Wayan's House

On the third day of our trip, Drew and I transitioned from the villa in Canngu to a homestay about 20 min outside of Ubud. Essentially we were moving from the ocean to rice paddies in the center of the island. We had a driver take us from the villa to Ubud, a large touristy town that reminded me a lot of a Balinesian Estes Park. Lots of shopping, lots of restaurants etc. The first thing on the docket was a lunch of suckling pig at Buka Onu, a famous restaurant in Ubud. Got the roasted meat, some of the skin, and cracklings for about $5.

Just outside of the restaurant, we saw this impressive wall of rooster cages. They were making one hell of a ruckus, making them easy to find. At the time, we just assumed they were tomorrow's dinner, but later we learned the real reason. Cock fighting. Apparently it's huge in Bali, and people keep tons of roosters just for that. It was originally part of the gatherings before a religious ceremony, but now it happens all over. We'd see men sitting on their front porches massaging their prize roosters; they were so proud of them. 

After lunch, we decided to indulge in some Balinesian pampering. Drew and I both got massages in this tiny room above a restaurant. It was funny; they weren't much for privacy. We walked in and said what we wanted, they said ok, pointed to the tables, and stood there waiting as we got undressed right in front of them. I actually got an hour massage, a 40 min facial, and a 20 min pedicure for $20. Not too shabby! These pics are of the compound where the spa was. I think the raised table was part of the restaurant and you could rent it out for special gatherings. 

We spent the rest of the afternoon walking around the city, taking in the sights. Balinesian architecture is really beautiful. Most of the island was covered in lava at one point, so all of the dirt is black and when they make cement with it, it has a really dark grey color to it. Bali is also a very religious place. The people are mostly Hindu, which is unusual because the rest of Indonesia is Muslim. Anyways, every house and store has a mini temple where the members put offerings of mostly flowers every day. There are also shrines at every family's rice paddy, to pray for a good harvest. Then there is the larger community temple for larger events. The end result is you can't walk more than 10 ft in any given direction in Bali without running into a temple of some sort. 

All of the statues in Bali were ferocious looking to scare away evil spirits. 

A covered pavilion inside a temple for public gatherings, events. etc. 

After our tour of Ubud, another driver picked us up and took us to our new residence. We were staying with Wayan and his family. Wayan, who has had the opportunity to travel internationally and thereby has great English, wanted to turn his family compound into a home stay, so that he could share his community's values and way of life with visitors in a more realistic setting. The rural farming communities in Bali are really close knit. He brought this idea to his community, and they were certainly skeptical but eventually agreed to it. Now, Wayan has built three bungalows on his property for people to rent. Wayan spends his days gardening and maintaining the property and his nights sharing stories and myths about his culture. His wife Ayu cooks delicious meals, cleans the cabins, leads cooking lessons, and brings a sense of family and comfort to the compound that only a mom can bring. Their two kids go to school, then practice their English with the visitors and take them on hikes around the neighborhood. The cousins and uncles are the hired drivers, taking the guests wherever they want to go. They have gotten the whole community involved with this venture, and as such it's become a huge success. Everyone who stays there feels the love, and they get to see the real Bali. 

Our bungalow. 

Our awesome outdoor shower. 

Beautiful flowers in the gardens within the compound.

With every garden comes its bugs. These spiders were the size of your hand outstretched. But, they aren't poisonous. 

The family temple. 

This raised platform was the family living room. Whenever Wayan had friends over, they would just sit on the wooden platform, drinking palm wine (nasty stuff) talking and laughing. 

Wayan's grandmother. So the kids' great-grandmother. Intergenerational living is the norm in Bali. 

After we got settled into our bungalow, Wayan took us, along with another Australian couple also staying on a sunset walk through the community rice paddies. This was really beautiful. I know little about the process of growing rice, but Wayan patiently explained everything. The irrigation systems needed to fill the paddies with water and then drain them at the appropriate times is very complex. And, the Balinesian people can prove these systems have been around since the 800's. You got it, not the 1800's, the 800's. As such, the irrigation group has been around longer than the government and so has ultimate power over the irrigation system. The government can't touch the system.

The cement statue is another family shrine. It's really cool how sustainable these rice fields are. When the water floods the fields, it brings with it eels, frogs, lizards, etc. At night you'll see men walking around with buckets, fishing for eels. The weeds and grass on all the dividers is cut and given to the cows as fodder. The manure is then put back into the fields as fertilizer. When the rice is harvested, ducks are brought in to eat the leftovers and makes the easier to clear the fields. It's a really cool process. Nothing is wasted. 

The Wayan family recently had a new addition, a one month old puppy named Little Lisa. Drew and I fell in love with her. Some mornings, we'd waste an hour just following her around the complex as she'd explore, playing with leaves, the other dogs, chasing after her mom for some more milk etc. So adorable.