Ubud: Fire and Trance

Our last full day in Ubud was spent on another hike through rice fields and villages. The countryside is very beautiful and we have enjoyed getting out into the paddies. Unfortunately though, Ubud was not made for walkers, and our hikes have been interspersed with harrowing walks on tiny thin roads with no shoulders, motor bikes and tourist buses zipping on both sides. I have seen very few people walking, Ubud is terribly over touristed and everyone rides in style in tour buses and motor bikes. It is too bad, I think that zooming through a place can't at all compare with a nice walk, but maybe it isn't worth the risk.... It is nice to retreat to our peaceful bungalow for a nap accompanied by gamelon music after dealing with near death.

We've been sampling all kinds of Balinese and Indonesian food, usually we don't know what we have ordered until it arrives, which is always fun. Most of the dishes have been rice based, with a variety of different veggie and meat combos. It has been mostly pretty good, a few misses, but the last few meals have been excellent. The local Bingtang beer isn't half bad either.

we visited a monkey forest on our walk. one of them stole Dan's water bottle

caged roosters

This evening we took in a Kecak Fire and Trance dance. It was pretty awesome. A huge group of men, all sitting on the floor in a big circle perform this haunting chant as accompaniment to dancers who act out a story that really was lost on me, but was fascinating to watch anyway. The next dance was performed by two girls who couldn't have been older than eight. They danced the whole time in synch, with their eyes closed! Very impressive. And they saved the best for last. As the chorus of men chanted a guy riding a stick horse jumped around a fire that was lit in the middle of the stage. He then jumped into the coals and started kicking them around and stepping on them. It was intense. I'm sad that we won't be able to see more dances, they have definitely been the highlight of Ubud. But tomorrow it is off to the beach!