kay and ian: June 2015

Saturday, June 27, 2015

The South West Coast

It's beautifully unspoilt here, clean villages with lots of flowers, and a huge rubber plantation. We take a tour and learn all about its daily collection and processing, and watched the sheets being bundled up before being shipped out to make tyres and soles.

Its also clove harvesting time, so

whole families camp in the hills, and separate the flowers from the stems.

One morning we go to the market and buy $10 worth of fruit (tourist price)

$2 of snacks and coffee for breakfast from this lovely lady

and watch the locals leave on laden bikes

After that we wander to one of the few resorts and make use of their lovely surrounds and enjoy $3.50 cafe latte and fresh coconut juice...

We walk the beach for miles

and take the local bus to visit the 2 very low key surfing areas nearby.

Saturday, June 20, 2015

Back to Ubud

With Ian's sister here, and his dad staying in town for 2 months, this is the logical place to return to inbetween trips. But it's so noisy!! We have a couple of nights in a back street hotel, from where we treat 82 year old Bob to his first ever back massage - "quite nice" is the verdict - then escape to the rural surrounds for a few days animal sitting with friends of Heather.

3 of the 4 rescued dogs: 1 lame, 1 nearly blind, 1 very skittish ....

Our daily walks are filled with sights that are normal for here, but unimaginable at home:

Ladies carrying at least 20kg tiles from drop off point on road to building site almost 1km, in thongs..

I bought some earrings from this man, with his workshop/store/house on the side of the walking track way out in the rice fields. He happily cleaned my very dirty pendant and chain, while I waited. Safety goggles? Shoes?!

These rice stalks will probably feed a cow, tucked away in a lean-to hut somewhere under a tree.

Now off to the beach again for a couple of weeks.

Sunday, June 14, 2015

Lipah, Sideman

This week has mainly been at a small fishing village called Lipah, on the East Coast of Bali.

We have been coming here for years, and 'adopted' a local family. Mum Made has been sick with stomach problems, and dad Joni is a fisherman who could hardly see until we realised it was cataracts and found him a free clinic. 18 year old Putu is nearly finished her pre-nursing, and hopes to go to uni next yer;12 yo Kadek completed elementary school and we were honoured guests at the breakup day.

It's been a lazy time playing with the kids

Knitting beanies for new babies

And eating each morning tea (banana fritters with palm sugar syrup...) and soup/fresh fish/veg/rice dinners, all cooked in a very basic kitchen.

Then it's back to the hills at Sideman for a couple of days amidst fruit and vegie gardens, with a cool breeze and the sound of the adjacent river.

There's a hammock hiding on the porch

And truly free range chooks

Looks like this gravel-loaded truck was the last straw for the bridge just near where we are staying. Like many areas there's lots of build going on, and quiet roads get more heavy traffic

This was a narrow piece of land with a river rubbing through, but the very savvy owner is tunnelling the water through, and will build a new tile factory on top. We'll come back next year to see if it's finished...

As usual the women are busy carrying huge loads of rocks and gravel on their heads, but it seems that concreting is mens work. Actually it's kopi time so they're all about to have a break.

Sunday, June 7, 2015

Ubud week 2

Another week with Ian's sister Heather - busyness mixed with relaxing, and lots of walking. Love the sounds and sights of ducks quacking in the rice paddies as they gobble up the snails, and birds and insects chattering away. It's rained most nights this week, so everything is green and lush.

We've eaten amazing food this weekend at the inaugural Ubud Food Festival: a a raw, vegan

feast at 5 Elements (google it!)

Avocado Tartar, with dried taco chip and Balinese herbs

Zucchini and mushroom lasagne, with cashew ricotta and pesto

OMG delicious white choc cheesecake made from cashew cream and coconut, with fruit/nut base and raw choc syrup.

Contrast that with day 2 breakfast walk where we watched meat prep - pork, chicken and duck, then ate the spicy, tender and fragrant food with rice and veg salad. Yes, breakfast, we both needed a mid-morning nap after!

This lucky man gets to turn the spit for 3 hours. Elsewhere women chopped huge piles of spices, no machines here...

Marinated ducks steam for 10 hours in leaves, with rice husks used for fuel.

After all those very old methods we laughed when served perfect cafe latte with art, and going out the back of the pork kitchen found this dude roasting his own beans!