Day 147
Of all the things to dream about in this place, I dreamt last night about Christmas, go figure. Though I might have an answer for why as all the horse and carts that go round the island have bells on them to warn you they are coming and they sound so much like sleigh ones that I can't help singing Jingle Bells every time they pass.
It's our last day on the Gili's today but it's not going to be a day of doing as Ben wakes up with a very bad stomach and he can't stray too far from the toilet, this is definitely one of the downsides to travelling. We spend the morning in the room with him resting but I manage to coax him out for lunch which seems to perk him up, for about half hour when he rushes off to the toilet again, sigh. It's not too bad though as I've just started to reread The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy and I get absorbed into that. We also have to pack after our long 10 days here which is never fun.
I manage to get Ben out again on the pretence we need to get some cash out to pay for our room but secretly want to entice him with good which he says he doesn't want, pah. That disinterest goes out of the window when he sees a sign for Pumpkin Soup and he laps in up. We spend the rest of the night relaxing and taking in the sea breeze from the Gili's for the last time.
Day 148
Our boat doesn't leave until 11 so we have a relaxing breakfast before putting out heavy bags on for the long and very hot walk to the pier. We've walked this route so many times on our stay here but it feels twice as long and 4 times as hot with our bags on. We are about 45 minutes early as we weren't sure how long it would take us to walk but it's not a boring wait as it we get to take in the hustle and bustle. There's a very funny blunt Australian lady who I want to travel with me as I reckon she doesn't take gip from anyone, a seller offering us her bracelets to window shop, several bartering issues with the horse and carts (they are the only transport and flaunt that with stupidly high prices) and all the others goings on of island life.
Our boat comes in only a little later and we head straight to the top and nab a sunbathing seat, perfect. The boat ride takes about 2 hours and at times a little rough but the music was great so I didn't really notice. I love cheesy tunes :D Once we arrive in Bali, we get on a mini bus which will take us to Ubud. It takes about an hour and a half and for the first time in ages The guy doesn't drive erratically. The scenery is awesome and we glimpse a few rice paddy so along the way and I can wait to explore, it looks beautiful.
We arrive on the main strip and our driver directs us to our hotel which couldn't be better placed. It's right by the palace and really centrally located. We drop our bags off and then grab some food. I've been keen on trying Satay for a long time but I haven't seen any vegetarian ones until now, the plate comes out and I'm ready to be wowed when...I'm just not.
"It just taste likes peanuts" I say to Ben disappointedly
"Yes" He laughs "It's meant to"
After this we go for a bit of an explore and book ourselves some tickets for a dance performance tonight at the Palace, it starts in an hour and a half so we set of down Monkey Forest Road to see what we can find and are greeted by loads of cool shops, oh why did we leave Ubud so late in our trip, I could buy it all! We wander for about half an hour and then head back which I'm glad we did as the place as already started to fill up and we get the last seats on the front row on the side.
The dance is amazing and so is the music, they start with an instrumental piece to show what Gamelan music is like and it's incredible sound, the main instruments are like glockenspiels accompanied by drums and gongs and the noise together is so cool. The first dance of the night is the Legang Kranken Dance which is about a princess who is wanted by the selfish King Lasem, but she and her dad don't like him. The king kills her father but later dies in battle. It's a bit confusing though as all the characters are women and look the same but still very cool to watch.
Next is the dance of the Barong who is a good monster who looks a little like a Chinese dragon, he gets teased by a monkey with a banana. Next is the creepiest of the night, it's done by 5 girls with masks who are meant to represent good over evil.
And then finally the main dance begins. All of the costumes have been so beautiful but they go up a notch now. It starts with black magic pupils dancing and practising under the guidance of a widow witch called Rangde Dirah. They don't seem to blink and do this odd thing with their hands which makes them look very off. Rangde keeps putting black magic spells on everyone so the king sends his teacher MPU Bharadah to stop her. He asks her politely to stop it and she says no challenging him to put out a tree fire. He does, restores it back and then challenges her the same. She can't do it as she's not as awesome and gets really angry, turning into a giant monster called Rangda (best costume of the night). The good guy then turns himself into a Barong and defeats her, horah!
And after all that excitement we grab some food and crash out, loving what we have seen of Ubud so far.
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