I am staying at a small hotel called Tegal Sari just outside the main centre of Ubud. It’s got around 25 rooms and is set right in the middle of the greenest paddy fields. Not quite as tidy and neat as those in Vietnam but still lovely. It’s a series of two story little houses, Bali style, and loads of greenery as well as the rice. There’s a little swimming pool right next to my room which is very handy. I just hope the rain stops long enough to be able to use it! It’s bucketing down at the moment- not meant to be at this time of year, but neither was it supposed to rain so much in Khao Lak. Mind you that rain has stopped there, so perhaps I brought it with me!
But this morning it was fine, sunny and warm. Even though there’s a little restaurant at the hotel, if you want, they bring food to you – and by the number of people scuttling back and forth this morning with trays I think most guests went the same route as me and had breakfast delivered, to be eaten overlooking the paddies. Very civilised with Balinese coffee (not too good – a bit muddy....), freshly made orange and tangerine juice, banana and coconut pancake and fresh fruit (banana, pineapple and avocado...). I will be leaping about later with all those vitamins in my system!
So after that a walk into town – about a mile away, but shops and galleries all the way so an entertaining walk. But to get to the centre, I do have to walk past the monkey forest, and yes, it does what it says on the tin, it’s a forest full of horrible monkeys. Everywhere you walk here there are offerings on the pavements – little palm trays with some rice, a flower, perhaps a banana and a fragrant incense stick burning on top. But these are seen less as offerings by the monkeys, more as a source of food. So they scamper out of the forest and onto the pavements to eat.
Ubud is known as the cultural centre of Bali and is full of beautiful temples, art galleries and shops selling lovely clothes and artistic “pieces” for the home. There are of course the other temples to shopping –D&G, Versace, Prada, Polo – but not sure the real D&G would be advertising their offering of “Buy One Get One Free” in quite the same way. Fakes in Thailand seem to have virtually disappeared (indeed there are big notices at Bangkok airport warning you of the dire consequences if you take them back to some European countries), but not so here. In fact I took a look in one bag shop and they really are quite good quality. But those shops apart, there is the market – full of the usual tourist souvenirs, but somehow here they just aren’t tacky. I try to remember what Ubud was like when we all came here twenty years ago when I bought the gold ring I have worn every day since and can’t find anything the same. Things have really changed but it’s still a gentle, delightful place. Even in the trendy cafes and restaurants the girls are placing the offerings and saying a small prayer. There are certainly more cars here than then and this morning a very flashy open topped bright red Ferrari drove slowly along the crowded street – I wonder if that was fake too?
It’s evening now and the rain has finally stopped. But I was reminded about what a spiritual people the Balinese are. A young cleaner came around to mop up the rain on the terrace earlier on – I commented on how much rain there had been, and he replied “yes, but the sky is always so beautiful after the rain” – a lesson in seeing the positive in everything.....
