JBR 6 - Ngis Village Experience - Nyepi - 26 - 31 March 2006
Hot, Fine, then a little rain in Ngis
Woke at 6 am feeling really excited - going to Ngis today to stay in a village! I headed off to the Kuta early morning market and took some photos and have a kopi. I bought 10 helium balloons from the balloon man and gave them to children on my way back to Poppies I where I had breakfast at Bamboo Corner, an omelette with tomato.
Knowing that this will be the last time I may have access to a swimming pool for a while I put in a concentrated effort of 30 minutes water exercises, then made my way up to Jalan Legian in the hope that I can have a manicure and pedicure before I go. No-body is around much, it's way too early for the traders, so I ask someone and they take me on their motorbike to a little shop and two ladies get busy and do a lovely job 50,000 rp, not a full on manicure/pedicure but the nail varnish and flowers are nicely done so I'm pleased. Walking back without shoes while they dry, I'm glad that the ground hasn't heated up yet. I stop and chat to a chap who has set up paintings outside a shop who comes from Tianyar and knows Alex (Nyoman Oka) - small place this Bali sometimes.
Glad I've packed my bags already and at 11.30 am Wayan Endra/Suwendra, the co-ordinator of the Tabanan Village Homestay collected me in his nice air conditioned vehicle.
The village homestay program has been set up to give visitors to Bali the opportunity to live with a family and experience first hand village life, it is not designed to be a one night homestay accommodation arrangement - people can stay for varying times, I would recommend at least 3 - 4 nights or even longer if you have time, and the cost is very reasonable, as it includes transport to/from the village, all meals and activities, also if you want to arrange any trips to visit other areas this can be arranged as well. A portion of the program fee helps sponsor the education costs of some of the village children who would not normally be able to attend school. There is no obligation to take any donations for the school children, but it is a nice gesture and any donations are certainly very welcome. Details of the program are at http://bali-homestay.tripod.com/programs.htm and Wayan Endra can be contacted on homestaybali@hotmail.com phone 62 8170671788 Please let him know that Anne from Melbourne Australia has recommended the program to you.
As we make our way to Ngis, which is a village of approximately 700 people, 11 kilometres north west of Tabanan, Wayan is happy to talk about anything I wish, even when I ask about indonesian politics which is something the balinese are sometimes reluctant to talk much about. We have to detour when we arrive at Tabanan as some areas are starting their Melasti preparations early. Melasti is a cleansing ceremony performed at either the seaside or a river in preparation for Nypei, the balinese New Year.
When we arrived at the village he introduced me to my host family, Nengah Astika (57) who I called Wawan, his wife Wayan (52) and their two children, son Putu (who is 21 years old and works in a restaurant in Nusa Dua) and daughter Intan (who is 11 years old). Wayan Endra and his wife Nyoman and their two children also have a house in the same family compound. About 10 families live in the walled compound. The houses are built in a line running along the compound with the main house on one side comprising 3 bedrooms and a lounge room running the length of the bedrooms, then on the other side, perhaps 10 metres is a separate building housing the kitchen and bathroom (fully tiled with a large built in rectangle tub filled with water and a ladle for mandis, and a porcelain toilet about 6 inches from the floor, squat style and you used the water from the mandi to flush the toilet or have a mandi (wash). A tiled roofed bale in the courtyard between the house and the kitchen/bathroom tended to be the sitting and 'doing' place. As they don't have separate 'backyards' as such, there would be other compound members walking past the bale to their houses and it was all very social, a lovely arrangement I thought as you were always greeting someone and they would stop to talk. I found that Wawan and his wife Wayan could speak English very well, Intan was learning at school and of course Putu had a good level of english. Some of the other villagers, especially the older members only knew indonesian or balinese, so I was lucky to have Dezzi, a 16 year old girl who would happily interpret for me when I needed help. Wawan's mum Anie, lived in the house next door, and she was a very cheerful soul. Always a big smile on her face, the most wonderful happy face I have even seen on a person, and she often was topless wearing a batik sarong 'the traditional way' as Wawon explained. Her kitchen was very traditional with a wood fire for cooking, but Wayan had a double gas ring cooker with bottled gas in her kitchen.
I took with me about 100 donated bras, and Nyoman kindly dispensed them to the women in the village and every now and again I'd be greeting with 'Hi Annie, I have one of your bras' ... and up the shirt would come to proudly show off their new bra. Oh my goodness! The girls at my work were glad to hear all their donations were well appreciated when I told them. Even Anie ended up with a couple of bras!
I was shown to my bedroom, a nice big double bed, with a modern two doored cupboard, and a window that had wooden shutters with a lovely view of lush green folliage and flowering garden. Wawon carried in the biggest pedestal fan I have ever seen, plonked it next to the bed, and proudly pressed the button on the highest speed which created such a racket and a breeze that would have equated to a gale force wind, that after thanking him profusely I decided to turn it off and it didn't go on once while I was there, I'm just not into fans much.
I must say I liked the thought of the little brightly painted wooden offering box set high up above my bed which contained a bottle of holy spring water and a few rupiah notes to appease the gods and keep me safe. Some children who had gathered around shyly watching me looked with big eyes when they saw a slab of diet coke was part of my luggage, I was so embarrassed! (Sam had decided in Kuta to buy a slab of diet coke being the more economical method of buying our usual soft drink, so I was stuck with ¾ slab after he had gone home). Anyway, I managed to share them around while I was there so I felt better then. I'd also packed away my bottle of bacardi, not sure if it would be the done thing to have evening drinks at the village, but it did come out on Nypei Day - but that's another story for later.
To get my bearings Putu took me for an orientation walk around the village. There were a couple of streets in the village divided by a bridge crossing a deeply raverned river, it's steep banks covered in lush foliage. There were a few little traditional stalls selling drinks and various snacks, a banjar hall that contained the gamelan instruments, the main village temple (there were two other temples on the outskirts of the village), a larger store that sold packaged items such as toothpaste, soaps and some vegetables and food items. There was a small tailor shop and the school was about 400 metres from the main street. Family compounds were walled and each compound had shrines with daily offerings in them. People would sit in their outside bales or on verandahs going about their domestic activities. Ngis is surrounded by rice fields, some of it was terraced which was very scenic. As is in Bali chickens would be freely wandering in the compounds and generally most families had dogs who mainly stayed in the family compounds. I got to know Coco and Kiki very well (and they eventually 'acknowledged' me as family when I'd be making my way across the courtyard to the bathroom in the night with my torch).
Putu introduced me to a lot of the villagers - so many Wayan's, Putu's, Nyoman's Gede's and Ketuts! We had a look at the ogah ogahs that were still in the process of being finished for Nyepi Day. I bought some drinks and those lovely little fried bananas for an afternoon snack for the family. Then we visited Wawan at the chicken farm, 2 large sheds housing 3,000 chooks. Wawan told me the chooks go to market when they are 2 ½ months old. He has to feed and water them twice a day as well as maintenance duties. I think he said he was paid about 300,000 rp per month. Wawan gets some fresh coconuts which he chopped open and we sat down in the shade and had a nice cool coconut drink - those coconuts hold a lot of liquid!
One interesting conversation I had with Wawon on that first day he asked me 'when will you have your mandi?' I wasn't quite sure where this was heading, maybe he thought I was someone who was not going to wash or something for the whole time I was there - anyway I thought I'd just better answer with my own question - 'when should I have a mandi?' Ah, he says, you have a mandi when you get up in the morning and then before dinner. Very good I said, that's when I'll have my mandi's. I felt very relieved that we had established that I would be having at least two mandi's a day! And I must say, having two mandi's a day, especially one before you have dinner was very refreshing and an excellent arrangement.
I had dinner with Wayan Endra, his wife Nyoman and host mother Wayan in their bale. A range of dishes were served - corn fritters, a bean and spinach mix, a large wicker bowl of steamed rice, banana fritters and watermelon, it was all so nice. Wayan Endra worked out the program for the time I am there, it is a busy week as there were many ceremonies related to Nyepi over the coming days ahead.
It had been a long day, so I wrote up my travel diary and bed at 9.30 pm.
Monday 27 March - Ngis - Fine, Hot.
I woke up at 5.30 am before the first rooster . I slept really well, the bed was very comfortable and there were no mosquitoes at all. I didn't need to use insect repellant in the whole time I was there. It was still dark when I made my way with a torch to the bathroom, Kiki evidently had forgotten my arrival the previous day and kicked up a bit of a racket!
Wayan made kopi in the bale, we established very quickly that I love bali kopi, and she makes her own kopi, it was such an excellent choice of family, I thought myself very fortunate indeed. Wayan washes about 3 kg of rice for the day and prepares it first thing in the morning and although she has a small refrigerator in her kitchen, the rice may be left covered for the family to help themselves when they are hungry. I must say that I never felt hungry at all in the time I was there, sometimes I indicated I didn't want anything prepared for lunch, I just took some fruit in my backpack as well as the lunch time bottle of water which was supplied.
In the mornings I would help Wayan carry water and swill for their three pigs which are kept in a concrete pig pen at the end of the compound. Those pigs loved their breakfast!
After breakfast host mum Wayan, Nyoman and I made our way to the school, carrying the parcels of exercise books, pens and pencils I had brought with me. I meet all the 13 teachers and had a chat and cup of tea with the english teacher and the headmaster. They showed me the books they used to teach english to the children, and I gave them some picture dictionaries I had brought for the school. The headmaster indicated to me that I should accompany him to each classroom to give an exercise book, pen and pencil to each individual student. The children introduced themselves to me one by one and we shook hands. Altogether I think there were about 100 children at the school and after the donations were handed out we all posed for individual class photos. One lady teacher gave me a huge bear hug, it is a wonderful photo! I have sent a CD and prints of photos to the headmaster for their memory board if they have one, and I have lovely memories too.
From then on as I would be walking or cycling through the village I'd get calls of 'hello Annie' from children (anak anak) and of course because I couldn't remember all their names, so I'd just simply say 'hello putu, wayan, nyoman, ketut' and at least get some of them correct!
After lunch of nasi goreng and watermelon, Intan, her friends and I play a game of 'find the place on the map'. I spread out my large map of Bali (it has almost every village named on it, it is very detailed), and we'd take it in turns of saying 'find ......'. Well, the girls would pour over the map, and eventually find the named place. We even found quite a few places had the same name as well.
I spent quite a bit of time with Intan and the other girls, as Wayan Endra explained to me that his wife Nyoman and my host mum Wayan were rostered for various temple duties during the week. So I think the girls had been asked to look after me, and they did a terrific job. We became very good friends and lots of fun times together. Wayan helped me select an appropriate kebaya and sarong for the temple ceremony that afternoon, and she explained that as it was her family's turn to carry one of the ornate offerings in the procession, the girls would take me to the ceremony.
I must say we all spruced up rather nicely, the girls all looked very beautiful in their traditional temple outfits, I took a lovely photo of five of them waiting to go, it's one of my favourite shots.
We walked slowly to the banjar hall and waited around with the others for what seemed to be ages - there is a lot of waiting around in Bali, but this becomes very relaxing after you get used to it. The women doing duty went into the temple while the gamelan orchestra played and after quite some time the ladies came out again with ornate offerings towering above their heads, and the priests and the men carrying some of the special items from the temple as well as parasols and flags lead us in a procession. We made our way along to the other temple situated on the fringes of the village. People patiently sat on the grass outside, small children scampered around in play catching insects whilst the gamelan continued to play music. Small cups of aqua were distributed around as the afternoon heat of the day kicked in.
About 45 minutes later the priests and women with the offerings emerged from the temple and a long piece of white cloth, at least 100 metres, was unwrapped. We all walked in procession back to the main temple, each person holding onto an edge of the white cloth to 'transport' the special items. It was all very moving and I felt very honoured to be able to have an opportunity to participate. We all crowded into the main temple and a prayer ceremony commenced, we were sprinkled with holy water and pressed uncooked rice onto our forehead.
After it finished we were all feeling very hot indeed so on the way back home the girls and I stopped in at a small shop and I bought them each an icecream as a treat and to say thank you for looking after me. The treats were not expensive, I've written in my diary that it cost me 10,000 rp ($1.42) - and I wasn't even asked by the girls to buy them a treat, they were just so polite. Back at the family compound the girls put on a gamelan tape and they demonstrate their balinese dancing they have been learning, it was wonderful to see that traditional dancing was still being passed on to the younger members of the community.
We all got changed and when I go for a walk I find I am the pied piper of Ngis - about 10 anek anek are now accompanying me everywhere (they have all knocked off school in the lead up to Nyepi). I took a photo of the 10 children next to a rice field - I organised them into a line from tallest to smallest then ask them to throw their arms up in the air for the photo - they all put their arms up except for the smallest one on the end - who evidently couldn't understand english yet - it's a wonderful photo and one I treasure. We ended up playing frizbee and soccer and sharing some lollies too. Needed a nice cool mandi after all of that!
After a delicious dinner of spinach salad, tempe topped with spicy sambal, fried chicken pieces and steamed rice we all got dressed up again in kebaya and sarongs and went up to the temple again to listen to the women's gamelan playing (Nyoman played a gansa instrument) and Wayan (host mum) was one of the women dancing in the temple. Back home again and in bed by 9.30 pm, eventually getting to sleep as there was a lot of noise - televisions on, gamelan music playing, it was a hive of activity in the village that night. I needed to get some sleep because we were going to have melasti early next morning.
Tuesday 28 March - Fine, Hot for Melasti
I woke up at 3.30 am before the alarm, and it was still dark when I had my mandi and got dressed in my red kebaya and silk sarong. Alex (Nyoman Oka) and his wife Wayan had kindly given me a gift of 2 special kebayas and sarongs especially for my village visit, I now had a collection of 5 sets which came in very handy. Melasti is a special occasion, as the ceremony is a cleansing activity so as to be ready for the balinese New Year, which was the next day.
Out in the main street, cars and trucks were lined up and filling with mums and dads and children. In all I think the village had a convoy of approximately 30 vehicles. As Wayan Endra and I were waiting in his Kijang, I asked him if any of the other families wanted to travel with us as there was plenty of room left in the car. He said, no, they are not used to travelling in a car, so they would be happier riding in the back of a truck with the fresh air. The children were all very excited, not only to be up and about in the darkness but for many of them this would be an annual pilgrimage to the seaside.
Our vehicular procession made it's way through the countryside in darkness to the beach at Yeh Gangga, approximately 35 kilometres. Along the way we passed many people on the road, those villages within walking distance of the beach travelled in procession with their gamelan instruments,carrying their temple parasols and sacred items from the temple.
When we got to the beach we waited until another village group had finished their ceremony. The girls got busy drawing their names in the sand with sticks, so I did the same, writing Nyoman Annie in the sand. An enterprising beach vendor did a roaring trade selling barbecued corn on the cob and it was delicious. I bought extra corn cobs for at least 20 of the children at 600 rupiah each.
Then the village priests took the sacred items down to the sea and dipped them in the water and after a short prayer service we were off back in the trucks and cars making our way back to Ngis. The vehicular traffic that morning comprised mainly trucks loaded with people dressed in bright kebayas, crisp white coats and sarongs, I got a wonderful photo of two little boys sitting in the back of the truck travelling in front of us dressed in their lovely traditional outfits looking as though they were thoroughly enjoying their outing.
Back at Ngis we had another prayer service at the main temple with more holy water and rice. It was starting to get very hot. After getting home around 9.30 am I had some bali kopi, had a chat with Wayan and Wawon and after painting 5 sets of toenails on the girls, I decided to have a morning nap as I was very sleepy after the early start to the day.
After sharing a couple of mandarins with Wayan I went for a walk up the street to take some village photos, and bought a carton of garum (indonesian clove) cigarettes as a present for Wawon and 6 apun (black rice puddings in banana leaf cones (122,000 rupiah - $17.46) I don't think the lady in the shop usually sells cigarettes in cartons, she got a real surprise when I asked for a carton of 10 packets instead of just 1 packet which is most likely her usual sale. I stopped at the tailor lady and she told me she makes about 32 kebaya's a week. I bought 3 crochet belts that have a little purse crocheted on them - excellent for wearing with a traditional outfit when you want some money on you to buy offering flowers or an ice-cream to cool down. I gave one to Wayan, and she asks me how much I paid for them, I told her 20,000 rp each, she says local price is 12,000 rp - ah well, I had decided that I wasn't going to enter into negotiations as I thought the price was fair enough, and I didn't want to upset harmony by any disagreement over prices of items I bought in the village.
As I go past another family compound they invite me in to share in some lawar which is special ceremonial dish, it is really nice and it was lovely of this family to share with me.
Later in the afternoon Wawon takes me on his motorbike 15 km to the hot springs (air panas) at Belulang. There is a small pool with spring water showers. The water is quite warm and very relaxing, surrounded by terraced rice fields. I leave Wawon to enjoy the pool a bit more and go for a walk with a little girl called Ketut. She shows me where the temple is and we see two large pigs tied by their legs onto a pole carried by two men - not too sure what their fate will be, it may have been their last journey - who knows! The entry cost to the springs is 3,000 rp for locals and 4,000 rp for tourists (although there were any there when we went), and children 1,500 rp. On the ride back we stop at a nearby village and buy fried bananas and fried tofu pieces (with little green chillis to be eaten with the tofu). For 10,000 rp I get two bags filled with these treats to take back to the family which we enjoyed together in the bale.
Afterwards I go for a walk around the compound taking photos of flowers and saying hello to people. I see little green chillis growing on a plant and play a joke pretending that I have eaten one whole - their eyes widen with surprise, then I show my hand with the chilli in it behind my back - they laugh.
Dinner at Wayan Endra's bale is bagus - chicken, spinach and tofu, steamed babi (pork) in banana leaf and the large woven basket full of steamed rice is the centrepiece of the meal. After dinner I go for another walk around the village and talk to children and families. Later on I talk to Wayan and realise that I have been saying 'selamat tidur' to everyone, which is 'good night' instead of 'salamat malam' which is 'good evening'! We have a good laugh at the thought of saying good night to everyone.
Light rain when I go to bed at 9pm - there is lots of noise from the temple which is broadcasting hindu mantras.
Wednesday 29 March - Cloudy - Nyepi Eve
I woke up at 6.45 pm - a little later than yesterday and Wayan made me a cup of her delicious (enak) kopi. She picks kopi beans from local trees, dries them out spread out on a piece of cloth in the courtyard and grinds rice and kopi for other families for a small fee. She has 2 grinding machines that are operated by belts. Quite dangerous for small children but I notice she always stays with the machine when it is operating and points out the dangers of the spinning part of the machines to any small curious children who come near.
My mandi feels a bit colder as the weather is overcast. For breakfast I have mie goreng (noodles) with a boiled egg halved topped with sweet chilli sauce. A few slices of cucumber on the side and a separate plate with 2 bananas and 2 mandarins and a bottle of aqua. I put the fruit aside for later in the day - I am eating very well and love the local food - I don't even miss my vegemite.
Wayan, Intan and her friends are busy making temple offerings from rice (washed, not steamed) folded into banana leaves which are cut, folded and pinned together with small pieces of bamboo. Blue and yellow flowers are added to the offerings.
Then Wayan suggested that I might like to go down to the jalan (street) to see a cow slaughtered for temple offerings. Not really wanting to see this event I dawdle a bit, hoping that I will miss out on the slaughter part, and am quite relieved when I arrive to see the carcass already skinned and being cut up. Banana leaves have been woven into an extremely long mat which has been laid at the side of the road and 17 men are cutting up larger meat pieces which are handed over to them by the main butchers being supervised by a priest. I met Wayan Endra who was involved in the activity and he explained to me that 70 families would receive a portion of each part of the animal for their offerings and also for eating. Little black plastic bags are being filled up and I couldn't help thinking that Bali has enough plastic and why couldn't they have used their natural materials like banana leaves which are so plentiful.
Feeling like I needed some exercise I borrowed a bike from one of Intan's friends, Nanik and decided to ride to the next village called Jegu which is about 4 kilometres away. At the top of a hill the bike chain comes off and an old man on a bike stops to help, aided by another man on a motorbike. They fix the chain and give the bike a few good thumps and I think to myself my god they may break the bike and it's not even mine, but no, they fixed it all OK much to my relief and appreciation.
I stopped to take photos of the many ogah ogah's (see explanation below) on the main road of Jegu which stretches for about a kilometre and a half - it's a larger village than Ngis. A warung made for a good kopi stop and people enjoyed having their photos taken and seeing themselves on the digital camera. I don't think they get many westerners drop into the local warung for kopi, so I spent a bit of time talking, and some of the younger people interpreted for me.
Ogah Ogahs are effergies the balinese people construct, and range from small models made by the children perhaps 2-3 metres tall to huge models towering 7 - 8 metres tall, usually depicted as grotesque monsters in garish colours. Some have body parts that can be moved to depict lifelike movements. The forklore behind the effergies is that the evil spirits that have inhabited Bali during the past year are attracted to the effergies so come out on Nyepi Eve from their hiding places. The ogah ogahs are then paraded around in procession, and are spun around so the spirits get confused and don't go back to their usual habitats and when the ogah ogahs are set alight they flee in fear. The next day, Nyepi Day is a traditonal day of silence for Bali, nobody drives or walks on the streets, no fires are lit, no electricity is put on, no planes land or take off in Bali on Nyepi Day, so when the evil spirits who have been scared away the previous night come back the next day to look to re-establish in Bali again, they see no activity or lights so they think Bali is deserted and are not attracted back to the island. Unsuspecting tourists who are not aware of the Nyepi tradition sometimes find themselves bound to the confines of their hotel property on Nyepi Day as in the tourist areas the local banjar elect religious polisi to escort people back to their hotels if they look to breach the observance of the day of silence. I have spent the past 3 years in Bali at the time of Nyepi. This year I was especially keen to experience Nyepi in a village with the local people, and to partake in the actual ceremonial occasions.
On the outskirts of Ngis I meet the 5 girls on their bikes and we rode together though the village, past the Dalem Temple and stop at a viaduct channel next to a rice field where we strip off and have a swim (I modestly kept my undies on and to my amusement passersby on motorbikes did a few passbys on the nearby roadway - it's the pale skin that they are interested in, not looking at the old body!) Back at home I discover that Wayan Endra has been out in the car looking for me, concerned that I would be stuck on the roads when the ogah ogah processions start in nearly villages. Wayan rings him to tell him that I am back safely, and I apologise to him for causing him concern for being away for so long. Lunch is nasi goreng and then an afternood nap.
After my nap I have fun with the girls making them up from my cosmetic bag for the Nyepi Eve celebrations - I have the most wonderful photo of about 10 girls sitting neatly in two rows, all made up with matching eye shadow, mascara and lipstick.
At 6 pm the ogah ogahs are paraded around the streets, led by groups of children in costume carrying bamboo torches. The gamelan players are in the procession and each ogah ogah is jiggled up and down at each intersection and spun around to confuse the evil spirits that the ogah ogahs have attracted. The young people of the village are dressed up in fancy outfits and garish face paint and are having a wonderful time during the celebrations. Eventually the parade made its way past the Dalem temple to a cleared area where they were blessed or whatever by a priest, a chicken is sacrificed and the ogah ogahs were set alight with the help of copious amounts of petrol. The whole village has turned out for the event.
Afterwards we all head home and two men are walking hand in hand ahead of me. One turns around and says hello Annie - he's the english teacher, I hadn't recognised him out of his school uniform! In Bali good friends, men and women hold hands together, I think it is a nice gesture.
Dinner is corn fritters, cucumber salad, a beef dish (must have been the cow), a chicken dish and steamed rice and fresh bananas. How I wish for those bananas now in Melbourne with our inflated prices of bananas due to the storm that severely damaged our Queensland banana industry.
Before I go to bed Wayan gives me a present, 5 large bags of home made roasted, ground kopi. What a wonderful present. I go to bed and try to sleep but the sounds of the petrol bamboo crackers in the next village keeps me awake, also the dogs who have been disturbed by the noise, so I get up and chat with Wayan and Wawon in the bale till 11.30 pm until it quietens down.
It starts to rain to finish off another Nyepi Eve in Bali.
Thursday 30 March - Nyepi Day - Rain
I woke up at 7 am to the sound of rain outside my window and lie in bed listening the sounds - chooks, roosters, dogs barking, people busy talking - and I thought Nyepi was the day of silence - sing can can! (no problems)
Wayan gives me some jelly with my kopi and I sit in the bale with a jumper on as it's definitely cool. And raining. Ah, I thought, the tourists down south won't be pleased - Nyepi Day stuck in a hotel is a day where tourists like to just swim, read and work on getting a suntan. Breakfast is mie goreng and watermelon - it's very good.
I help Wawan's mother Anie string pieces of what she says is buffalo skin (although I think it could be yesterday's cow) onto thin bamboo threads to dry out for snacks. Dezzi helps by interpreting for me. I decide it's good occupational therapy and a pleasant way to pass the time. Wayan is sweeping and the day is a lazy one, Wawan is not tending the chicken farm and people catch up on their well deserved sleep. The sounds of children playing drift across from the next compound. Lunch is nasi goreng served cold - it tastes fine.
Putu, their son, arrived back to the village from his job in Nusa Dua during the night - he has 2 days off and he tells me that his girlfriend will come to the village tomorrow and they will go walking together. He brings out a full bottle of brim in a vodka bottle - the local brew, I taste it - phew! It's quite strong and definitely an accquired taste. I bring out my bottle of bacardi and some diet cokes, even Wawan who says he doesn't drink alcohol opens a small bintang of the two I had left from Kuta and manages to drink ¾ of it. We had a toast to Nyepi Day - in now what has become the party bale.
Putu suggests a walk to meet Wawan sister's compound - I thought we couldn't leave our compound and making our way out into the street I don't see any religious polisi in the village. I am introduced to a few people and we have kopi served with rice treats in banana leaves. I meet Wawan's father who is 75 years old, he chews betel leaves and offers me some which I try - yuk! Not to my taste at all. I admire his pig which is 115 kg and has had 10 piglets but they have been sold. There is a small cat tied to a tree next to the rice storage area, it's job is to keep rats and mice away. He showed me his trees in his garden - kopi, papaya, chocolat, lemon and banana - such a variety. We discussed the prices of items such as my silver bracelet, watch and what jobs my swannie (husband) and I do in Australia. He told me that cows cost between 7 - 10 million rupiah - mahal (expensive) - mainly used for meat - there are not many dairy cows in Bali so people don't drink milk as it is mainly imported from Java and expensive for people. That's one of the reasons that instead of buying ice drinks for children, I tend to steer them towards something dairy so hopefully they get some calcium needed for strong teeth and bones.
Back in my bedroom I sort through my clothes and distribute all my excess clothing and toiletries to Wayan and the girls to either keep themselves or give away. Wayan likes my brown shorts from Big W, and I'm glad she is getting something from Australia as some of the clothing I had bought at pasars (local markets) in Sanur. I remember Wayan Endra on my second night at dinner making a comment that I didn't dress like other tourists. I told him that when I knew I was coming to the village I wanted to wear modest clothing that showed I respected the villagers, and I think it was something that was appreciated.
I packed my bags to be ready to leave tomorrow as I knew that there would be no electricity in the village tonight as lights are not allowed on Nyepi Day. Nyepi has been an great experience in a village and I would thoroughly recommend this village experience to anyone who is prepared to give up some of the trappings of a hotel, like a swimming pool, air conditioning and western food in exchange for a wonderful cultural experience with wonderful fresh local food, and an opportunity to mix with a balinese community, to share their lives even if just for a brief time.
There didn't seem much to do without any lights, so I went to bed and caught up on a lot of sleep, it had been an extremely busy week. During the night I had to get up and wrap extra packaging around the 5 kg of kopi in my bag, the aroma was keeping me awake. Even Kiki didn't bark when I went to the toilet with my torch at 4.30am - I'd become accepted as part of the family by now!
Friday 31 March - Wet - Leaving Ngis - GWK Cultural Park
It's raining when I wake up and the Wawan and Intan have got the little put put boat I had given them in a tub of water in the bale it is chugging away very well. I have nasi goreng and pear for breakfast and we take some last photos together. I sign Wayan Endra's visitors book, he has written up my program and I make favourable comments of my time in the village.
His wife Nyoman and son Krishna accompany us in the car, where I say a sad goodbye to Wawan, Wayan and Indra, they have looked after me wonderfully during my stay and I hope to see them again one day.
As it is raining Wayan Endra feels that it wouldn't be best for us to visit Pura Luhur Batukaru at Mt. Batukaru as the road is apparently steep, so as I haven't been to the GWK Cultural Park we head back south to Bukit Badung. The park has recently been finished and comprises a large ampitheatre remade from a limestone quarry and there are huge statues of Krisna and a Garuda with landscaped courtyards. It is very elaborate and on a fine day you would be able to see quite a distance. I had my photo taken with a huge python, it took two men to lift it onto my shoulders. Wayan quickly takes a photo as I am absolutely petrified, the photo shows me grinning with gritted teeth as I was saying to Wayan hurry up... quick take the photo. I was quite relieved when it was over I can tell you!
With fond farewells Wayan and Nyoman drop me at the Suriwathi Beach Hotel in Garlic Lane, Legian. I had booked in prior to leaving for the village on the recommendation of Tina G, who was still there on her holiday. I must say I enjoyed having a hot shower and giving my hair a shampoo with hot water.
I had lunch at the new Indo-National restaurant, Kerry is not there and Milton was in Hong Kong. I get an ojak (motorbike transport) down to Kuta and find the Art Market closed (some businesses are still closed the day following Nyepi) but there is a local market happening near the beach. Lots of balinese are out enjoying a holiday. I was warned by a local to wear my backpack on my front as it is very crowded and then I noticed the signs warning of pickpocketing. I didn't see anything much to buy so I decided to walk back to Legian along the beach. On the way a tremendous rain storm hit, and I got thoroughly soaked through, not having an umbrella with me. I find a shop open in Garlic Lane and decide to spend some time re-stocking up on clothes as all I have with me are a pair of shorts,a jumper, two tops and bathers - all the rest I'd given away in the village. So I think I made the shop keeper very happy with quite a few purchases. It felt strange to be by oneself after being surrounded by people over the past week. I had dinner at Wayan and Friends, a nice pepper steak and salad and banana pancake with ice-cream. Read the paper and had a good sleep.
Saturday 1 April - Wet, windy and Overcast - Legian/Kuta
I had the included in tariff breakfast - of fruit plate, toast, 2 poached eggs and kopi - the eggs still tasted of the vinegar that they had been cooked in so I wasn't very impressed - not as nice as my village breakfasts. As is my usual practice in Bali I get some photos developed as it is very economical. I went to the large Fuji outlet in Kuta (it's the road past the early morning pasar, just past the bridge) where I got 4 CD's made up for 100,000 rp. As well as 24 larger prints (A4 size) for 260,000 rp ($10.83 each - in Australia these would have cost at least $25 each).
Ran into DiDiAussie from BTF (Bali Travel Forum - an internet post site) who is also staying at Suriwathi and she suggests Ketuts Shop (Ketut Nurani - Art Shop 14 in the lane opposite Dolphin in Sahadewa Street, Legian) for fixed price goods, so I buy a dressing gown 50,000, ¾ loose black pants with embroidery 20,000 rp, matching tops 20,000 rp, She's really helpful, not pushy and if she hasn't got something she will tell you what the maximum you should be paying for it if you find it elsewhere.
Pre-dinner drinks with DiDiAussie and we organise to do a day trip with Alex tomorrow to Ubud. Dinner at Legends - a nice Nasi Champur, with good company, Tcoup and husband Tony and David UK from the Bali Travel Forum. We head off to the Hulu Cafe for the 10 pm show.
Bed at 11 pm.
Sunday 2 April - Rain - Windy - Overcast
It's raining at 4.30 am but fine when I head up to the pasar pagee (early morning market on the corner of Melasti and Legian) I get a free ride with the same ojak rider who took me home a few weeks ago from Hulu's - stallholders are still setting up. Have kopi and some fresh fried bananas.
While sheltering from the rain, the dreaded bali belly hits very suddenly for the first time on this trip - at least I'm the first to use the toilets at the market - they are relatively clean but wouldn't rate ½ point on the Filo scale. I decided not to risk being out any longer so get ojek ride back to Suriwathi and took 2 Imodium in the hope that it would settle my stomach by the time we are due to set off for Ubud.
Went back to bed and watched TV, thinking this is the worst weather I've ever stuck in Bali.
Feeling better I go for a swim in the pool (in the rain) and then Alex came at 9 am to pickup DiDiAussie and I. We head first for the village of Telanglang where DiDiAussie is looking for shop that has large gold letters. We're in luck as we find them at the Konca Art Shop and I get some wooden cat statues for presents. We head for a shop that I bought some nice unique clothes at last year called Landri's in Hanoman Street. It's closed - but Alex sources their other shop just around the corner In Jalan Raya. To my amazement I find that most of the clothing there is now too big for me, but I find a very nice batik lined jacket and a silky blouse for 270,000 rp. DiDiAussie is pleased with the shop and buys 2 nice skirts for herself.
We then headed for the Ubud market where I get some nice tableclothes and a very unique knitted hat - it has a bear nose and whiskers on it and is bright pink - it took a lot of haggling to get it for the price I wanted - at one stage I thought I'd have to go without. I've worn the hat in a fun walk with 5,000 others and been 'found' by my walking mates the hat is so unique. My husband wore it to work on a wear pink day and came home with a prize hamper!
We then took Alex to lunch at Indus Restaurant - I had'nt been there before but others had said the view was excellent. I must say that I was a bit disappointed - not with the food which was extremely good but I have seen better views in my bali travels - but everyone has their own opinion of course. I liked their traditional black rice pudding (25,000 rp) and ginger tea.
Another stop, this time at a shop that sells traditional cloth and temple items and I buy some more umbul umbul (long flags) for our balinese garden at home, decorative fans and silver coloured trays for offerings.
On the way back we stop at Hardy's in Sanur where I buy 6 lipsticks - brandname Sabella - Made in USA - I found this lipstick stayed on extremely well in heat and came in a lovely range of colours.
Late afternoon drinks with BTFers Di, Sunshine, David UK and Smudge.
That night I dined with Alex (Nyoman Oka) and Wayan, together with their two daughters Eka and Kadek. Wayan had made a wonderful dinner of tempe, squid and prawn dish, vegetable dish, steam rice along with profiteroles and mandarins for dessert. It was lovely to see them settled in their new home and I was so grateful for them for hosting our 17 y.o. Son Sam for a night when he first arrived in Bali - it all seemed so long ago - I had now been in Bali nearly 30 days.
When Alex dropped me home it was still hoojang kucing and anjing (raining cats and dogs) - a phrase I had come to exchange with the locals a lot during the past month.
Monday 3 April - Fine - Last Day in Bali
Wake up at 6.30 am and try to organise myself to maximise time on my last day. Decided to take the room at Suriwathi for the full day rate - I worked out it was only an extra $11 for the convenience of having the room until I left for my late night flight it was worth it.
I arranged the full beauty treatment for later in the day with Ni Made Suratni at Made's Massage and Beauty Salon, in Jalan Sahadewa - a last day ritual to feel well and truly pampered.
But there was still shopping to do - so on the recommendation of Tina G and the other BTF ladies I sought out Tom Cruise (he's usually at the Galaxi shop near the entrance to the Suriwathi Beach Hotel). Tom's a cute little guy, he looks all of 19 years old, quietly spoken, impeccable manners, and a very considerate motorbike rider. He filled up his bike with petrol at the petrol station and we headed off on a mission ... ... the hunt for a black crochet bag - I had seen navy, white but I wanted black. We cruised up and down the streets of Kuta until Tom sourced the elusive bag ... success... then we headed to the Animale Factory Outlet in Raya Kuta (it's open Monday to Saturday 9 am to 7 pm www.animale.com). Well, I was in heaven, heaps of nice unusual clothing to be found, Tom was zipping up and down isles finding the right sizes and colours for me, you should have seen the parcels on the bike when we had finished! I bought 14 items for 1,266,000 rp. - approximately $200. After spending that much I felt there was no way I could just give Tom the agreed amount for the morning's assistance so I doubled his money and he was a happy chappy!
After having a quick lunch at Legian Garden (which was deserted - where were all the tourists?) I walked past the most wonderful leather cowgirl boots - spur of the moment girlie decision - they had to be delivered by 7 pm to the hotel, custom made up for me. Could they do it - of course!
Well I was pretty exhausted unaccustomed to all this shopping so it was nice to have the 'works' at the beauty parlor - a body scrub, creambath, massage, facial, pedicure and manicure plus 2 braids in the hair - I came out feeling totally clean, my skin was so smooth and Made reckoned she had definitely made me look younger! I had done all my packing and my cowgirl boots arrived right on time at 7 pm.
Tcoup, Tony and David UK were heading out for tea so they said goodbye - I was finishing up the last of my bacardi and enjoying something very western - a pizza on my patio - the final hours of my time in Bali!
Alex came to pick me up for the airport, with big hugs to say goodbye and see you next time, and before I knew it I was trapped in that 'no man's land' as I call it - you are neither in Bali nor out of it. Once you are past immigrasi you are in this 'sterile' type airport - traditional Bali is only depicted in the expensive picture books in the bookshops and gamelan music is of the 'canned' variety.
As I went through immigrasi they said to me hey, just in time .... the 30 day visa was due to expire in 2 hours!
So, for those of you who have travelled the journey with me through my JBR's I hope you enjoyed reading them, and guess what ... I heading back in just on 24 days' time (Dec. 2006) - this time with my brother and I'm looking forward to visiting some of my favourite places again and showing him the beauty and uniqueness of this place called paradise.
The End.