Ubud – Bali – Indonesia
Walking up these giant steps, the candles surrounding me give an eerie feel to the point where its like I can almost feel the presence of the gods that surround me, and the significance to the culture I am in. As we take our seats for the performance, a murmer of different languages buz down to a whisper.
‘Hoo hoo hoo hoo, chacha chi chacha chi, kiki ka kiki kiki ka kiki’ from what sounds like deep within the confines of the temple, I hear the sounds of what I envisage to be a massive group of men, chanting to their makers above. Like something from an action film, the dark tanned men appear in formation, surrounding the massive candalabra in the centre of the tribal arena in front of us. Their chanting is a haunting, deep, rythmic sound, that grabs your undividided attention, making you almost expect some sort of unearthly feat to occur right here in front of you.
I am in fact in Ubud, Bali. The kecak dance tells the story of the Ramayana, a traditional balinese tale of warriors, gods and monkeys. At this time, I had no idea of the origin or meaning, but it just didnt seem to matter, as the colourful acting and theatrics kept me gripping my seat the whole way through – even despite the language difference. For a full ninety minutes I sat, taking in these people as they re-enact this age old story in great detail, the harmonies and songs, so clearly unique to the balinese people, keeping me mesmerized through the entire performance. In fact, Im actually inspired to find out more about this story, and luckily, I feel welcome enough by the people here, to get the information i need – just by asking.
Ubud is a gorgeous village in inland from what some people would call the somewhat hectic beat of places like Kuta & Legian. It contrasts the hard selling touts on every corner with ‘come and go as you please’ art galleries, white sand but over crowded beaches with tranquil waterfalls and rice fields, and busy polluted roads with sweeping bends and tropical jungle as far as the eye can see. Dont get me wrong, I love the atmosphere of Kuta, but Ubud offers a cool respite, and a great way to get under the skin of this ecquisite country, even if just a little bit.
The streets are littered with art and culture. Its so easy to lose yourself in the well trodden tourists routes of the main couple of streets, that it is also easy to forget that this is just the beginning. In a country where labour seems so abundant, its truly fantastic to see the skills of the local people exhibited on street corners everywhere you look. From acryllic on canvas to, stone scultpuring, to brillant abstract oil fine art, to the amazing wooden sculptures that seem to blend into eachother in a blur of creativity as you walk passed, this small but bustleing town is guaranteed to give you incentive to fill up your suitcase for the way home, if you havent already.
But to truly see the wares of the local artists blur together from one peice to the next in a myriad of vivid colour, hire a scooter for the day. Not for the faint hearted, but certainly for anyone looking to get into the local way of life, even if you have never ridden a motorbike or scooter before, these little buz boxes will take your holiday experience totally to the next level. Please pardon the cliche, but you will find yourself free as a bird, with the wind in your hair, which will, if nothing else, cool you down for five minutes, escaping the never ending heat and humidity, that you otherwise simply wont get away from without an air-conditioner in your back pocket. The countryside’s many greens are an inspiring site as you wind your way through village to village, each making you possibly more lost than the last. But for some reason, your time seems to be less of an issue, and finding a quiet terraced cafe to have cool drink over looking a rice field is both easy and exhilerating, even if you dont quite know where you are.
One such journey found me glancing at a sign, before stopping to turn around to have proper look. ‘Best nice monkey forest 500m’. As with everything here, there is no real official way to point out points of interest, and the best one can do is keep your eyes peeled and mind open to any hand written sign that might catch your fancy. Even before entering, these cheeky little fellas caught my interest. A big bunch of bananas sat by the entrance, while a man selling them kept one eye on his produce, and the other on any potential tourists willing to play cat & mouse with the common macacues that prevail over the entire area. For just half a second, the store keeper walked away from the yellow gold nuggets, only to have a juvinile terror come and grab the lot right in front of everyone. Within a flash, he was up the tree, and had claimed the prize as his own. Although I would hardly say these creatures are ‘in the wild’, it does give a fantastic insight into just how these little guys are so obviously famous for their mischievious and cheeky nature. You will get tired of watching long before they get tired of trying absolutely anything – just for fun. Be warned however, they are also notoriously known for going straight for the zipper of brightly couloured bag in an attempt to find, just one more peice of fruit, potentially in the form of a passport.
Whilst there is plenty to do, one cant forget the friendly and genuinely happy nature of the balinese people. I’m the first to admit that there is a strong element of ‘taking the tourist dollar’ here, but isnt there everywhere? The hard sell can be tedious, but the sound of ‘you need transport’ or ‘you have program for today’ soon become part of the experience, and it doest take long to learn that its actually very easy to smile and say ‘no thanks’. I am staying at the Sharma guest houses, literally a two minute walk from the main street, where although so close to the center of town, I also get the sense of being part of a real family atmosphere. Right now as I right this, the young son of the owner is playing football across from me in his own back yard, which although is quite obviously a functioning family environment, displays a charm you can find in a hotel or resort. Rice is being dried also, a product of the families own field, just a kilometer down the road. It adds up to a really quiet and comfortable environment, where nothing seems to be a problem, even the explanation of the kecap fire dance.
