This past weekend Lauren, Alexa, and I went to BALI. We decided to go to Ubud since we wanted to see more of the cultural aspects and we were going on the hindu new year which is celebrated as a day of silence with parades in Ubud.
We arrived in Bali on Friday when the parades were taking place. As we made our way to the hotel we were able to look out of the window and see the vaious floats that were created to ward off evil spirits. Once we arrived at our hotel and walked into the town to see more floats we passed by serveral offerings outside of different residences. At first we thought that these were just for the holiday but came to learn that the offeriengs were created each day by the familys for the gods.
Saturday was the day of Silence where we had the chance to relax by swimming in the pool and getting a massage. However, We also had the opportunity to learn about many aspects of indonesian culture. In our room there was a card detailing the significance of the day of silence. What I found most interesting was that the reason the day of silence began was so that the evil spirits would think the town was abandond and pass over it brining good fortune for the new year. This also coincideds with us not being allowed outside of our hotel to roam the streets, all businesses being closed, and having to keep our blinds closed and outside lights off from 6pm to 6am the following morning. Another cultural activity at the hotel was a traditional cooking class. I loved learning about the different spices and even getting to participate in making the chicken salad which we wraped in leaves and left to steam while the rest of the meal was prepaired.
On Sunday our last full day we wanted to make the most of it and see everything so we decided to sign up for a tour. Although I would no where near consider myself an adventerous person I decided to go wild. At our first stop on the tour the Monkey forest I LET A MONKEY CLIMB ON ME (and I have never been more scared around an animal). Would I do it again absolutely not but its one of those things we all thought we had to do while we were there as our tour guide told us it was the only forest in bali where the monkey werent violent (and smart or not we decided to trust him).
Our next stop was the most famous waterfall in Bali…..
…but my favorite part of the tour was when our driver allowed us to make a pit stop at 3 small local villages. Our first one was a village of only women where they created hand made jewelery and we were able to hear about the silver making process.
Next we stopped at a painting village where we all purchased prints that we unanimously agreed will by the first thing anyone sees when they step into our future homes.
The last village was a wood village where me and Alexa bought sets of yogurt bowls for our breakfast at home ( yogurt bowls might be my favorit food in the world). I love negotiating and our tour driver advised us that this was key to get the bvest price. At each village we would all pick what we wanted and learen and Alexa would come find me to negotiate for them. By then end Alexa didnt need me as much anymore but I LOVED THE EXPERIENCE. Everywhere I go I hope to buy something I love so my house can be a collection of everywhere I have been.
Next on the tour was a coffee plantation and at some point I will have to do a coffee rating blog becasue I drink 3 a day at minimum. I found it facinating to learn that Bali has some of the most expensive coffee in the world Kopi Luwak and this is becasue of how time consuming the process is. The coffee cherries are fed to the Asian Palm Civet where they are then digested and simulatniously feremnted and coffee beans are pooped out.
Coffee being one of my favorite things I also really enjoyed getting to participate in the processor of roasting and mashing the beans to turn them into coffee powder.
Our last two stops on the tour was a temple and the rice terraces.
I will admit by this point I was a little worn out so I cant say I was processing as much as I had earlier in the day. However, although the rice terraces werent fully green as it was not harvesting season it was facinating to learn that every aspect of the rice terraces are done by hand. This also lent itself to a conversation we had with our tour guide about the exchange rate that really made me reflect on our experience abroad overall. We learned that the work was done by hadn as importing machinery is far too expensive due to the exchange rate. We also asked him if he had traveled to any different places and learned that again beacsue of the value of IDR their local currency traveling was not really possible. Thinking about this in relation to all the trips we’ve done, plan to do, and at the posibilty of being abroad at all and experiencing so many different cultures I truly felt greatful for the experiences we were having.