Ricefields, jungels, cockfights

As I promised yesterday, I am going to tell you about a very strange day I had in Ubud.

Having rented a bike, I was biking up and down the hills of Ubud. Searching for the rice terraces I had heard so much off. With all my effort of biking all over the place I couldn't find a way out of the main street and past the houses where the views could be glimpsed. 

After biking up a horrible hill that never stopped, I decided it was time for a break. I bike into an alley and sit down watching the jungle on the other side of a river.

Deep in my own thoughts contemplating weather to continue my search or just go back to my home stay and take a long cold shower, suddenly a man arrived next to me, sat down and started talking.

This man was very nice and friendly, he asked me if I wanted to see the rice fields and the jungle with him. Of course I said yes! Getting my own guide for this would be perfect.

I left my bike where it was and set of with this stranger. After a short walk, I was finally at the rice fields. Its amazing to see how much work lies behind the making of rice, which I found out as my new friend and guide is also a rice farmer. 

After walking through some fields, we came to a jungle. trekking through this jungle, we made it to a river. " We are going to cross this river now" says my guide. Looking around there is no sight of a bridge. Then I see a woman coming from the other side of the river, a basket with good on her head, shoes in hand and shorts pulled up as high as possible. Thats when it dawns on me, we are going to be wading across this dark green/grey river barefoot! 

Having crossed the river successfully, without being eaten by leeches, bitten by snakes and gnawed on my crocodiles ( I do have a very wild imagination) we continued our trek.

Getting out of the jungle we come into a nice little village. There my guide explains is a cluster of sacred trees for the Hindus. I can remember the name but I think it was something along the line of Banjo tree. The villagers even have sacred shrines in the trees as they are so holy. going through the village, I see a group of  people walking along with roosters in wooden cages. I then asked what they were doing. The answer was "They are going to a cockfight". Of course I got very curious and wanted to have a look. When entering the cockfighting area, I realized how out of place I actually was. Being the only westerner and female amongst around 50 local men all betting for the best cock to win.

I managed to stay for around 10 minutes before it got to uncomfortable. After having walked for about 3 hours. Me and my guide took a taxi back to Ubud.

This is just one of my many random days...

Yogyakarta

So I made it to Yogyakarta, which is on the island of Java. I thought it would be less friendly and more hectic here then in Bali. I was proven wrong. I have had many chats with friendly local people and the city is just as hectic as Kuta or Ubud in Bali. One difference though. As Yogyakarta has a lot less tourists than in Bali I have been stared at all day! The funniest was when I sat down at one of the street stalls to have some lunch. Every single person stopped talking, turned around and stared. The guy that I was ordering with suddenly got extremely shy and was giggling the entire time I was talking to him.

Knowing that Java is a Muslim island and not Hindu as in Bali, I am trying not to disrespect the culture and the religion by wearing the shortest shorts and smallest tank tops, also they people stare at me enough just by being a foreigner, so showing more skin would probably make things worse. Instead I have been spending this sticky 38 degree day wearing long trousers and a t-shirt. There was a point when I thought I was going to melt onto the sidewalk! The local girls should get standing ovations for being able to withstand this heat being fully covered from head to toe, only skin showing is hands, feet and face.

I am a lot more impressed with Yogya as I thought I would be. Have been hearing from other travelers that there isn't much to do or experience here, however I have found loads to do. Also here they have some real Batik painters such as the ones Ubud was supposed to have. Having already purchased 3 beautiful handmade batik paintings, where about 75% of the money goes to a charity helping orphans.

Tomorrow you will get to see some of my pictures from my random walk in the rice fields, a jungle trek and ending up at a cockfight. Indonesia is so wonderfully random. There is always something new and different around every corner just waiting for you to discover it.

Back to the beginning

I got alittle bored with Ubud and decided to move on.

Am now where I started. Kuta. Its just for one day though as I am flying to Yogyakarta tomorrow morning.

The initial plan was to go to Amed after Ubud, however, I just didnt feel like it. Its another place to be explored another time. Around yogyakarta there are some big and supposadly beautiful temples that I can wait to explore. So afew days there and then off to Singapore it is!

Cant wait to get there as I get to see my friend Susie who I haven't seen in over 6 months.

Bali is a very beutiful island. As most of the population is hindu, most people are very friendy as they really do belive in good karma and bad karma. I have notice that most of the time when the men are calling out at people, all they really want is for you to give them a smile or just have a small friendly chat.

Everyday, you can see the women dressed in sarongs and special temple scarves around the waist, walking around the different temples or areas of their houses or streets and laying down small offerings for the gods. The otherday when I was in Ubud, it was some kind of special day for the hindus, so all the bicycles, scooters and cars were being draped in offerings, as to bring the people good luck when driving. It was rather cute to see. :)

So now I am going to enjoy my very last day in Bali. Most probably im going to spend the afternoon on the beach with the friends that I made last time I was here.

 

Monkey Forrest sanctuary, Ubud