How do I explain a musical experience that is so culturally different to anything I’ve experienced? To start with, there was no musical instruments – the rhythm, melody and harmony were all created
by human chanting – and it was extraordinary. We witnessed three performances.
Performance 1 – Kecak: This was the first of the three performances, and it was by far the most astonishing. A large group of men entered the stage, sat in concentric circles and began to chant, sing, hum and sigh in unison. It was breathtaking, because the unison was so unbelievably tight. What captured my attention more than anything else was a single voice repeating a single motif over and over. A solitary counterpoint to fifty or so men chanting percussively. The repeating motif – ‘toque, toque, toque’ – allowed me to follow the rhythm so easily. I could have listened to this group of men for hours on end. The dancing (for me) was incidental to the men’s singing, although the monkey character was great, and the stylised fight scene between two characters at the end was fabulous.
Performance 2 – Sanghyang Dedari Dance: This dance was accompanied by a group of women chanting, along with a small number of the men from the first dance. The men performed a similar chant to the Kecak, and only joined the women a few times during the
performance. Once again, the dancing was incidental to the singing (for me).
Performance 3 – Sanghyang Jaran Dance (Fire Dance): I didn’t quite understand the significance or purpose of this dance. It was basically a slightly bored bloke kicking the embers of a fire around the stage while riding a wooden hobby horse. I loved seeing the fire being lit to start the performance, but it all nosedived from there (once again, for me).
I left the performances invigorated. I want to incorporate a solitary repeating motif in my own music that draws the listener immediately into the rhythm of the song. It’s difficult to explain the feeling of wonder when you hear a style of music for the first time and immediately become immersed in its energy. The performance lasted 90 minutes, and I could easily have sat through another 90 minutes of the men chanting. Unfortunately, live music must come to an end. We left the temple and walked back to our hotel, stopping at Coco Supermarket on the way to grab some snacks.
We were leaving Ubud the following day. We were heading to Sidemen, and we had a two-hour bike ride along the
way. It was time to sleep. I knew the repeating motif – ‘toque, toque, toque’ – would be in my head all night. What an extraordinary atmosphere created by a group of chanting men. This was an absolute standout travel experience for me…
Lowlights …Inconsiderate tourists…
We were woken at 5am by a loud phone call involving a loud male tourist in the room next door. To avoid stereotypical inferences, I’m not going to comment further (apart from pointing out he was Russian).
SHE SAID... I woke tired but excited. We were going to see another (hopefully more local) face of
Ubud that morning. The breakfast at the Puri Padi Hotel was nice enough, but it was very limited; and even though it was only our second breakfast at the hotel, I was already a bit bored with it. Regardless, I enjoyed the platter of fresh fruit (with delicious pineapple and watermelon), orange cordial, tea and coffee, and my choice of
mee goreng (fried noodles) – which I tried to oomph up with some ABC Asli hot sauce.
The group gathered at 8am, and while we were waiting for the minibus, Andrew and I realised
that our local guide for the day was Wayan – who we’d met at the Taman Ayun Temple two days ago. I had mixed feelings. He wasn’t the worst local guide we’d had by a long shot, but he did tend to waffle on a bit.
We were driven to the outskirts of Ubud and dropped off at the small village of Keliki. Wayan began the day by explaining the logic and structure of how villages are constructed in Bali. There are three sections – temples for building a relationship with the gods; houses for building relationships with other people; and a designated environment for building a relationship with nature (usually used for farming). This was an example of life being lived according to the Balinese concept of
Tri Hita Karana (philosophy of harmony), which outlines the three principles underpinning Balinese life as god, other people and the environment. We were standing in front of rice fields, which denoted the third section of a neighbouring village and the beginning of Keliki village.
We stood at the gate of the main village temple while Wayan explained the importance of Hinduism in the Balinese culture, and how it underpins all
things Balinese. We had already heard quite a bit of this spiel when he guided us through the Taman Ayun Temple a couple of days before… so I didn’t feel bad when my mind drifted to other things. Wayan also explained how tenets of Hinduism are closely tied to the local lifestyle and their daily routines.
Next we stopped outside the Keliki community hall, where all the village committees were run from. Given committees seem to play a big role in all the villages we have visited so far, I wondered if this was a form of local government in each village. Wayan pointed out the bell tower where the community had hung many different sounding bells. Their distinct sounds summoned people for different purposes, such as celebrations or disasters, and even for the different committee meetings. However, he admitted that they are rarely used now as everyone is on WhatsApp. 😊
We walked through the village to a local house and entered through its decorative
kori (roofed gate). We’d seen many Balinese houses over the past few days, but this was our first time entering one. Past the gate, we stood facing a small squarish stone wall
with a Ganesha statue in front of it. This was both a religious and practical architectural feature. It blessed the house and those entering it, but also very cleverly presented a privacy screen that prevented those on the street from seeing into the house when the gate was open.
The lady of the house welcomed us with the greeting of ‘Om Swastiastu’, which roughly translates as ‘may you be blessed’. We were also greeted by the family dogs, who after fulfilling their loud ‘visitors are here’ barking duties, retired to the shade very quickly! A few of us tried to engage with the dogs, but they seemed rather confused by the attention and eyed us very sceptically. 😊
Balinese houses don’t tend to be one structure; they are almost always a collection of smaller buildings enclosed in a walled compound. Each building has a dedicated use, such as a pavilion to meet guests, the family shrine, the bedrooms, living areas, kitchen etc
We were invited to sit around the visitor’s
bale (open pavilion), but first, one of the family dogs had to be chased off it! The poor fluffy dog was very hot, and was loving the
cool tiles of the pavilion. The family compound housed three brothers and their families. Each family had their own modest sized house and a separate kitchen. There was a family shrine in which to worship their ancestors, and a traditional barn on long stilt legs where they stored their rice.
We were served tea and coffee with some sweet treats. The first was a rectangular parcel of sticky rice with banana that was wrapped in a banana leaf, and the second was a triangular parcel of sticky rice with a filling of coconut and peanuts wrapped in a palm frond. They were both lovely, but I preferred the one in the banana leaf.
Wayan spent a while explaining many old traditions and the cultural practices that have survived in the villages. I have to admit my mind wandered a bit, and was only present again when we were treated to a lesson in making
canang sari – the little religious offerings everyone places in front of their homes and shops every morning. I had been intrigued by these offerings since I saw them on our first morning in Bali, and I was beyond thrilled to actually make one!
😊
We sat on the floor and started by making the frame of the small square basket which holds the offerings. Coconut fronds were pinned together with the stick-like dried centre of coconut fronds (which traditional brooms are made of). Then the bottom of the basket was made with more coconut fronds and decorative corner pieces added.
After this we began building the offerings – a betel leaf and other greenery were placed in the middle which represented the earth, followed by flowers (in the order of white, red, orange and blue/purple) around the greenery. Fragrant flowers like jasmine and frangipani apparently bring good luck. An incense stick and holy water for sprinkling on the offering completed the offering basket. There are also optional additions – grains of rice or biscuits etc. represent gratitude for food; and things like cigarettes represent giving thanks for a comfortable life.
The different colours of the flowers represent the three main Hindu gods – white or yellow for Shiva the destroyer; red, orange or pink for Brahma the creator and god of fire; and blue or purple for Vishnu the preserver. These three gods form the Trimurti, the holy Trinity of
Hindu gods.
We were invited to light an incense stick and present the offering basket as an offering to the family’s shrine. Our host sprinkled holy water on the offerings and we wafted the smoke from the incense into the shrine. As we all went through the motions of this ritual, we tried our best to mimic the exact actions of our host… I was acutely aware of not accidently causing offence.
I love these sorts of local immersions we get on Intrepid Travel trips, but it’s also good to remember to balance curiosity with respectfulness. As I wrote up these notes a few days later, I realised that I had only ever seen women making these offerings to the guardian spirits of their homes. I was also struck by the meditative repetition of this daily ritual as being no different to my Grandma or Mum saying their rosaries every day. Despite the window dressing we put on our different faiths and beliefs, one thing unites us all – wanting a healthy comfortable life that is protected from misfortune.
We bid goodbye to our very aimable and welcoming host and her helper, then continued walking through the
last part of the Keliki village – the rice fields. We walked past an art shop and gallery, and we were invited in to have a look at the local style of painting. Ubud was apparently very influential in developing the modern art scene in Bali, characterising the move from purely religious art to broader themes. This particular village had developed the ‘Keliki miniature painting’ trend – postcard sized paintings (watercolour on paper) that depicted religious stories and aspects of village life. I understood that the father of the artist at this shop was somewhat famous. I also gathered that Keliki miniature painting must be a popular style with tourists…there were a few signs for art schools on that particular street.
We continued walking and eventually arrived at the entrance to the Campuhan Ridge Walk. This is a popular nature walk through a green corridor, with many trees and rivers flowing on either side of the ridge. Wayun pointed out the various trees and the alang alang grass valley (type of wild grass used to make the roof of traditional buildings). I had read that this walking path can get very packed, but we were very lucky – at
times we even had the whole path to ourselves. I’m guessing that walking during the hottest part of the day probably had something to do with this. However, despite the searing heat and having to ‘shade seek’ at every possible opportunity, I really enjoyed the walk! 😊
The walk ended at the Pura Gunug Lebah Temple at the confluence of the Cerik and Wos rivers. We had been walking alongside the waterways most of the way, but the trees and rice paddies had blocked my view of these until close to the end of the walk. Like other temples in Ubud, Pura Gunug Lebah has also sadly banned tourists from entering its main areas. We had to be content with looking at the temple’s beautiful
meru (multi-tiered tower shrines) and the picturesque moss-covered rock walls from the outside.
Most of the group opted to go back to the hotel for the afternoon, while Eva, Shaheen, Paniz, Andrew and I walked into the main street of central Ubud together. We walked along a gorgeous shaded street with roots and branches of sacred banyan trees hanging over us. We passed the cultural museum and entered the busy heart of the
main area (that we’d walked along the day before).
We slipped into Simply Social (a café on the main street recommended by Shaheen) for much-needed cold drinks and to get to know our travel companions a bit more. The five of us were quite different in many ways, but we all loved travel and passed the time discussing our past trips and our future travel wish lists. Andrew enjoyed his berry smoothie (strawberry, mango, yoghurt, honey and milk), and while my ginger and mint iced tea looked brilliant when it arrived at the table, the flavour wasn’t that brilliant. Thankfully it still served its main purpose of rapidly cooling me down and giving me the energy to keep exploring.
Andrew and I walked around central Ubud for a little while. The clothing stalls in the markets were pretty basic, but we did stumble upon a very beautifully curated homewares and clothing boutique. I could have bought everything in that shop, but none of it would have fitted in my backpack… and I really didn’t need another pair of black trousers (however beautiful they were!). After a while, our airconditioned room called us, and we returned to the hotel
via the Coco Supermarket to stock up on beers, cassava chips and a soursop juice for me. The mango juice from the previous day had been so delicious that I decided to try another flavour from the same brand. So far, soursop has been my favourite fresh fruit in Indonesia, but this juice was really foul! How can the same brand get one fruit so right and another (equally delicious) fruit so wrong? 😊
We had lunch near our hotel at a small local place called Kedaton that Susi (our group leader) had highly recommended. It only served
nasi campur (rice with various side dishes), but unlike the ala carte ordered
nasi campur in restaurants, here you had to pick what you wanted from trays of food behind a glass cabinet. We ordered rice (from a choice of white or yellow), beans with lemongrass,
tempeh manis (stir-fried sweet and spicy tempeh with peanuts), fried tofu in spicy sauce, eggplant stir fry, and a tablespoon of fiery sambal. Our only dissimilar choice was a boiled egg in sambal for me and a corn fritter for Andrew. It was seriously delicious! Every side dish was absolutely tasty and light. It tasted
very homemade, and I would love to eat like this every day!
After two or so hours cooling down in our room and catching up on our travel notes, we had to get ready for an evening dance performance. This was an included group activity, and to be very honest, we probably wouldn’t have chosen to go had it been an optional activity. We haven’t always had the best cultural or dance show experiences while travelling, and we always attend these sorts of things with trepidation. We really only went in case this Kecak dance performance was the exception to the usual rule. FOMO (fear of missing out) won again! 😄
We walked to a nearby temple not far from our hotel and settled into plastic chairs in the temple’s courtyard. The stage was set in front of the gates to the main shrine, and it was atmospherically lit with lamps and candelabras. Well, within minutes of the Kecak show starting, all my trepidation went out the window and I was totally hooked. Even in the dim light I could easily see that Andrew was equally pleased. There weren’t any musical instruments used, and all music was provided
by the beautiful, rhythmic and harmonious chanting from a choir of men who sat in a circle on the stage. The chanting at times sounded like ‘kecak kecak’, and it’s this that gives the show its name.
The first act was the Rama and Sita story from the Hindu Ramayana epic (told through a Kecak performance). It’s a considerable story of Queen Sita asking King Rama to kill a sacred deer. The deer is actually a giant in disguise, and when Rama was distracted by chasing the deer, the giant kidnapped Sita. With the help of Hanuman (the monkey god), Sita is eventually informed that Rama still loves her and is going to save her. The beautifully costumed dancers were great, but the chanting by the circle of men was like nothing I’ve ever experienced. The sounds and tones were simply incredible!
The second act was a Sanghyang Dedari Dance – a sacred dance performed by two ‘pure’ prepubescent girls. They were accompanied by chants from both women and men. But the most spectacular thing about this dance was that the young girls danced with their eyes closed! It would be hard enough dancing with no sight, but
to do so in perfect unison was astounding. They seemingly fell into a trance while dancing and had to be revived at the end of the performance. I’m not sure I bought the trance thing, but regardless, it was entertaining enough.
The last act was the Sanghyang Jaran Dance (Fire Dance), and apparently it is a local favourite. A man carrying a horse prop pranced around a fire in the middle of the stage. I honestly couldn’t gather anything more than that. Susi had warned us not to sit in the front row, as the show culminated with the horse-man kicking fiery coconut husk embers into the audience! With his bare feet! Yep, it was actually as crazy as it sounds. This was my least favourite act, and I was more entertained by watching the tourists in the front rows trying to avoid the burning embers than I was by anything that was happening on stage.
All in all, we were very glad we didn’t skip the Kecak dance performance; but personally, I could have gone home happy after the first act. We were still full from our late lunch, so we decided to skip dinner with some
of the others, opting instead to have a quiet night in. We also had to pack in preparation to check out of Puri Padi Hotel the next day.
I had really enjoyed seeing the ‘local’ face of Ubud on our village visit, and my knowledge of Balinese people and their culture had grown immensely. It was nice to feel like I was FINALLY seeing beyond the superficial layer of tourist Ubud!
We have another half day of activities around Ubud before we move on, and my main hope is that it isn’t as hot a day as it has been so far.
See you around Ubud!
Advertisement
Tot: 0.224s; Tpl: 0.024s; cc: 12; qc: 29; dbt: 0.0756s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb
Jasmin Baker
non-member comment
Dance show
The dancers look so beautiful. Must of been a nice evening atmosphere for this