Selamat Pagi!

Julia's House

And it was a good afternoon and evening, too!

It started with a hour walk through the rice fields to Warung Bodag Maliah. It's the restaurant portion of Sari Organics which considers itself an 'experiment in permaculture and fair trade principles.' By the taste of the food and the quantity of customers I'd consider it a success. You can easily walk to Sari from Ubud and that's what I planned to do in reverse.

For those of you Eat, Pray Love fans (I am not one), the Julia House is just across a field from our Villa - Kodok, the meaning will become apparent later.

Before getting to the path to Sari, though, you pass through Betulung. There the smell of burning penjors signaled the end of Galungan, one of the holiest days for the Balinese. "Don't worry," one of the men said, "it will be back next year." For those planning on being here that's 210 days by the Balinese calendar.

The path this morning was nearly deserted, but not so on an earlier excursion. Few tourists coming from Ubud make it past Sari, so you can imagine the delight  of the local school kids on finding foreigners on their path. Whether by instruction or curiosity, they were taking a survey of the foreigners walking through. David and I were the sole representatives of America, as we duly listed our names, nationalities and age (yeah I told the truth).

David and his fans

View from Warung Bodag Maliah

After breakfast, on to Ubud to search for the local organic farmer's market. Suffice it to say it was a long walk for one small stand. Couldn't walk away empty handed, so bought a couple of beets and some lettuce. It's good to see an organic movement here in Bali which is supported by some of the restaurants in town (More on the Monsanto problem another time).

Lunch at Ryoshi a local chain of excellent Japanese restaurants, then off to the big market for an appropriate sarong to wear to the ceremony on Friday night. David bargained the owner down to two for 100,000 rupiah from 350,000RP, that's $6 each.

It's about 12:30pm and time to find a taxi back up Jl. (road) Suweta to Kodok. The Palace is the major landmark in Ubud, directions are given with it as a center and that's where the local touts hawk their transport. Our driver assured us he could get up the road. NO WAY! The local banjar was bring a bull down the road. We got out and walked.

So why a bull you might ask. First, not a real bull but a giant sarcophagus in the form of a bejeweled bull, right down to the semen-dripping penis. The second wife of the King, and Queen Mother of Ubud, died and will be cremated on the 18th and the entire community is participating in one way or another. 

Stay tuned to this site for more developments. 

Two and a half kilometers later, two pairs of hot tired feet plunged into Kodok's pool having walked over 10 kilometers and much rugged 'sidewalk'.