P- Yep. It's 6:40 am. You ready to get up?
G- Well, we're leaving for Ubud at 9:30 am and we've gotta eat breakfast, make sure all toilet business is taken care of, pay for the last few nights & finish packing. I'm gonna get up now.
Even though it seemed like our belongings had multiplied & spread around the room, everything fit, quite easily, back into our packs. We all loaded into the van for Mede to take us up to Kintamani and then drop Phyl & me off in Ubud.
As we we reached the southern most parts of Ubud, we encountered the best Batik artists in Ubud. Each area of Ubud is known for a certain craft: wood carving, silver working, stone carving, weaving, Batik, etc. We stopped at a silver jewelry maker's shop and were given a demonstration and explanation.
P- (to Cec, Janine & Shirley) Gina loves doors. Everywhere we go she takes pictures of doors.
G- Wow! The intricacy of the carving is incredible! (moving into the silver workshop) The lighting in here sucks. I don't know how they see anything.
P- The girl (that was making the silver) looks very young.
G- She'd have to be young. By the time she hits 40 her career will be over because her eyes will go to shit and she won't be able to see such tiny little details.
P- That's true.
After walking through the showroom but not buying anything, much to the chagrin of the shopkeepers, we proceeded to a wood carving shop.
G- Their skill is phenomenal. I wonder how young they are when they begin learning this art. All of the pieces these guys are working on (there were about 4 men working) are at the more intricate carving level. I'm sure their tools are larger at the initial stages. Most of these tools look like something a dentist would use.
P- And the larger ones are being tapped by just a wooden mallet.
G- Look at the way they hold the pieces with their feet as they work on them.
P- Maybe you could get a job here using those tree sloth toes to hold the pieces for them while they carve.
G- Maybe so. You know that I've always wanted to learn wood carving or mosaic making..........something I could do with my hands. But I'm not very creative.
P- I'm sure that there is a class you could take.
P- Look at the different woods...........I hadn't realized that the wood of the eucalyptus tree was green. This carving of Buddha on a lotus leaf is really beautiful.
G- I do like it a lot! And it is so light. Look at the mahogany carvings. What's that wood?
P- The woman says it's alligator tree. The bark does look like alligator skin.
G- Hell, my legs look like alligator skin. I need some lotion.
We were told that the life size carvings take a man a year to complete. The showroom contained many beautiful pieces and we would love to have purchased something but we cannot carry around souvenirs. Of course there were carved penises of all sizes............
G- Oh my gawd! Phyllis! Look at this! It's a damn coat rack with penis pegs.
P- Freaking hysterical!
G- We need to bring back a box of these and sell them in the Castro!
P- The boys would love it, but my new career is not going to be a penis salesperson!
G- Of course, this particular one could only hold light jackets; the penises are too short. For a winter coat, you'd need a more substantial penis.
P- Whatever. The only good thing about that rack is that once you hang your coat on it, you no longer have to see the penis.
G- Look at this one. It looks like the Balinese version of American Gothic, from the chest up.
P- Yes, that's what it reminds me of too.
Back in the van we headed to a coffee bean growing area overlooking a large, lush gorge. We walked through the plantings of coffee beans, vanilla beans, cocoa beans, pineapples, snake skin fruits, and bananas. This area contained the cages of the Luwak producing monkeys. We saw how the coffee beans were counted, by hand, roasted over an open fire, then ground in a large container that looks just like a small mortar & pestle. At a table overlooking the gorge, we sampled Female Balinese coffee, ginseng coffee, cocoa, ginger tea, and lemon grass tea. We had the option, for a small fee, to taste Luwak coffee.
G- Holy crap! This female Balinese coffee is so strong it's growing hair on my chest. I can't imagine what the male version would do.
P- I'd better not even taste it because I don't have any room in my bra for hair. And what about some milk? I don't even drink black Community.
P- Yes, me too. I expected the cocoa to be sweet, but it's not.
G- So, do you want to taste the Luwak coffee?
P- Hell no! I'm not drinking anything that has come out of a monkey's ass.
G- It's probably fresh. When we passed the cages, all of the monkeys were asleep. They must have been busy this morning “brewing” coffee bean scat. Hell, I think we've all tasted enough strong coffee and unusual teas considering we've got to get back into a van and continue our trek up the mountain. Our systems are all teetering on the edge as it is.
P- Damn! I didn't think of that.
Our next stop was Kintamani which afforded breathtaking views of Danau Batur (Lake Batur) and Batur Volcano which last erupted in 1963. We ate lunch on a porch and watched the fog roll in and out, at times completely obscuring the volcano. We felt like we were in San Francisco! Just after our lunch I noticed that a group of Asians (I think Chinese) were attempting to slyly take my photo. Finally one of the young guys simply asked if he could take a photo with me.
G- Sure, why not? (He sat next to me and I smiled)
P- What was that about?
G- I haven't a clue. Apparently I'm fascinating. Maybe it's the blonde hair or light eyes or the very short spiky hair?
P- I hate to burst your bubble but your hair is not blonde since your haircut.
G- Kiss my ass! Blondish. Maybe I'm just a circus freak?
G- You're hysterical, Gladys!
After lunch we drove to Ubud and were dropped off at the Nirwa Homestay.
