Ubud Part 2 (2-8)

Friday was an unplanned day. My idea was to go to the Ubud Palace and then return for a quiet day on my balcony. The homestay owner suggested that I also go to the museum and temple near the palace and then walk a little farther to see the rice fields. This sounded like a good plan for half a day: however, as things transpired, the plan changed and I was out for almost twelve hours.

Ubud Palace was the residence of Ubud district’s kings in the 19^th and early 20^th centuries. While I was there, a group of Chinese tourists arrived. This was the first of many I saw in the next couple days. The woman I traveled to Lovina with said that when she was at the palace, there were so many Chinese tourists that she didn’t get any photos of the palace but she got many of Chinese people making funny faces posing there.

After visiting the Palace, I started down the street toward the museum. Traffic was stopped, and I could see a procession and hear music. So I walked a bit faster to see what was happening. I could see men carrying and turning a white structure carried by many men. In addition to local people, a lot of foreigners were walking along with the procession. The procession then left the street and went on a road up a hill. I wasn’t sure we foreigners could go there, but some stayed with the procession; so I decided to follow, too. We went to an open area outside a temple. 

There I saw the other structure that had been carried in the procession—a huge, white horse.

The horse was moved into another structure that was at the site, and several men built a bamboo platform on one side. As I was watching, I didn’t know what was happening, but then another woman and I saw a fire in the background and realized that this was a cremation. I knew that it was the cremation of a priest, since I had learned on Thursday that only priests get cremated immediately after their death. The structure I’d seen in the procession had a picture of the priest. When the platform was finished, they cut the horse open and removed the top of its back. Other men removed a casket from the structure I’d seen. After the casket was removed, that structure was taken away. The body was removed from the casket and put inside the horse, and the casket was taken away. 

Women then gave offerings that were put into the horse with the body. Then the top was put back on the horse. The platform was taken apart and removed, and metal pieces were put on the sides beneath the horse. More offerings were put around the bottom of the horse. 

When everything was ready, a fire was lit under the horse. It quickly burst into flames.  Soon the horse was engulfed in flames. The men broke through the bottom of the horse so the contents could drop to the fire below. Within a few minutes, the horse was gone. Walking around afterwards, I noticed the gas lines going into the horse, which is what made it burn so quickly.

When I walked around after the cremation, I noticed people in the yard behind the area where the cremation took place. Another person had died and was buried that same afternoon. His body will be cremated with the community cremation next year. The graves have small headstones, and almost all of them have a plant growing beside the headstone. People were making additional offerings.

During this time, entrepreneurs were selling various items. Some had sarongs. Several had cold drinks. I bought a cold water, paying twice the usual price, perhaps because it was very cold as well as because it was the only cold water on site. Some sold food.

It was a fascinating experience to witness this cremation. I felt lucky to have come upon it and to be able to attend. The whole process took about two hours.

Next I headed down the road to the rice fields. Because I needed a toilet, I went into the Blanco Museum, in which paintings of the artist are displayed. He was a Spanish painter who lived and painted in Bali. I didn’t particularly care for most of his paintings, but I enjoyed the magnificent house that he designed. (No photos allowed inside.)

Then I started walking to see the rice fields, but by that time it was 4:00, and I was hot and tired. So after several minutes I turned around and headed back into town. I saw a sign pointing to rice fields and decided to visit them, as they were at the edge of town. When I came to a massage spa, I decided that that was a good time for a Balinese massage. I had a relaxing oil massage that was wonderful. The room has a shower for washing off the oil afterwards. I felt so good that my bag, which had been feeling heavy, was much lighter. When I passed the palace, a man was selling tickets to the dance performance that night. I hadn’t planned to go to a show Friday night, but he tempted me by saying that this was a special dance by one of the best dance troupes. Since I felt quite good after the massage, I bought a ticket. 

Then I ate at a nearby restaurant that overlooks a lotus pond in front of a temple. So the ambiance was wonderful. I had a delicious vegetarian platter that had eight types of food.

The show was fantastic. The first dance was the Legong dance I’d seen Thursday night. Next was a Barong dance. The furry monster is by two men—like the Chinese lion dance. I’d seen the Barong mask in museums; so it was fun to see it in the dance. 

Next was a group of men wearing masks followed by a group of women. Then other characters entered the dance with dialogue. The ticket seller was right. It was a great show, and I was really glad I had decided to go.

Saturday I joined a tour to four major sites and two photo ops. Since this was a group tour, time was limited and a little rushed at each site. The other four people were from Spain and Malaysia. The tour was with a driver only, and he was the most unfriendly person I’d met in Bali. He was not at all friendly and was sometimes a bit curt, but he drove well, and that’s his job.

The first stop was Goa Gajah or Elephant Cave Temple. The temple has stones from an old temple and a spring. 

There is a cave with altars in niches. Another section has a Buddha Temple, but there wasn’t time to walk to it. That area is a lovely, green garden with moss-covered rocks and a pond.

Next we went to see the Tampaksiring Holy Spring and Temple. The spring water is a pleasant temperature—not hot and not cold. The spring comes into a pool from which water goes into the cleansing pool in which people line up to make offerings and cleanse their bodies. 

They stand in the pool fully clothed. 

Behind this is the temple where people make offerings and pray. 

Priests bless them with water on their heads and hands and put grains of rice on their foreheads and throats. People with wet clothes are not allowed in this area.

From there we went to a coffee and spice plantation/farm. Unlike at the one we visited on the bicycle ride tour, we saw coffee plants. We also saw cacao and snake fruit growing. We were given eight small cups with tea, cocoa, and several types of coffee to sample prior to being taken to the shop. Like the road on the bicycle tour, this one is lined with agro farms.

When we stopped at the viewpoint to view Mt. Batur and the lake, it was foggy; so we didn’t have a good view. It looked like rain was imminent. I was glad I’d had a good view on Thursday.

The main destination of the tour was Besakih Mother Temple, which is the biggest temple on Bali. The driver told us that if we wanted to go inside the temple areas, we had to pay for a local guide and would also be expected to make other donations to the temple. He advised that we could see enough from the outside. Also, we didn’t have enough time to listen to a guide and go into the other areas. When we were walking up the steps, many people were going up with their offerings. 

At the top, a man told me I could step around the corner to take photos. Then he wanted me to go farther to pray for a couple minutes. I told him that our driver had said we would have to pay to go in, and he said it was a donation and I could decide the amount. When I told him I could pray from where I was, he told me to go back to the entrance. From the next entrance gate, we could see groups of people praying. 

After going down, I was attracted to a group of interesting sculptures. Then I noticed that there is another set of stairs to go up. Time was running short, but I went up anyway. There are many side areas of temples on the way up. Half way up, it started to rain. The Malaysians were going down and told me that there is a good viewpoint at the top. I told them to go slowly, as I would probably be late. (I’d been last to arrive at the van at the previous stops but hadn’t been late.) 

When I got to the top, it was raining heavily and it was time to be back at the van; so I had a quick look at the view of part of the temple, but I think the main view was farther along. 

When I got to the bottom of the stairs and looked back at the temple, no one was walking up. I think we must have arrived at a prayer time, which is why so many people were going up when we were.

The next stop was to view the rice terraces and eat lunch if we wanted to. Since we didn’t want to eat there, it was a quick stop. The rice fields were between plantings; so they were not beautiful, lush green.

The final stop was the Klungkung Ancient Justice Building. I’d forgotten that this was included in the tour and didn’t know what it was when we were at the ticket office. The Malaysians didn’t get out of the car, and the Spaniards decided to walk around instead of going into the site. I decided that, since I was there, I’d go in. From the entrance, it looks like just another temple-like building. However, there were some big differences from what I’d seen before. The altar has statues that look like European men. In the museum, one of the signs mentioned the Dutch; so I think that’s what the statues were depicting. 

The most interesting part of the site was the painted ceilings in the main building and another one. 

They are covered with paintings of Hindu stories, similar to the buildings that are covered with paintings of Buddhist stories. They are remarkable. I was glad I’d gone in to see them.

After relaxing in my room for a couple hours, I headed out for dinner—chicken curry—and the evening show I’d purchased a ticket for. This was the Kecak Fire and Trance Dance. I arrived early to get a good seat and chatted with another older American woman who was also there early. Then just before it was time to start, they announced that the show would be inside because rain was imminent. So everyone headed in and those who had come later and were at the back went to the front row seats. So I stood behind the front row toward the side. Kecak means that the music is entirely vocal. About a hundred men sat in circles and chanted the background story/music. The story is part of the Ramayana. Other characters came in and danced in the center. I could understand why it is called a trance dance, as the chanting was mesmerizing. 

After this dance, a man did the fire dance. The area was surrounded with metal guard pieces and a fire was lit in the center. Then a man danced around and spread out the fire. Another man came in and swept the bits back to the center. The man repeated his dance spreading out the embers again. This was repeated a few times until there were no more embers.

Sunday was my day to relax before leaving Ubud. At breakfast I enjoyed chatting with two Brazilians. At 11:00 I went to an hour and a half long yoga class. Yoga seems to be one of the things people come to Ubud to do. I’m not sure why, as I don’t think it’s a Balinese thing. Perhaps it has to do with the Hindu religion. The teachers at this studio are all foreigners. The class was called “rejuvenation yoga,” which turned out to be relaxation. I had stretching in mind, but it was fun to try out using bolsters and blankets. The class was truly relaxing. Doing relaxation poses for that long is not something I would do on my own; so it was nice to have that opportunity even though I am pretty relaxed these days. When I left, I was so relaxed that I decided to have an herbal relaxation facial at the nearby spa. That was another extremely relaxing hour. The facial included herbal massage creams, steam, and a 15-minute mask while I relaxed with soft music. When it was over, I was so relaxed that I didn’t want to get off the table. Afterwards, I was given tea and fruit.

When I left the spa, it started to rain and rained for an hour. I went to the Puri Lukisan Museum, which is the art museum I didn’t get to on Friday. 

Then I ambled down the road toward the homestay. On the way, I stopped at a couple old temples and enjoyed being the only person looking at them. It was so peaceful.

I had a light dinner at a small café. When I was paying, I noticed that they had carrot cake and had to buy a piece. When I commented that the cake cost as much as the meal, the man said that it was worth it and I’d want to come back for more.

Since I was back in my room early, I got to see a beautiful sunset from my balcony. A nice way to end my time in Ubud.