I am overwhelmed with love!! There is no such thing as being lonely when alone in another country, thanks to technology! The outpouring of birthday love has me high as a kite. Thank you all!
I love birthdays as I feel they are your very own special day to be celebrated. Here are just a couple of my the wonderful wishes I received from around the world (Australia, Hawaii and CA)
One of my favorite things of all time, the gift of a llama through Heifer International. If you are reading this and do not know about this, do yourself a favor and look it up.
Since I took my Bali birthday off from any sort of activities I decided I needed some exercise. So today I took part in an Eco biking tour through the jungle country. I'm not usually a tour person, but this ended up being a great cultural experience and I got out of the city!
A group of 7 were all picked up from our different hotels and driving about 30 minutes up into the mountains. We started at the Lakeview Restaurant and Hotel overlooking Mt. Batur and it's neighboring crater lake, lake Batur. Upon arrival we were handed fresh watermelon juice and provided a beautiful breakfast buffet. Yes, I had two breakfasts today.
They say that the two mountains on either side of the lake were once one.
Lake Batur is the largest lake in Bali. It is freshwater, the middle reaches 17 meters where the water is drinkable. The bamboo boxes in the water are used to raise fish. There are also several hot springs in the area.
After breaky we headed to a coffee and spice farm.
Our guide was so helpful and informative. Here he was collecting leaves for us to sniff and identify as well as grating the root spices on the rock for us to smell. They grow Ginger, turmeric (which I learned is an antiseptic and can stop bleeding as well as it is good for the stomach-something I need to try!), cardamom, cinnamon, vanilla, white pepper, black pepper, etc.
We were then introduced to the coffee Lewak which is described below. I remembered this from the movie "As Good As It Gets". It's the most expensive coffee in the world. A small cup was $5, which a regular cup of coffee goes for less than $1 in this area.
The Lewak eats the red coffee cherry, then poops it out (this calls for such bluntness) and it is then collected for processing. They wash it with hot water, dry, then roast it for 45 minutes...
Roasted beans
The coffee is then ground (front right), then sifted as our guide was showing us. He went on to explain that the coffee bean's sex can be identified by the number of beans. The female has two, which tastes smoother. The male has one which is more bitter. (I find this funny) strangely the male coffee was more expensive.
Lewak coffee brewing
We were given a tasting of about 12 different teas and coffees. My favorite was the coconut coffee, although all were highly sweetened with sugar.
We hopped back in the van and headed to get our mountain bikes for the 25k trek.
We stopped at a family compound which gave us a glimpse into the real family life in Bali, outside of our touristy home stays in the city.
View of the compound. To the left is the parent's home which always has a higher foundation. The parents home is used for the honeymoon suite as well. After their children marry, they move out for one week and the newlywed children stay.
In the back left is the family temple, which every compound has. They hold a temple ceremony once a year on the anniversary of which the temple was built.
The middle building is where all ceremonies are held; weddings, births, teeth filing, etc. Indonesian tradition is to have the front, top 4 teeth filed straight and the 2 on either side are made pointed by a priest. This is done at first menstruation for the women and when the "voice changes" for the man. If money is an issue, it can wait until the wedding day. It is cheaper to have the priest come for that and the wedding ceremony all in one day. They believe the filing of the teeth rids them of their 6 animalistic sins (which I can only remember 2; jealousy and drinking).
All sons live within the compound which belongs to the youngest. The oldest son, unlike in America, has the most freedom. The youngest will be around longer to care for his parents. It is preferred that a female be born first, then a male as the female moves to be with her husband's family. Although they like many children, that is costly, so many families stick to 2 children in hopes of a younger son.
Grandma was found out back peeling bamboo. Indonesians do not retire, they work into their old age.
The skin of the bamboo is used for ceilings and goes for about 35,000 rupiah per square meter. This is less than $3 US dollar.
The inner part of the bamboo is used for firewood and the outer for basket weaving. The bamboo takes 6 months from planting to harvest, sometimes growing up to 15cm a day in rainy season.
This family makes their living on the bamboo harvest as well as raising pigs.
They typically raise 3 at a time.
Next stop was a rice field and harvest. They harvest about three times a year. This was fascinating to watch. The workers do not get paid. For every six bags the owner gets, the worker gets one bag of rice. The men do the planting and plowing and the woman do the harvesting. Lake Batur is the water source.
Although rice paddies are everywhere, it's a dying business in Indonesia. They are consuming more rice from Thailand than their own country.
Countless times throughout our journey we saw tarps laid out with rice drying, often times half in the road and half in the front yard. They rake it constantly to get it to dry faster.
This ride was truly experiencing what Balinese life is all about. I felt as though I was riding through the pages of National Geographic at the sights and sounds. At one point we turned a corner and heard the loud ceremonial music of gongs and singing bowls. Around every corner the smells of wood burning alternating with exhaust or rotting garbage. (Thank goodness for smog checks and waste management back home!) I saw a topless grandmother carrying a load of bamboo upon her head, sarong around her waist. Or the man squatted over the roadside canal splashing his bum post release. Mind you this is the same canal used for laundry and bathing!
Although it was 25k, it was mostly a workout of the hands since it was downhill. Even working out my hands on the brakes, I worked up quite the appetite. We were taken to a gorgeous buffet lunch overlooking more rice paddies before heading "home".
As usual I took a much needed siesta before heading to the market.
Ubud is a sleepy town, despite being a city. The market was shutting down before 7pm, which came as a warm welcome after experiencing a few vendors. They're Mexico pushy, yet grab your wrist to show you more. I purchased a couple things and left with no intent on returning.
On my walk back it started raining not even 5 minutes after buying my rain poncho. Phew! Thankfully the real rain waited until I was peacefully enjoying the balcony when an instant downpour started.
The rain is still going accompanied by intense thunder and lightning. The geckos are taking refuge.
