October 7th 9:40 am  Kumai River, Kalimantan, Indonesia, Borneo  02′ 44.566 S   111′ 43.917 E

Just finished three loads of laundry and shrinking 500 photos.  And I deleted a bunch so you can imagine how many I took.    The overwhelming theme of our 2 adventures combined is the destruction of the rain forest.  The orangutan conservation area is one small part that is being saved.  The orangutans we saw live in their jungle, but it’s hard to believe that they haven’t been changed by their contact with humans.  It is like seeing them in a huge zoo.  The proboscis monkeys won’t interact with humans.  The gibbons did somewhat and the macaques also.  But when you get close to an orangutan, you feel the frustration of not being able to communicate.  Depending whom you read we share 95 or 98 % DNA with the orangutans so maybe they just are attracted to their human cousins.  I will start working on my real emails. 

We also went to see a native Dayak village.  It was a 3 hour bumpy ride through what once was rain forest and is now palm oil tree plantations as far as the eye can see.  ( And a 20 minute speed boat ride at the end.)   Also, small parts of the forest are burned down so rice fields can be planted.  The people in the Davak village chop down and burn the forest to plant rice.  They have to eat.  In this area of Borneo you can work for the logging companies and chop down the forest.  Or you can work for the gold mines and pollute the rivers with mercury.  The people in the Dayak village are poor but like everywhere, the kids seem happy and playful.  The old men seem happy.  The women work hard and the wife of our host never smiled.  The kids go to the small local school.  They are in the process of building a library with government money.  Our host is a teacher there.  He went to the local teacher training university in Pangkalan Bun.  We saw his 10 year old daughter reading and he said she was very smart.  Izzy, our orangutan guide and our Dayak guide translated between us and the villagers who spoke no English. Randal and I hosted (paid for) the traditional ceremony held in our host’s longhouse the evening we were there.  It is how the village makes money.  It was interesting, not too long, and Randal and I even took part as we danced the bird dance.   Randal was draped in a giant sarong and I looked more like a scare crow to scare away the birds with my arms stiffly out to the sides instead of gracefully floating in the symbolic breeze.  I was ok until I heard Izzy’s infectious giggles.  Then I almost lost it. Thankfully it was only almost.  Well they had made us drink a glass a rice wine in an early part of the ceremony during which they sprinkled rice in our hair and tied a traditional folded leaf bracelet to our wrist.  The whole experience was a mix of the ancient, recent past, and modern since they had a satellite dish and a cell phone, a generator for the night time electricity and a squat toilet installed for when guests come as well as a head hunter buried not far from their house.  Yes a real head hunter from their village so he still had his head.  Our host showed us his blow gun but not the magic arrows.  The blow gun was to protect the children from the head hunters who prized the heads of children.  Pretty much a thing of the past. 

October 1  6:40 pm Kumai River    (Off tomorrow early for a 3 day trip up the river to Camp Leakey to see the orang utan conservation area.)

When we lived in China, Hong Kong, Subic, and Kota Kinabalu all for extended periods of time, it was easier to write emails because, mostly, days were uneventful. When something unusual happened, there was time to write about it because the next day was probably filled with routine, leaving lots of time to think about and write an email. I’m only now realizing the luxury of having enough time in one place. And even with the time we had, we both wish for more time in China, places in the Philippines, and Kota Kinabalu. I’d like more time in Hong Kong and Randal in Subic Bay. Now it seems as soon as we arrive, it’s time to go. Tana Toraja and Ubud definitely needed more than 3 days. And we hardly saw Makassar though we were anchored there 8 days. It’s hard not to feel overwhelmed with sights and sounds. I guess I am having to become more selective about what I can share. Bits here and there; not long stories about kids and school visits and such. Sometimes, like special trips to places like Tana Toraja and Ubud and our up-coming orang utan conservation area visit, are so special they demand more time and space.

Added to the new anchorages we see, some on a daily basis, are the new Sail Indonesia participants we meet along the way. We cruised from Lovina to Kumai in the company of 5 other boats. During a night passage radio communications is very reassuring. Like when bikers warn each other about pot holes or gravel in the road ahead; cruisers warn each other about fish traps, towed barges and anything else not easily seen at night. It’s easier to interpret a radar screen if someone can say, “yes, those double bits of light are a barge being towed; it already passed us.” Or Peter, from The Southern Cross telling me it’s a squid boat fishing in one spot, so no need to wake Randal to ask what to do. Actually, though Peter was reassuring, when our radar said, DANGEROUS TARGET for the second time and it was within the mile radar ring of our boat, I did wake Randal. But my 3 am to 7 am watch I did completely on my own. The boat Tonic is cruising along too; that’s tonic spelled with a tilted cocktail glass replacing the i. There is also Just Jane, Saraoni, Sea Bunny, and Solan. Jo from Just Jane has the knack for saying the exact right thing. You can hear cruisers speaking to each other over the shared Indonesia Sail channel 77. It’s as if she has read, memorized, or possibly written, one of those “what to say on any occasion” books. Caught off guard or on the spur of the moment I might say something inappropriate, or hopefully just become catatonic in response. Jo says something clever, complementary, or just matter-of-fact. We will all be here on the Kumai River for about 10 days so hopefully I’ll get to know faces to put with the voices and names. I have met some of these people before. But having listened in on shared conversations, sometimes with us too, I have gotten to know them better.

It is now many days later and we have in fact gotten to know Peter and Kathryn from “The Southern Cross” and Jo and Arnold from “Just Jane”. They came for a Happy Hour(s) on DoraMac one evening last week. Really nice, friendly, interesting people; all Australians. All of us were about the same age, though Randal, at 60, was the oldest. Peter was in politics, though not a politician he was quick to point out, Kathryn worked with the people who had suffered brain injuries, Jo was a special ed teacher of emotionally challenged elementary age children and Arnold managed a company that dealt with electrical concerns. We tried to talk him into climbing our mast to fix the anchor light, but no luck! We talked cruising, boats, books, world politics….the time flew. We only knew bits and pieces of their stories when they left. Hopefully we will have more chances along the way for another Happy Hour. I did lend Kathryn a Jane Austen biography so I know we will meet up again. I hadn’t read it yet so couldn’t give it to her. But I did pass along eat pray love since I had read it and they had also been to Ubud. When I mentioned the library Kathryn gave Peter a “how did we miss it?” look. I told her I had already read about it so knew it was there to look for. It really isn’t on the list of tourist stops in any literature about Ubud.

They asked if we knew much about Australia and its politics. “No.” Though I did get some points for having read Jill Kerr Conway’s Road from Courain and had seen” A Town Like” Alice on Masterpiece Theatre. Crocodile Dundee gets you no points. I pled New England provincialism. If it wasn’t happening in Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont or Massachusetts (eastern Mass that is) than I didn’t really know about it. Except for Viet Nam and Russia which I did study at U Mass. And the time I spent in Chicago. Aussies and Canadians either don’t see us as idealistic though (sometimes bumbling) do gooders trying to help the world’s people. They see us as having a nationalistic and economic agenda and basing our foreign policy on those principles. I don’t argue because how they see us comes from their Australian or Canadian view of the world. I guess I still believe someone has to stand up to tyrants. As everyone was leaving I asked about the name, “Just Jane”. I happen to like it; sounds like a Young Adult book title. Far from it!!! Joe and Arnold bought the boat already named by its original owner after a British stripper named Jane. She would take off her clothes and then it would be….just Jane! Since it’s bad luck to change a boat’s name, Just Jane it is still. The Southern Cross was named for the stars. Randal and I both called it Southern Comfort, much to Peter’s chagrin.

The little water front town of Kumai has little to offer but its warm friendliness and cute smiling waving kids yelling, “hello Mister!” Hello Mister!!! When Randal and I got separated on the main street while shopping for food (me) and hardware (Randal), the locals pointed the way I should go when they saw me looking around and around for him. The kids call out, teens call out and ask, “where are you going?” and the old people, shy, steal looks until I look back and smile and then they give a big smile in return. No beggars, no one trying to sell you something. We eat in the same restaurant every day, where the locals eat. Wash your hands first at the sink by the door, because that’s what the Muslim people do, get a plate, get your rice and point to the other food you want. My favorite is the corn fritter. Eat too much, pay very little.

And how ‘bout them Sox!! Going to the playoffs!!! We will be up the river on our way to the Urang Utan Conservation area when they start playing the LA Angeles. But I have done all I can do; bought lucky charms, made an offering to Neptune, and will even be wearing my red 2004 World Series socks when we start off tomorrow. The rest is up to Theo, Tito and the team.

September 29   8 am

   Here are some first photos of our walk in Kumai yesterday.  We’ll probably wait until after Ramadan ends to take our trip to the Orang Utan Conservation Area.  Apparently September 30th and October 1st are days of celebration that no one wants to miss.  We took the dinghy to shore, ate a huge lunch of rice and fried everything else.  One thing was a vegetable fritter and some tempeh and something that looked like a fried clam minus the stomach, just the long neck.  Could have been who knows what really; intestines of some kind.  The women working in the restaurant didn’t speak English.  But I did eat enough fried food to last me a good long while, or until we go there again. 

    There are about 10 other Sail Indonesia boats here.  Last night we had visitors from Single Malt.  They had already done the Orang Utan trip and raved so we are really looking forward to it.

  Tiny, but you get the idea.  Our side of the river is tree lined and undeveloped.  The water is brown and pretty dirty.  We are being very conservative with our water because we can’t make water from the dirty river water as we can from the ocean water.  If we run out we’ll have to buy some.  We do have lots of bottled water, but that won’t work for dishes, showers, toilets, or laundry.  We’ve never had to worry about water before.  At marinas you get marina water and at the boat yard we filled up from the hose and not river water.  But we will be here at least a week, not counting our time off to see the Orang Utan.  We filled the tanks coming to Kumai and they hold 250 gallons of water.

  I read about birds’ nest soup in Agnes Keith’s books about Borneo.  Natives would climb very high cave walls to collect the nests the swifts had built. Swifts apparently have some special liquid they use to make the nests and that’s what makes it a delicacy.   Someone in Kumai had the idea to build these huge buildings that mimic caves and thousands of swifts nest there.  There are five or six of these buildings that I saw along the waterfront.  The locals don’t like them because of the noise, bird droppings and fear of bird flu.  But China pays big bucks for the nests.  It’s too bad that the building have to be located where they are.  We had several swifts visit our boat yesterday morning.  My guess is that they feed in the forest across the river and then fly back to nest in the buildings.  Some of the buildings have facades that resemble homes rather than industrial buildings.  But the noise of the roosting birds could be annoying if the street noise ever stopped.  It’s hard to see, but there are openings on the sides of the buildings, like you see in birdhouses.  The birds come and go through the holes.  It would be interesting to see the insides.

  Something you won’t see at home; a motorcycle laden with pineapple.

  Street scene along the public market area.  I bought mango, cabbage, tomato, and cucumber. You can see one of the many mosques along the waterfront.

Half the women wear traditional garb. 

  We saw several women with white paste on their faces.  I guess it’s connected to Ramadan, but I’m not sure.  Maybe I’ll ask if I find someone who speaks English well enough.  My few words of Indonesian are just so limited.

  Boat visitors.  They came by to see the boat and Randal invited them aboard.  We gave them some of the school notebooks we had bought to give to the kids, some fancy pencils I had bought, a jump rope Randal had bought for kids bandannas for all.  After a nice visit of Mountain Dew, little cakes, and lots of photos they continued home.  As I saw them off, the dad offered me a coconut.  Maybe we’ll take it on our Orang Utan trip and let the cook use it for a meal.  Hopefully his wife won’t kill him for coming home without the coconut she had sent him off to get.

While walking along the beach at Gili Air back at the Mataram anchorage we had met a couple traveling around Indonesia. They had been to Ubud and had done an Eco Cycling Tour. Randal added it to our list of things to do in Ubud.

From the leaflet about Eco Tour……..

“Experience the magic and feel the spirit of rural Bali on our famous Eco-Educational cycling tour (suitable for all ages.) We’ll pick you up at your hotel and drive you up to Penelokan (Kintamani) where we’ll breakfast overlooking the active volcano, Mount Batur and its crater lake.”

“ After breakfast we’re off on our mountain bikes through the heartland of Bali, traveling downhill on secret back roads and minor village roads (with no traffic) experiencing untouristed, typical Balinese daily life and enjoying the beautiful Balinese countryside to Ubud.”

The tour was a full day. We were picked up at 7:45 and go back to Ubud about 4:30. First stop was a photo op of a terraced rice field. They are so unique with lovely color patterns.

Next stop, breakfast overlooking the spectacular Mount Batur.

Randal and I had eaten a wonderful 7 am breakfast of fresh fruit and banana pancakes at our hotel. So, though I wasn’t really hungry, I did manage to eat one of the restaurant’s banana pancakes and a chocolate pancake just to be on the safe side. Lunch wouldn’t be till after 2 and our bike riding.

Still driving in the van, we stopped to visit a small plantation where we tasted coffee and tea and learned about local fruits, spices and how the first stage of the special expensive Balinese coffee is passage through the intestinal system of a civet cat!

No one opted for the Luwak special coffee. I tried everything else and they were all good; the coco being very chocolaty.

Then finally to the bicycles. I am always a bit apprehensive of any bike other than my own. These bikes had plain flat pedals with no toe clips. The brake system was a bit unusual and we rode on the left side where Balinese drive. Right turns were the trickiest since you turned right but had to end up on the left side of the road. It was all a gentle downhill ride. They did provide bike helmets and rain gear if needed.

We stopped to visit a local family compound, where they made bamboo matting for floors and ceilings;

The man is working on the cut bamboo beginning the process that will end with the woven bamboo mats standing at the top right hand corner of the photo.

Women creating the thin strips of bamboo for weaving.

The whole family worked on the bamboo products. BBC Dharma said. Bamboo, banana and coconut tree products were the product used for production and for daily life. Dharma said that many people never travel further than Ubud in their lives! Electricity and television have come after Kennedy was president! It is also a structured life with a more moderate form of caste system. Most people in Bali are Hindu while the rest of Indonesia is Muslim.

Dharma holding a banana leaf. Banana leaves were used as plates, spoons, bowls, everything. And when no longer needed, they could be thrown on a heap to return to the earth. When plastic arrived in these rural areas it was treated like the banana leaves. Caused lots of problems. People had to be educated as to what plastic was and that it wasn’t disposable like the banana leaves. We should have stuck to banana leaves.

The family also raised pink Balinese pigs and black Australian pigs. The original plot of family land was divided among the sons. The youngest son was expected to stay forever and care for the parents and their land was therefore left to him. Dharma was the youngest son in his family. His story was a bit like Rusli’s, our guide in Tana Toraja. Both men are about 40. Their family was very poor so they gone to work away from home as children; had managed to get an education and learn English so they could work with the English speaking tourists. When he was 14 Dharma went off with a family from Java only to find himself the household drudge working before sun up till late at night. He was determined to go to school and did along with all of his household tasks. . He managed to learn English well enough so finally left the family to work in a hotel where his brother was already working. He worked as a cleaner too shy to use his English. Encouraged by his brother, Dharma eventually learned most hotel jobs and worked while putting himself through university to graduate with a degree in English. He returned to Ubud and became a teacher. Soon after that he became a tour guide for the Australian Eco Tour Company. By telling us his story, he was telling us the story of many of his generation. Culture dictated that as the youngest he must return to his family home to live with and care for his parents. Understandably, his wife and mother took several years to work out their relationship. He has 2 sons, but won’t expect the youngest one to take care of him. He will expect both of them to work together. Children are the Balinese Social Security System. If you read eat pray love, you will learn a good bit about the culture. I was familiar with much of what Dharma told us from reading Elizabeth Gilbert’s book. (However, Lori who moved to Ubud 17 years ago from one of those out west rugged U.S. states, and helped found the local library, said she had a different view of Balinese society but allowed that Elizabeth Gilbert had different experiences so probably valid opinions.)

Woodcarvers;

a rice field to watch the workers process the harvested rice;

a huge banyan tree with dreadlock vines hundreds of years old upstaged by a ragtag band of kids and their simple musical instruments and lots of beautiful countryside.

Dharma called it the “rasta” tree because of its long dreadlocks. We had snacks of water, bananas and crackers. Some for the local kids too. They played their musical instruments drowning out Dharma. The boy with the drum has a cracker in his mouth, not an harmonica.

At one point the downhill ended and short, steep uphills began. We were offered the chance to get off the bike and ride in the van. One couple, probably the youngest there, got off the bikes. After some steep uphill when everyone tried to figure out their shifting systems, more people took the van. One woman, having fallen off her bike for the second time, also stopped riding. Finally it was one man from Iceland, Randal, two guides, and me. I had left my pack in the van with my Gatorade so the heat and the hills were getting to me. The secondary guide, Randal and the Iceland man went on ahead and Dharma, our primary guide rode with me. At the very last part when we hit the main road, I stopped. I knew I could make it eventually, but everyone would have been long done with lunch by then. I didn’t want to hold up the works so Dharma called a van to come get us. It really wasn’t so far to the restaurant, but I wan bonked and that was that. Food was great. It was a buffet, but I didn’t overeat because I was still to hot to be hungry. Back in the van we headed back to Ubud and our last stop. The Monkey Forest from which Monkey Forest Road gets its name. What a hoot. Hundreds of monkeys behaving like monkeys. I bought $.50 worth of bananas for 2,000 rp (about $2.30) but one of the biking couples took half for 1,000 rp. It is hard to hold lots of bananas and try to feed individual monkeys. They know you have more. I took way too many pictures but it was so entertaining. Monkeys are silly until you look them in the eye and then you are amazed. Mom monkeys with babies were most fascinating to me. Some of the babies were just so tiny!

After about an hour Randal and I left the forest and walked back to Ubud center. It had been a great day and we had both enjoyed getting on bikes again.

I have so many more photos of each stop we made. Wish I could send them all.

In eat pray love , Elizabeth Gilbert had written about the Ubud “public” library, so I kept an eye out for it. Since it’s in the center of town, has a huge sign and was not far from our hotel, we found it easily. Randal and I were there each day to check email, browse the “for sale” books; and I took a Balinese traditional painting class. It was great; the best library I have found on our travels so far. Though only 2 rooms, one small and one tiny, it was quite similar to my own library at home except in Bali one removes one’s shoes before entering. (At least I did the last time I was there and thought to notice everyone had left shoes outside. Tourists are allowed shoes, but locals remove their sandals before entering the very clean tiled establishments. With sneakers it’s a pain with the laces and all.) Here is the description from the library’s small brochure.

A Bit About Pondok Pekak

(Pondok Pekak = Grandfather’s little resting house in the rice fields)

Pondok Pekak Library and Learning Center was founded in 1995 by a woman who loves to read and believes that every town should have a library. With the support of her husband and his family, the library was built as an addition to his family compound. The idea was inspired by the family grandfather, Pekak Mangku, whose passion for reading, learning and helping others established his reputation as a respected priest, healer and advisor until the day he died in 2001. Built in the 1970’s on the very spot in the rice fields where his own ‘pondok’ once stood, this home has always been referred to by family and community as ‘The Pondok’. In honor of this tradition and this man, the library was named ‘Pondok Pekak’.

Since 1995 the library has grown rapidly, primarily servicing travelers and expatriates who already have a love and desire for books. The goal, however, is to introduce “library and reading culture’ to local children who have not had the access to books many foreigners take for granted. As a result, and with help of many friends, Pondok Pekak in now able to provide these children with a library of their own, full of colorful and interesting children’s books.

As a privately funded organization, survival is a constant, creative challenge. We strive for self-sufficiency by offering a selection of services, all of which help toward supporting this project. We encourage you to help us along by using these services – joining the library, study language or an art form; enjoy a meal; refill your water bottle. Donations of funds, books, time and materials are also appreciated.

The sign was on the street on the far side of the soccer field that was located in the center of town. You walked past the sign down a short alley housing a restaurant and turned left. I believe that the family compound was to the left of the wall. At the end of the short alley you turn right and there you are. Sings all along the way pointed to the library.

They were open 9 to 9 every single day! This young woman worked every day except Sunday. She was pleasant, helpful and professional. In this photo she is signing me up for my Balinese traditional painting class. It was 3 hours and cost 200,000rp, about $23. There were 4 internet terminals, 2,000 rp 25 cents for 10 minutes. That was cheaper and better than the internet café near our hotel. In their “for sale” books, I found a very used copy of West With the Night by Beryl Markham. It is Randal’s favorite book of the moment but he had given his last copy to Tony Parkinson back in Romblon. This copy had been given to Penny in August 1987 for her birthday by Misha, Knengi and Kadiato? ( a photo of a happy group is taped above the words, but it is too faded to really see.) In August 2007, Tim gave the book to Patricia to inspire her writing. I gave it to Randal September 2008, just because he likes the book. It cost me 40,000 rp. About $4.25. It cost $12.50 in 1983 when this edition was published. The original copyright is 1942.

In the building is a small room with the adult books and internet, the place to fill water bottles and the for sale books. Just outside the library room is a bathroom, stage area, work tables for classes, and a small kitchen where they made the wonderful smelling snacks you could buy. Also some artwork was displayed. I had my class at the table on the left. You can see my black backpack.

Upstairs was a tiny children’s library.

I had my sneakers on so didn’t go in. From what I could see, most titles were in English.

I really, REALLY liked the little library and hope that where ever we end up when our cruising days are over we live somewhere with a library like that.

Some examples of Balinese traditional painting and woodcarving. Amazingly I bought a cat like the tall one with white ears while in Kota Kinabalu. Much of what we saw being made in the small shops is actually exported so that’s why you can buy things like the cat with the striped tail in the US.

My teacher, Pak Sulendra, did most of what you see. We did the woman first and then the flowers. I say we because I actually did help. He drew a picture of the woman on one sheet of paper and I drew on this one, and then he fixed what I drew. Then he taught me how to go over the pencil with an drawing pen….very slowly! Then we started to put down the color. It is acrylic mixed with water. He would show me and then I would finish. Before we painted the woman’s hair you could see the pen lines and I am sorry they all were painted over. Up close you can see them and it gives the hair detail. The scarf still has visible ink lines. The lines on her face and the bit of white in her hair represent age, But with no saggy chin so I’m not sure that I see an older woman. Maybe Balinese women don’t get saggy chins. I also had trouble with the hibiscus because I didn’t know what they looked like in real life. My teacher obviously does. We drew then inked then put down a red wash leaving some white. Then we added yellow, then more red, then the green. I loved watching it develop layer after layer of color. By the end of the three hours I was quite tired. But I learned patience and how to use the acrylic paint that Dorothy Nagle gave me back in Subic. I hadn’t mixed in enough water. He mixed in lots of water for the initial washes.

That afternoon I followed the map Pak Sulendra had drawn for me to the local art supply store. I bought the same drawing pens and 2 brushes like he had. One can only hope (and practice!)

Ubud might just be my favorite stop so far, maybe for the wrong reason! The wrong reason is that it felt just like home. Why is that the wrong reason? We’re traveling to see the world away from home and experience new ways, not be at home away from home. Wonderfully, there was a great little library with library users just like I would see at home. (More about that another email) There was a pretty good book store and most small shops sold used books along with whatever was their main product for sale. There was a good art supply shop. Most people spoke English so communication was easy. Actually, the only people who didn’t speak English were most of the other tourists we saw. So though some things looked foreign, and the culture of the Balinese is far different than ours, the feel of Ubud center was to me like Roanoke’s market area, or the area of Salem around Roanoke College, or Provincetown, MA or Sate Fee, NM or any small art focused area that attracts artists, tourists, New Age types or people looking for a less hurried lifestyle where there is lots to see and do in a beautiful setting. People from other parts of the world come to Ubud for the same reasons they go to Provincetown, though lots cheaper and warmer! At least that’s the way I felt. Randal thinks I’m totally wrong! And we were only there a short time. But I felt totally comfortable on my own the day Randal and I did different things. No other place have I felt so comfortable so fast. Maybe I’m more used to it; but I think it was mostly Ubud that made me feel that way.

Every morning lots of shuttle vans leave our anchorage at Lovina for other destinations. Tuesday afternoon we bought our tickets for a Wednesday 9 am shuttle to the mountain town of Ubud. Our van was filled with 8 of us, backpack luggage, and a driver who smoked, talked on the phone and at the end tried to make Randal and me pay more money. There was a Brit, a French couple, 2 young American women each traveling alone, and a slightly older woman origin unknown. We all chatted; conversation and interesting scenery making the 2 ½ hour trip go fast. The French couple recommended a small hotel, Sania’s House, near the Public Market and the center of town. They said it was 200,000 rp per night, (about $ 22) lovely and clean and showed me on a map. I noticed it listed on the Ibud pages I had copied from our Southeast Asia tour guide with a glowing review. The journey’s only sour note; most people are dropped at hotels that perhaps give a “fee” to the shuttle driver. We had no hotel so our driver got no extra fee. So he told us we had to pay more for going just into Ubud where he didn’t normally go. Huh?!!! All we knew when we bought the ticked was that it took you to Ubud, no destination named. We refused to pay the “fee” and told him he was acting badly. Randal had a card from the company owning the shuttle car and called them to complain. We were told by other travelers on our return trip that our driver had been wrong and we should not pay more. But that was the only sour note of a really wonderful time. Not knowing exactly Sania’s House was, and being hungry, we picked a restaurant on Monkey Forest Road and had a wonderful lunch for not very much money. Monkey Forest Road really does have a monkey forest and we did visit it. Very fun! At our restaurant we picked up a free Ubud community booklet with a map, saw that Sania’s House was just down the street and around a corner; so off we went. During lunch I had called ahead to see if there was a room. “One left, 300,000 rp.” I said we would come see; and that we had been told they were 200,000rp. Everything here is a process of bargain and negotiation. Randal does well, I always overpay. When we got there, they showed us the room. Top level, very lovely with a balcony on all sides, table and chairs on the balcony, huge windows, and beautiful gardens to look at….. But they did have another room, ground floor, not so lovely, 200,000. We took the one upstairs for 270,000 rp (about $31.) The room itself was very spare with huge windows that opened out onto all of the balconies. There was one small table, a wardrobe, 2 large blue and green striped bath towels, no soap or shampoo. But spacious and the balcony, flowers, banana crepes and huge bowl of fruit for breakfast, thermos of hot tea at 5:30 am…made up for anything the room itself lacked. And actually all that was needed was another bedside table and a towel rack in the bathroom, and perfecto! In Ubud, the small hotels are called home stays because the entire family lives there too. (A family can be lots of small related families together in one compound all working and living together.)

You can see our room was on the second floor.

It was a four poster bed. We left all of the windows opened at night!

Though the days were warm, I actually had to ask for a blanket after being chilly the first night. All the walls but one had those huge windows and there was balcony outside. They even gave each room a big drying rack for your small hand laundry and to hang out your towels that were not replaced. Good idea. Our second night the 2 men in the room just below had a dinner party on their patio and that was a bit noisy. But they were speaking German so you weren’t kept awake listening. It was just background noise. If you wanted, the hotel would prepare a dinner if you asked in advance. Next visit that would be nice. The French couple also had a dinner party one night, but they were quieter and not downstairs from us. I did try to listen in when people were speaking French since I had it so many years ago in school. But my vocabulary is just too limited.

Randal reading on the balcony.

Each morning about 5am they would take away your old tea thermos and bring you a new one with clean cups. It would stay hot all day. The second big blue Chinese thermos was just hot water that Randal requested for the coffee packets he carries in his pack. Most days he just had the cup of coffee they brought with breakfast. The huge thermos stayed really hot all day and I mixed its water in with my tea during the late afternoon to stretch the tea and make it hotter. The tea, breakfast coffee, huge bowls of fresh pineapple, banana, and papaya and choice of eggs or crepes was included with the room. The banana crepes were wonderful and made to order when you requested it. It was like having servants, but they didn’t act subservient. They just wanted to make your stay comfortable. In some ways it was like being a guest in a home, sort of like a B & B atmosphere more than hotel.

Behind the shrubbery on the top left of the photo is the small pool.

There was a small pool that lots of other guests used. We hadn’t thought to bring suits. It was more a stand around in pool than a swim laps pool. But a lovely setting. The pool and some greenery were in the center of the small complex and the building with rooms around the perimeter. The buildings made a J with the pool at the bottom curve and buildings along the line and top. We were at the top of the J. Below the J was the family area and the entrance way.

There were maybe five buildings of 3 or 4 levels that had 1 or 2 rooms all with porches or balconies. This building was the next one over from ours and lovely to watch as the sun rose. I also would watch one of the family tend to all of the plants each morning. The couple in the middle level was French and the woman in the one below, here for 45 days of vacation, was from Quebec. There were lots of Germans, some Asians but no other Americans. All different ages too, one couple with a tiny baby.

Just inside the gate to Sania’s House were where the family pets lived and stayed; a very quiet snobby Doberman, some fish in a tank, and a funny large black bird with some yellow on its head. He made noises like a cat and also like one of those whistles that you pulled a string and it made a crazy whistle in three stages. You could hear it all day. Very funny. No photo because the bars to the cage were too thick.

We spent our first afternoon walking around Ubud center; to the library, to the big funky public market; just soaking it all in. We went back to our balcony for a late afternoon beer for Randal and freshly squeezed papaya juice for me and a nice quiet nap. About 6 pm we walked the row of nearby restaurants stopping for dinner. One maybe shouldn’t order pizza outside Italy and New York City, but we did. Topping of tomato and cheese wasn’t bad, but the crust was like a cardboard cookie. Oh well. It really was the only food that wasn’t great while we were there. Ubud does salads really well and you get a healthy glob of it with pretty much anything you order. We did have a bottle of their local Balinese white one night. Not too too bad with food. But any wine that can’t be cellared, can’t be so great. This wine had in big letters, DO NOT CELLAR. Or it should have had; actually the letters were there, just small. It was ok with the sautéed veggies and rice I had. Can’t remember what Randal ate, some noodle dish. We had eaten a huge, late lunch that day as part of our Eco and Educational Cycling Tour. We should have had skipped dinner, funky wine, and especially the huge brownie and ice cream dessert we split. Didn’t need that at all. Or we should have only eaten that. The brownie was fudgy and vanilla ice cream tasted real. Well they do grow vanilla in Indonesia, and cinnamon and ginger and lots of other spices.

We spent Thursday doing the bicycle tour (more about that in another email,) and Friday each doing our own thing. I spent Friday morning taking a traditional Balinese painting lesson for 3 hours and Randal wandered Ubud. (More about the class in an email I’ll write about the library.) We met for lunch, a really good one! Then Randal went back to the room and his deep involvement with the book Krakatoa by Simon Winchester that he had bought the night before in one of the Ubud bookstore near our hotel. I went off on my search for the local art shop to buy a brush like my teacher had used in hopes it would work for me like it did for him. And some drawing pens. It was about a 30 minute walk to get there. I passed a telkomsel shop and stopped in to ask about our terrible service but the one staff person didn’t speak English….. I passed a fishing gear shop and made a note to stop on my return to see if they had a gaft. My art teacher, I was the only student that morning, had drawn me a map to the art supply shop and it was exactly correct so I found it. The women working there were very helpful. Two brushes, some white watercolor paint and some white acrylic paint, and 2 drawing pens later I left and returned to the fishing gear shop. The woman behind the counter was very helpful but didn’t know what a gaft was. I drew a picture and she thought I wanted some fishing hooks. A gaft for those who don’t know is a big handle with a huge hook on the end that you grab the fish with to haul it onto the boat. Randal had lost the hook part of his when he caught his first fish. Somehow the metal hook part had been unlocked from the handle. Anyway, luckily there was a customer who knew what I wanted; and the shop had one for 95,000 rupiah (about $10.) I had just enough money left to buy it. Had I known I had that much money with me I would have bought more art stuff! But we needed the gaft so I’m glad it worked out that way. I walked the 30 minutes back to our hotel and rewarded myself with some still hot tea and a ginger cookie on our balcony. Later that evening, Randal and I went off for a light dinner of wonderful made from scratch spring rolls we shared and vegetable soup for me and tomato soup for him. Then we stopped at a convenience store and bought about 20 DVDs, cheap. We don’t ask……( We watched the Bob Dylan I’m Not There last night on the boat. Very odd.)

Saturday morning it was time to leave. We needed to get back to the boat to recharge the batteries powering the frig and freezer, and to rejoin the Sail Indonesia activities. I hated to leave Ubud. There was still so much to see, and life at the beautiful hotel was so comfortable and relaxing.

The entrance to Sania’s House. In the book eat pray love by Elizabeth Gilbert (which I’m really glad I read as an intro to Ubud) she says that Balinese women are either getting ready for, participating in, or cleaning up from some type of religious ceremony. That seemed true. Each morning there are thousands of tiny flower offerings to the ancestors that must take hours to make and then replace the next day. You always saw the Sania’s House women doing something, making these ancestor gifts or cooking the meals or doing something. It seemed the men waited on the guests and cleaned the rooms.

Sania’s House granny

Sania’s House member

Its 1 45 pm pm the 10th.  We are on the first day of a 2 day passage to Mataram.  Saw Komodo Dragons on Rinca Island.  Hope some day to do photos.  Have met a several really nice Sail Indonesia folks.  It will be fun meeting lots more.

  Till I can send a real email.

Ru

Hi Everyone,

  Writing from Labuanbajo where we will meet up with Sail Indonesia on the 6th.  I still owe you the remaining photos from Nur’s house but our cell phone connection won’t send photos well.  I hope this goes to you so you can meet Petra and Janez. 

Randal and I made the best spur of the moment decision while in Tana Toraja.  During our stop where the women were playing the music with the long poles calling people to the coming funeral celebration, we met Petra and Janez.  While I was off with Rusli taking photos, Randal was watching the drum women.  Petra, also watching the women, started to chat.  Janez joined them and they were all still talking when Rusli and I returned.  I was introduced and thought them a very sweet, happy couple. They were from Slovenia and reminded us of a cruising Slovenian friend, Tasha, whom we had met at the boat yard in China.  Randal gave them one of our cards and we said good-bye.  While we walked to the car, Randal told me that Petra and Janez were hoping to get to the island off Labuanbajo.  We both thought the same thing, why not ask them to come with us if they would like.  Randal returned to them, offered and they said they would like to if everyone’s plans fit; they didn’t want to hold us up.  They had some more things to see and then a 10 hour bus trip.  They are 26 and incredibly adventuresome and live on a shoe string budget.  Well, it worked out and they arrived in Makassar early Sunday evening.  They had given us their passport numbers over the phone the day before so we could officially add them to our crew list.  You have to do that when you cruise so countries know who is entering and leaving.  There are lots of reasons.  Countries want to know who is coming and when they leave.  They charge fees to come so they know how much to collect.  It gives the crew some added safety if something happens to the boat, there would be a list of crew (passengers.)  By 11 pm we had all the paperwork done and the fuel loaded thanks to the help from our friends Arifuddin Hamid who did about everything we needed and Sempo who ran the water taxi service.  About  7:30 am Monday morning we pulled up anchor.  We’d had two boat glitches that Captain Randal could fix, and the Sox score was bad, but nothing to stop us so off we went.  It was a rolly bumpy slow long day.  But we made it to anchor before dark.  The next 2 days and night were not smooth either.  There was little boat traffic to worry about so both Janez and Petra took 3 hour night watches with Randal sleeping close by if needed.  Randal and I took the first and last watch and that made it so much nicer than each of us doing 2 watches.  Petra and Janez cooked, washed dishes, played the guitar and sang and slept where there was space.  Compared to the dark spider filled caves they’d had to sleep in during a trek or the knee deep mud or leeches on their hikes in India, anywhere on our boat was comfort.  They had met at university in Slovenia, both studying geography and focusing on ecology.  For now their passion is travel and they have been doing it for many months including several in India doing volunteer work and meditation.  They are so enthused and open minded and care about the world.  They, of course, are vegans so we all ate very well.  Lots of cabbage salads and beans and a great eggplant potato vegetable stew Petra made.  We also ate tempeh pan-fried with garlic.  I made bread and we all ate veggies, fruit and healthy! 

  We arrived in Labuanbajo about 3:30 pm on Wednesday and they were packed and leaving by about 4pm.  I quickly grabbed my camera realizing I’d taken few photos of them.  So here they are, Petra and Janez.

This is how they traveled, with packs for camping, sleeping bags for sleeping.  I asked what kind of shoes they wore through the knee deep mud.  Sneakers Petra said.  Petra said she just laughed at how absurd it was but Janez was too mad since they had been given such bad directions that they had hiked miles through horrible mud all the wrong way. Luckily they had come upon a native hut, were allowed to stay there and then were taken by boat across the lake where they needed to be.  Very trusting people, they were always treated with kindness. 

  Petra with her purple tie dye shawl sitting on the flybridge.  She had such beautiful, expressive eyes.