A Trip Through Ubud Bali

Ubud is picturesque. Known as the most culturally rich part of the Balinese island, it was nothing like what we had envisioned for ourselves.

First Impressions 

Ubud is oozing beauty and energy. Tucked in the hills and heart of the jungle, located in what could be described as the center of the small 95 mile wide island, Ubud is a bustling area with an infectious aura of peace and creativity.

From the airport we drove and watched in awe, plastered with smiles, and fighting back simultaneous giggles. We took in every bit of our first sights of Bali. We took them to heart, it was impossible not to. The streets were filled, loud and fast paced, yet somehow peaceful. With a population of 4.5 million in 2014, there were hundreds and hundreds more people than we ever anticipated. Thousands of scooters racing and beeping by, driving like a colony of ants racing from rain and regularly bumping into the backs of cars and other bikes while squeezing through tight spaces on narrow roads, some that were washing down jungle cliffs. All while communicating with each other in a language of BEEPS and dodging all sorts of animals and children.

Sometimes there’d be undressed infants riding on the handlebars, other times on one tiny bike a whole family! It was not uncommon to see scooters stacked with large heavy boxes carrying stock and food to stores. We are talking the equivalent of what A UPS truck can carry stacked feet above a tiny driver and secured with bungees on the back of a bike! Anything from fresh caught fish to newly shipped clothing. Quite the entertainment.

There are chickens clucking around, roosters cock-a-doodling in the distance everywhere you go, living livestock in random places, and old flat bed pick up trucks. Of course one can’t forget the monkeys. Some spotted swinging through the racks of shops and taking whatever suits their fancy whenever they please. One morning we witnessed a massive pig almost roll out of a pick up truck and down the very steep hill we had just driven up. Breton mentioned “Barbecue” which our driver very excitedly understood and then confirmed with enthusiasm that that’s what was happening indeed.

There are women dressed in traditional lace outfits adorned with bright flowers and gorgeous hand made clothes, men in saris and lovely traditional headdress’s that have a way of making us Americans look very bland and basic.

Ubud is just absolutely WILD. No other description will do.

The Reality of it All 

The island is poor, and for one who has only seen pictures from a consumer driven media, it can be none the less shocking at first sight. Children kicking homemade globs of scrapped fabric in place of something as common as a soccer ball through a drenched field of nothing but mud, stray dogs by the hundreds sporting colored scraps of cloth tied around their necks for blessings and good luck. Shoes are not a necessity. Shop workers are cloaked in dirt and sweat, posted up on the fronts of their stoops laughing and carrying on while their children eat sitting on the dusty floor of the unlit huts. It is different from our ways of life, but it is a happy way of life. A reminder that having more is not always what makes us human. These are proud people. Kind people. A people that radiate contagious happiness and gratitude.

There are hikers and backpackers walking their way up and down the winding streets that cascade through a landscape of miles of terraced rice patties, thriving brightly colored rainforest vegetation, and exotic flowers. Tall fruit trees envelop the skyline, rainforest vegetation is thick and encroaching in most places, and most all families have their own rice patties, and banana and coconut trees growing along with other native plants for harvesting. Each family also has there own temple for worship. The architecture is old, traditional, and STUNNING.

Traditions 

Men and women daily and sometimes hourly, gathering offerings of flowers and food wrapped in coconut tree leaves and present them to the many statues of Hindu worship that cover all areas of the island. As someone who is not their religion it is considered rude to point your feet at the statues while admiring their grace. Women while on their cycle are not allowed in temples to worship at that time, and anything but pants while among Dharma’s and in temples can be considered disrespectful.

There are hundreds of shops built from hand, grass thatched huts with dirt floors where if you glance inside you will find family members hand crafting what is their livelihood. Anything from clothing, to paintings, to custom wood carvings, furniture made by hand from larger than life petrified jungle trees, and large custom made concrete statues and ornaments in the shapes of monkeys, elephants, and Hindu Dharmas.

There are massive detailed hand carved wooden doors that belong on mansions, dream catchers, saris and exotic colored fabrics among macrame weavings and jewelry and elephant pants. In one hut hung one tiny lightbulb, and inside a large spool where an old man meticulously worked engulfed by jungle vegetation with no glimpse of civilization in sight.

The art in Ubud is its heart. Unlike any art we have every seen. BY FAR THE MOST TALENT AND CREATIVITY WE HAVE EVER WITNESSED. The craftsmanship, talent, and work ethic budding among the people is unexplainable and beyond beautiful, and most predominantly why it is considered the cultural epicenter of the island.

Here in Ubud things are still strictly traditional. You can tell this is where the people consider home. Tourism is prevalent but has not yet masked the fact that there is no running water for most of the people, no electricity for some, and for locals a day spent perfecting their craft is a day to be proud of. There are not blocks littered with westernized cafes and bistros, nothing western about the clothes or the furniture you find for sale. It is all handcrafted, all earned with hard work and lots of heart, and it all shows. Strangely you can drive deeper and find things as random as Ralph Lauren stores, Calvin Klein, and even L.L. Bean, its bizarre to say the least, but if you find yourself truly exploring Ubud’s bleeding veins, you’ll find nothing but tradition.

Community Dynamic

The community is made up of several different villages, all with different sets of customs and traditions. We witnessed two weddings while exploring the streets one day. Hundreds of villagers dressed in traditional wear, carrying offerings of food, always wrapped in the coconut tree, which is used for everything and considered a very sacred part of the Balinese peoples livelihood.

It is custom for the entire village to show up at the home of the bride with gifts. Mostly its homegrown produce or traditional dishes of food.  Always accompanied by a coconut tree or bananas leaf. The entire village will celebrate together and the men will drink and the women will dance. It is a sight filled with infectious happiness. They drive around and parade the bride and groom throughout the streets throughout the day. A sunny Saturday is explained to us as a ” good day to be married.” If the weather is nice than anyone looking to be married in the villages will choose this “good day” to be married, that way they are insured to have “good karma” throughout the marriage. If the weather is not up to par, it is “bad day” and a wedding or any celebration is seen to be cursed with ill will and will likely not occur.

All along the streets and among Ubud, things, trees, buildings, beds, animals, people, and statues are wrapped and draped with black and white checkered quilts and fabric which symbolize good karma, kindness, love and peace. We returned to our villa on our second day to find that we had in fact been deemed to be kind and graced with good karma for our stay, as our bed was newly sporting a gorgeous checkered throw.

The Kings Parade

On one day we witnessed a large celebration. The birthday of the villages king. On a steep hillside we stopped and among hundreds of people we made our way into the street where we found what can only be described as the largest glimpse of fun propelled chaos that we have ever seen.

The first thing in view besides the hundreds of people, cars, and scooters, was a larger than life, very anatomically correct, black decorated bull being carried by more than ten grown men through a tiny narrow road filled with celebration. The men and women in the parade were all beautifully dressed head to toe in traditional clothes, stopping for breaks where the statue would be placed down, and celebration continued among those in the street. Women adorning baskets of gifts on their heads, children running and laughing, and then the statue would be lifted again, as the crowd cooed and awed, and the parade on foot would continue.

More statues were carried by and then we spotted the king, atop a large statue of his own, being carried by his people. Children following behind, singing and performing for their village. (You can find the full Balinese Kings Parade post with video – HERE)

Love at First Visit

Breton and I looked to each other mesmerized, enveloped in the chaos, laughing, and and smiling uncontrollably with our jaws on the ground as I bounced around with my camera capturing the moment of unexpected bliss and overwhelmingly infectious but happy happenings. It was in that moment I think we both realized what a truly amazing experience this adventure would prove to be. It was there we truly grasped the entirety of Ubuds magic. By the end of the adventure we would ride elephants, hold monkeys, and taste famous coffee (click for post) in the rain forest.

It was a place of unbelievably beautiful stature, cascaded in a unexplainable serenity, filled with sights and scenes of nothing but new unexplored ways of life, all just ebbing and vibing in a land of rainforest and jungle. Ubud is magic. And we can’t wait to return.