We're in China!

Greetings from Xian, the beginnings of the Silk Road. Yesterday, we took a local bus to see the Terracotta Warriors in the hills. Today, we are going to explore the Muslim Quarter of Xian. It's a bit of a shock coming from the tropics of Indonesia. brrrr...it's chilly and we'll need to get some warm gear for this next leg. In a few days, we board our first Chinese train on a 12 hour journey to Beijing. My parents will be meeting us there and joining us for the next few weeks. It'll be a little more posh than our regular digs.

I will be offline for the time that we are in China as we are unable to access this blog.
It will be back to ye old paper and pencil journaling for a while!

Bali Pathfinder- Road Trip!

Bali Pathfinder:

'the most reliable map for visitors regularly revised...all maps are hand drawings 

by Silvio Santosa, 10th edition.'

Bali Road Trip:  March 19-24, 2011.

With Bali Pathfinder in hand, I am given the job of The Navigator. Bella,
The Spectator, and the backpacks are in the backseat of Dewa's small jeep. Mark,
Zen Driver, calls driving the roads of Bali a 'dance.' With over 4 million people on this little island, driving is a tad congested. Not to mention the narrow lanes, driving on the opposite side, potholes, ladies balancing boxes of offerings on their heads walking alongside and motorbikes with families of four sharing the road. He is our hero.

Leg 1: Full Moon Rising
We get lost right away in the streets of Ubud. We eventually navigate our way out of town, heading west along the rice paddies. The full moon celebrations are beginning with decorative palm leave streamers hanging off tall bamboo rods at each village we pass. We stop at one ceremony and peek into the colourful entrance way. A friendly boy come out and puts his arm around Bella. Smile. Gamelan music is playing and a crowd gathers. We see similar decor all the way up to Danau Bratan, a volcanic lake in the Central Mountains. Along the way we stop to pick strawberries at Candikuning. We find a nice room at the Ashram guesthouse at the edge of the lake before the afternoon downpour. After the rains, Bella spots the swan pedalboats. We board the pink one and paddle towards the island temples. Mark is much too tall and is all cramped up by the end of the pedal. Bella finds some friends to play soccer and see saw with in lovely garden restaurant in town. It has a great rope course and giant swings. I talk to a spiritual healer who has retreated to the mountains for the weekend. The combination of the full moon, the changing of the tides and the moon's distance to earth (closest in years) all happening tonight has her worried about the energy fields and major catastrophes. I try not to tap into the nervous energy. The full moon rises. Swinging in the dark beneath the coconut palms gives us an amazing sensation. The fireflies flicker below us.

Leg 2:  Sunrise Paddle
We wake up early. The moon is just setting over the ridge and the pink of dawn washes over the lake. We have arranged for a boat and oars. In the cool morning air, we paddle towards Pura Ulun Danu Bratan. A faint mist rises from the waters. At the temple we notice guardian stone frogs at the entrance. We then paddle through a grove of lily pads. We make our way across the lake and watch the fishermen in their canoes casting their lines.A great start to our day. Our drive continues along narrow and bumpy roads passing two more volcanic lakes, Danau Buyan and Danau Tamblingan. The view is spectacular. Reaching the mountain town of Munduk, we hike to the waterfalls. The spray is refreshing after a humid hike through the jungle. The rains fall again and we stumble upon a delightful guesthouse run by a lovely couple. We relax for the day and enjoy Annie's homecooking. In the middle of the night, Mark and I both wake up startled. We feel the tremours of an earthquake. Luckily, it was over in seconds. Perhaps the healer was right about the energy fields. After sampling Annie's homemade strawberry papaya jam we head down the hills and to northern coast.

Leg 3: Sea Salt and Snorkeling
We are greeted in Amed by a troupe of children selling sea salt in woven baskets. The next few days are very relaxing along this stretch of quiet fishing villages. It is nice to chill out after the chaos of the roads. We snorkel to a Japanese shipwreck and see a reef with clown fish and colourful parrot fish. The sands are volcanic shades of grey here. For all its beauty, there is unfortunately a film of trash here as well.We spend a morning picking up litter. At night, the homes on the mountainside join by narrow footpath light up like lanterns on a hill. Our evenings are quiet here. The calls of the gecko are our nightly lullabies.

Leg 4: Mother Temple
At an intersection up the mountain to Pura Besakih, a priest sprays Mark with some holy water. I guess we are being blessed. We see a lady balancing a pig on a platter. Babi Guling is a popular dish here. It's spit roasted pig stuffed with chili, tumeric, garlic and ginger. We pass. Along the way, we've managed to avoid Bali Belly. Eating at the local warungs, our standard chow has been nasi goreng and mee goreng along with banana pancakes for breakfast. Our best dishes were the gado gado with peanut sauce and apple fritters topped with fresh coconut and a smear of palm sugar. Less memorable ones were those doused with MSG and the french fries with ants. Pura Besakih is filled with activity after the full moon. Families make a pilgrimage here to visit their family temple and their caste temple. It is fascinating. Our guide Wayan, of the farmer's caste, fills us in on the rituals. We learn that the lava flows of Mount Arung's last eruption flowed east and left the sacred temple unscathed. We enjoy our time here very much. The rain pours and we rent colourful umbrellas from the savvy vendors.

Leg 5: Full Circle
We are back in Sanur after driving down the rough and windy Sidamen road. The rice terraces surrounding us are beautiful. The road is terrible. Reaching the eastern coast, the heat hits us. We started our journey here in Sanur when we arrived in Bali. It feels like we're back home. Dewa and his son come to pick up the jeep. I present him my yoga mat as a gift. Road trip complete.

Selmat datang

Selamat datang. Welcome to Indonesia...

We arrive in Bali a few days following Nyepi, the Balinese New Year. In preparation for this day, villages across the island create massive ogoh-ogohs, scary looking demons from the underworld. They are paper mached, painted devil reds and ogre greens and then don with hairy wigs, buggy eyes, razor teeth and talon like claws. On New Year's Eve, the ogoh-ogohs are paraded around town in a loud procession, to drive their evil spirits off the island. The gamelan ensemble is called baleganjur and is made up of gongs, cymbals and drums. Following the raucus, all is silent come midnight on New Year's Day. Nyepi is a day of fasting and reflection for the Balinese. It is to be spent in silence. Streets are empty. No fires are lit. Tourists are not allowed out of their hotel compounds. Even the airport is closed. Upon arrival, we soon discover there's an endless list of Auspicious Days on the Balinese Calendar. Take March for example. The best days to cut your hair is on the 16th or 29th. Lucky days for proposing to your girl are the 3rd and 27th. If you want to dig a well, it's the 1st, 4th or 18th. The list goes on. The Balinese calendar uses the Wuku sytem, based on the week. There are 30 weeks in one cycle, known as an oton. 2 otons make a year so a Balinese year is 420 days. It is the Saka year 1933.
We also get aquainted with the Indonesian Rupiah. One Canadian dollar is about 8 000 rupiah. A fresh fruit lassi is about 18 000 rupiah. A plate of nasi goreng is about 20 000 rupiah. A decent hotel room runs for about 200 000 rupiah. We rent a jeep for 125 000 a day. A sarong cost as low as 10 000 rupiah to the fancy 500 000 batik cloths. The money is colourful like ours. The coins are very light weight.
Our adventures here begin in the family friendly beach town of Sanur on the east coast. We stay at a guest house called Segara Agung on the recommendation of Nico's(Bella's schoolmate) grandmother. It has a beautiful garden and most importantly, a swimming pool. The blanket of heat here reminds us of our beginnings in Singapore. We are sticky once again. Before long, Bella meets Axel, a 4 year old from France. They spend the afternoons playing Marco Polo and Follow the Leader. Before the heat of the day, we enjoy morning strolls on the beach. Wooden boats with curious eyes and smiles give the shores a happy feeling. Mount Agung majestically rises in the backdrop and we can see Nusa Lembongan in the near distance. Seaweed collectors wade in the shallow waters and fishermen cast their lines. The ladies all want to braid Bella's hair. The beaches of the grander hotels are being neatly raked and umbrellas open as comfy lounge chairs are set up. There is an earthquake north of Denpasar the evening we arrive. It is very deep and we do not feel any tremors in Sanur. The earthquake in Japan hits 24 hours later. Tsunami warnings are issued in Indonesia. We are nervous being so close to the sea. We lug Bella's lifejacket around town. We are on edge for the night. The tsunami alert is over the next morning. We still head for higher ground in Ubud for peace of mind.
The drive up north to Ubud is lined with villages specializing in various crafts- basketweaving, batik, ceramics, beadwork, painting, silver, wood and stone. Mark is fond of the many stone Buddhas lining the streets of Batubulan, known for its stone sculptures. We see a few remaining ogoh-ogohs standing in the village squares. Our driver tells us not to be afraid as their spirits have already left the island. We find a room down a quiet alley in Ubud, off the busy and commercial Monkey Forest Road. It borders the rice paddies where we spot some colourful kingfishers and a procession of ducks. At night, the frogs croak loudly and we count the gec-ko chorus. I believe 7, 9 and 10 gec-ko chants are lucky. Our first outing takes us towards Ubud Palace. A procession is taking place along the streets. We see a giant toy tiger and a clamber of drums are followed by a clan of well dressed women and men in checkered sarongs. Bella is excited to follow them. We head up a big hill and then over the old suspension bridge. The procession now packs into a caravan of trucks and are off. We wave goodbye. Our stay in Ubud centers around the local library Pondok Pekak. It means 'Grandfather's little resting house in the rice field.' I try to imagine the Ubud in Grandfather's time. The rice field is now lined with fancy boutiques, internet cafes, art galleries, fine dining, spas and hotels. Of the fancy places, we love Kou, which specializes in jams, salt and soaps. Every day, we head in for a taste of the Milk Caramel and the Passionfruit tangerine jam. We buy small blocks of rose petal soap to spice up our backpacks. There's the occasional monkey that wanders across the road along with the many stray dogs. At Pondok Pekak, there are great classes to learn about the Balinese culture. They hire local villagers. Bella takes gamelan lessons with daddy. They bang away with their mallets and finish the lesson with a great duet. I try some Legong dancing with Bella. Happy, our teacher, rides up in her motorbike with her daughter and a friend. We are impressed with her flexible fingers and facial expressions. The girls, Bella and I learn the dance to the Welcome song. The music plays. Bella gets grovin' and mama, I'm afraid, is not so graceful but has fun nonetheless. We meet Wayan the fruit carver. I like him right away and arrange to have him as a guide. He takes us to some of the popular sites on the outskirts of Ubud. At Goa Gajah, the Elephant Cave, we put on our sarongs and selandongs (sashes) before entering. We are early and it is quiet. Bella enters the musky ancient cave by herself. Inside rests the trinity of the Hindu faith- Brahma, Shiva and Vishnu. At Gunung Kawi, we hike down a steep stone stairway to another ancient temple. Lush green rice terraces border the path along with many shops hoping to sell sarongs, carved coconuts and crochet purses. At the Tirta Empih we watch a family bath in the holy waters. Wayan tells us that if children have illness, bad dreams or other such ailments, their parents would often take them here and standing beneath the spouting fountains. Bella is intrigued. She had a bad dream the night before and decides to get wet too. Along the way, we sip samples of lemongrass and rosella tea along with bali coffee with its residue of grinds. We see a paradoxurus also known as a luwak. It's a small civit mammal that eats the ripe coffee cherry. Then a unique fermentation happens in its tummy and it poops out the pea berries intact. Luwak coffee is one of the most expensive coffees in the world. It supposedly has a caramel rich taste but I have neither the money nor the digestion to sample it. We then venture up the road to Danau Batur, a volcanic lake. Gunung Batur, at 1717 m, rises on its western banks. The view is spectacular. The tourist trap buffet lunch is horrible with soggy noodles and greasy fried bananas. We end the day at Wayan's home. We meet his family and his beloved pig. He teaches me how to carve watermelon into a nice rose design. Bella learns the art of carrot and turnip carving. She creates a pretty veggie bouquet. We spend a few more days in Ubud enjoying the cultural offerings. We watch a shadow puppet play known as wayang kulit and go backstage to see how the puppet master does his craft. The kerosene lamp burns brightly and lights up the stage for the show. I find a kindred spirit in my daughter as we wake up early to check out the local markets. We purchase a sampling of fruits in season- snakefruit, rambutan, mangosteen, plantains and starfruit for our still life drawings. We see the pail of eels and baskets of fresh fish. We visit the lady with the palm leaf boxes filled with pretty flower petals. Bella buys some lotus blossoms. We head to Pura Taman Saraswati, the Ubud Water Palace. The waters from the temple feed the lovely lotus pond, all in honour of Dewi Saraswati, the goddess of wisdom and the arts. We bring our watercolours and get a table at The Lotus Cafe. The waiter asks for a painting. Bella is thrilled to give her sketch away. We enjoy the organic yoghurt and wholesome tempeh curries at Bali Buddha. It doesn't have Wi Fi like the other restaurants, wanting its customers to engage in conversation. I like that. On the community board outside, I see an ads for Green Camp- a family weekend with an environmental conscience. It is to happen at an alternative school with structures made entirely out of bamboo near Ubud. I am excited and sign us up. It is a little pricey. Unfortunately, we are the only family signed up and the camp is cancelled. Hopefully, the green movement will keep moving forward. Luckily, I meet Dewa at the guesthouse. He has a nice aura. We share yoga poses. He cannot afford the Western yoga classes here and goes to the holy men instead. We decide to rent his jeep for a week and tour the island. Our next adventure is about to begin on the crazy roads of Bali. Time to find to map.