Welcome to the Jungle

We got fun and games...

On the island of Bali, where Tiff and I retreated into the lush quiet of the tropical forest for some R&R following our one week, whirlwind U.S. Christmas tour, we found nothing so dramatic as a GNR concert. Instead, we found maybe our favorite hotel in Asia.

While trying to sort out the disorientation from crossing back from US to Asia time zones on New Year's Eve, we toasted the New Year on a flight from Shanghai to Bali, and arrived at Nusa Dua, which is home to Bali's luxury resorts and beaches. The first few days were a relaxing blur of falling dead asleep at 3pm, waking up starving at 5am, and generally just enjoying our task of doing nothing but readjusting in a beautiful environment.

After that, we headed deeper inland to Ubud, where much of the historic culture of Indonesia is still maintained, and less tainted by the stink of commercialization for the sake of foreigners like us. Which is not to say that it is completely untouched, for that would have meant that we would potentially have slept in huts among the rice paddies with the locals. And while Tiff may have found that adventurous, the thought of accommodation sans hot water, fresh sheets and room service is too horrific for me to contemplate ;)

Ubud turned out to be incredibly lush and green, with winding roads taking us into dense, leafy forests, which then gave way to vast open fields of flooded rice paddies packed with sprouting green stalks and then back into more forest. All along the way we spotted a colorful array of tropical flowers and plants streaked across the green backdrop. Enveloped in a blanket of warm, humid air, we also ran for cover with everyone else at least five times a day, when sheets of rain came falling out of nowhere to water the jungle.

Ubud is predominantly Hindu, although a modified "Balinese" Hindu is what we were told, meaning that beef was still on the menu. But they did make a traditional offering twice a day to the various gods, to both good gods for luck and blessing, and bad gods for appeasement and mercy.

The population in Ubud was divided into very small villages. In a brief tour driving through the countryside, we probably passed 30-40 different villages, each of which may have comprised a clump of only 10-20 families. But each village had at least two different temples, for different gods. And in front of each temple, and in front of each home, we saw the little offering dishes, usually made out of leaves and containing some rice, and a combination that seemed to comprise whatever was in the house, which ranged from flowers, to crackers, cookies and incense sticks, to cigarettes. We were told that offerings didn't have to be big (and at two times a day who can afford it?!) and it was more the thought that counted.

Also, one's responsibility ended as soon as the offering was put down. This became apparent when we watched the large number of dogs roaming around, sniffing at each offering and snacking on them at their leisure. Here you can see me getting stared down by a furry local over a collection of offerings in the doorway.

Our hotel in Ubud was an unbelievable blend of subtle comfort and Balinese culture. Each of the villas were hidden from the naked eye among the natural blend of trees, flowers and stone carvings. You can see the thatched roofs of the villas below emeshed in the trees.It felt a bit like staying in one of the temples from Tomb Raider. We stayed in a villa built into the upper part of a hill, with a large outdoor balcony that enjoyed a beautiful view across the valley. With our stack of gossip and fashion magazines from the US, we plopped ourselves on the balcony couches and alternated between reading and napping. It was the perfect antidote to jet lag!