Friday, July 21, 2023
We head to Ubud with a busload of new friends from the conference. Our destinations include a waterfall. It's a short, steep workout for the heart, down from the top and back up.
Many participants stay at the top but about half of us do the 200 uneven steps (17 flights).
It's beautiful once you get down.
A few parts have good stairs like below, but most of the trail is rough concrete poured over dirt steps (as above) so you must watch your feet as well as the view.
Just before the waterfall, there's a bamboo bridge - yay, it has a railing on one side, as the water gushes underneath.
Of course, from the bottom, you need to go back up. I run a few flights until my heart pounds, rest with deep breaths, and run again. I really don't like stairs.
On the way to the mountain city of Ubud, our driver goes in the left-most lane (the 3rd lane from the right) with 3 lanes of cars in the 2 lanes beside us.
No problem. We intend to turn right, so he drifts toward the right as we approach the traffic light.
Miraculously no one crashes in the right turn and all 4 lanes of cars/trucks/buses/motorcycles emerge into 2 lanes of orderly traffic. That's the way it's done.
The city of Ubud is a tourist destination. Below is a typical restaurant with wicker art (the balls), statues, flowers, and clean tablecloths.
W and I shop at the art market (nothing for me) and have lunch at #Locovore
, an amazing hole-in-the-wall cafe. They serve water in cooling terra-cotta jugs. "Buy it at the potter, not far from here," we're told.
At the old potter's shop, he finds what we're looking for (2@$6.50). Then he returns to painting vases. This tunnel of pottery hangs at the front of his store.
Ton the sidewalk, these monkey-gods look irritated at the tangle of wires that has erupted around them.
About half of the group is unused to walking or unable to walk further. They head back to the hotel while the rest of us make one more stop.
We're looking for the origin of art glass like this.
As we leave town, the Ubud statue at the intersection looms above traffic.
Along the road, a men's fashion store abuts a Hindu temple. Men can wear sarongs (skirts) as normal clothing or during ceremonies as traditional dress.
There's at least one temple or heap of statues every block or two.
Some statues are wrapped in religious black&white checkered cloth.
Shops sell ornamental heads along with useful or decorative pots.
Pottery is available in all colors, shapes, and sizes.
Small heaps of discarded furniture sit along the road.
We pass shops filled with woven grasses and rattan.
Even the cracks in the walls are full of flowers.
When the bus stops, we walk a few blocks to the glass-blowing factory. Laurel poses in the entry. Wow - some tourists think this weather is hot? In the workshop, the temperature soars over 100oF (38oC).
The variety of glass vessels is astonishing. Each is blown onto a piece of wood, creating an individual shape. The wood and glass pieces are numbered to make matching them easier. Each piece of glass is individually washed by a few women sitting inside the entry. Then the duet is reassembled for shipping.
"We send a full 40' (10 meter) shipping container to the UK every month," says the factory owner.
Back on the bus, we spot kites are flying in the ocean winds. Some are so big they have to be held by 2-4 men.
I snap pictures of various shops as we drive by.
Local craftsmen do astonishing things with wood and other natural materials.
Smaller branches are woven into animal shapes, like this life-sized herd of horses.
Some statues tell heroic stories, like this little angel (or demon?) sitting on a stone panther near the garbage can. Statues of local gods and goddesses are in progress.
Saturday
The #
Merusaka hotel has been ideal for the conference. It's somewhat isolated from the city, borders the south-west beach, and lies open to the winds blowing up from an Australian winter. The temperature is cool (mid-30s/80s) most of the week.
Every corner of Bali is green and growing.
W and I take a last walk on the beach after breakfast and goodbyes.
The surfers are paddling out to the waves, flipping into the water from their surfboards, and shouting to each other.
Golden leaves are swept off the paved walkways a few times a day.
W orders a Maxim car-taxi to take us to the airport for less than $10. Perhaps the old TV show Pimp my Ride got ahold of this car, decked out in quilted black and red vinyl. The sun shines on the dash and the diamonds make me feel like I'm behind a chain-link fence.
The flight is delayed as usual but the flight back to Bandung is eventless. PakG meets us at the airport and takes us home.
It's my turn to do a flower arrangement for the hall tomorrow. Before we go inside to unpack, I grab a knife, go to the garden to chop 7 stems of blooms and 3 stems of tall greens ... and send them to the hall with PakG. By the time he's come back, I've sorted the hotel toiletries into 3 heaps and bagged his up to take home.
A dear friend from Jakarta meets us for supper at the #PadmaHotel, a few blocks from the house. The restaurant overlooks a deep valley, filled with tall blooming trees. The breeze comes over the mountains and cools us.
The sun sets over the pool and the children splashing below.
Home sweet home. We walk back and enjoy the view on our own Porch, wrapping up a full day. The dogs are ecstatic to see us, barking and jumping all over.
Sunday
It's a rough night for W and for me. I don't fall asleep until midnight. I journal what I want to remember about the past week to dismiss the churning thoughts from my mind.
W wakes after 2 a.m. We get up an hour before walking up to the hall at 7 a.m. The dogs watch us walk out the gate: they'll guard and take care of anyone who dares to enter!
Once at the hall, it takes 5 minutes to move the stems around into a 4' (1.3 meter)-tall bouquet. Some weedy vines have taken over one stem of greens. They look fine when I drape them around the vase.
Pastor Dave, the founding pastor of IES Jakarta, speaks this morning. What a treat to enjoy his words of encouragement. A few leaders join for lunch at #NaraPark afterwards.
We walk home to the Porch full of young people. One group is finishing lunch at a table. After, they sort through the boxes of library-discarded books and take home what they want. We still have 2 dozen boxes left over.
W and I finish unpacking, settle in for the afternoon, and relax.
Read more:
*You are a people holy to the Lord your God; it is you the Lord has chosen out of all the peoples on earth to be his people, his treasured possession. Deuteronomy 14:2
For you are all children of light and children of the day; we are not of the night or of darkness. 1 Thessalonians 5:5
Moravian Prayer: Light of the universe, you have chosen us to reflect your light into a darkened world. Make us shine brightly with your love for us and with our love for each other. Amen.
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