It’s another beautiful new day in paradise!
First, a delicious breakfast at the hotel, and then next door, to a very popular coffee shop. It’s packed with people taking lots of photos right outside the door, in front of this unique building. It’s an absolute hotspot. It’s not just beautiful from the outside: modern, with a blend of nature, natural materials, and design. The interior is very trendy and cool. There’s a beautiful archway, carved out of the wall, with some bricks still visible around the entrance. The rest is plasterwork, and the archway is a bit low, so I—at least—since I’m quite tall compared to the rest of the locals—have to duck. Passing through the archway, I find myself in an open space, a patio. A sign hangs by the door that reads: Bow. The door symbolizes the act of bowing. Bowing your head or the upper part of your body forward to say hello or goodbye to someone or to show respect. Isn’t that wonderful?
There are a few tables on the patio, and the atmosphere is just like the front of the café. It has a serene feel, surrounded by nature, and at the bar I order one of their signature coffees, also known as “kopi.” A delicious iced coffee with cookie crumbs gives it a unique flavor. I’d already read in the reviews that it’s a special coffee, and that was definitely true. I don’t drink much coffee myself, but this one is really nice. Inside, the AC is running, and I can cool off and dry off for a bit—yuck, but it’s true. You get completely soaked without even doing much. I drink a lot but don’t pee much; you just sweat it all out.
The interior wall is beautiful, with layers that incorporate lighting. The large window offers a lovely view of the outside. The view is of a temple that exudes serenity, and soft music plays inside, transporting you to another world for a moment. Looking out at the temple, there’s a lot of traffic rushing by between the coffee shop and the temple. It’s as if there are three different worlds. My world, the hustle and bustle of the street, and the serenity of the temple. And none of them are aware of the others.
At 1:00 p.m., the driver pulls up—a big guy. “Just call me Big Daddy,” he says. He really is a Big Daddy. He asks what I want to do, and given the traffic, he says we can do two, maybe three things within the four-hour time frame. Monkey Forest, a temple, and the rice fields—that’s what I’d like to see today. We’ll see how far we get. The first stop is Monkey Forest. Big Daddy points out that it’s low season now, so there’s less traffic. The trip from my hotel to Monkey Forest usually takes about an hour, but we make it in 10 minutes. That’s great! Because it means we can do more in a short amount of time.
During the ride, we see many people dressed neatly and traditionally, carrying lots of flowers. He says that today is the day of money. Many businesspeople go to the temples for ceremonies and to honor the god, asking for more abundance in their businesses and in their lives. What a great day!
He tells me I have an hour to spend at Monkey Forest and that I’ll meet him again at the entrance afterward. I asked him if the animals are free there; “No,” he said. This gave me a bit of a start, because that means it’s still a kind of zoo, but nothing could be further from the truth! The animals *are* free! And we only realize that later. The park is beautifully landscaped; part of it is still natural, but they’ve built walking paths throughout. There are temples everywhere, a cremation site (also a temple), and lots of greenery. There’s a huge tree in the middle of the park that I think is hundreds of years old. It’s incredibly wide and very tall. The monkeys are running from tree to tree, having the time of their lives, and even though I love animals, I keep my distance. They’re wild animals—you have to keep your distance from them. It’s well known here that people get attacked, and to be honest, I think that’s entirely the human’s fault. I also see exactly what happens when a woman in front of me gets “attacked.” She doesn’t realize what’s going on, but she thinks the monkey has it out for her. However, the phone she’s waving around in the park has a long cord, and what could be more fun for an animal than playing with something that moves? Exactly—this! Another woman says, “Stand still.” It works, and the monkey leaves her alone. If you see things from the animal’s perspective, you’ll understand them better and be able to act accordingly. Most animals aren’t naturally aggressive; it’s usually the human’s own fault. They either feel threatened or they’re hungry.
I’m thoroughly enjoying watching all the little monkeys, who are unabashedly grooming each other, eating, watching us, and bouncing around wildly. After an hour of watching the monkeys, it’s time to go—off to the rice fields. And as we drive away, we see monkeys walking all over the road, near the little shops, and I notice that part of the park is cordoned off with just a thin rope. So the monkeys are truly free, but they choose to stay in Monkey Forest. They’re doing just fine there. The farther we drive, the fewer monkeys there are.
We’re heading up into the hills; the rice paddies are high up, and as we drive, he tells us a bit about the countryside and the rice paddies. Three types of rice are grown here: white, red, and black. White rice is less healthy because it contains a lot of sugar; it’s also the fastest to harvest—in about 200 days, this rice is ready to be harvested. The fields look wet, and he explains that growing rice is a lengthy process: it needs to be in wet soil for a few days, then in dry soil for a few days, and this cycle repeats throughout the entire growing season. It’s intensive work, and most farmers still use equipment that requires a lot of physical labor. He explains that because of the virus, he was out of work for two years, and as a result, he, his parents, and his brother were forced to work in the rice fields. He says it’s hard work.
Red rice is healthier, contains less sugar, and takes longer to harvest—about 245 days. That’s why it’s a bit more expensive. The rice (the stalks you see sticking up out of the fields) is also longer. Black rice is mainly used to make cookies. These are a popular treat, often eaten in the morning for breakfast with a cup of tea. At noon, people eat a hearty meal, which usually consists of a hot dish.
I see a lot of small workshops along the road that make statues; mostly you see Buddha heads. I ask him if Bali is Buddhist—that’s what I’ve always assumed, since most Buddha statues come from Bali—but nothing could be further from the truth. Bali is Hindu, and the statues you see are for people’s homes, he says. I think what he means by that is tourists’ homes. From what I know about Hinduism, there are many gods—I think around 1,000. And there’s a day dedicated to each god, which means you sometimes worship multiple gods in a single day. Many temples also have a different god at their center. As I drive through Ubud, I realize that the country is actually one big temple in the jungle. Small, large—there are statues and little temples everywhere, offerings are placed all over the streets, and there’s plenty of incense burning.
