Ubud, Bali, Tuesday

Christmas in the tropics.


We woke slowly to the sound of rain pounding on the roof of our bungalow. We arrived at the hotel in the middle of the night, so the four of us bunked together in the large bedroom. So we all woke up together, listening to the rain. The seasoned homeowner in me first thought Oh no! What is being ruined by this rain? But a quick scan of the room showed me that this breezey bedroom was completely sealed from the water and the sound of the raindrops hammering the roof returned from menacing to peaceful.


The rain still hadn't let up by breakfast, but by the time we'd finished our late meal it had diminished to a drip - no more than what fell from the trees. So we walked into town.


The path to Ubud took us through the Sacred Monkey Forest, chock full of monkeys with no containment whatsoever. Not even a fence around the sanctuary. We took a side route, thereby avoiding the tourists feeding crowds of monkeys to create photo ops, and enjoyed watching them from a comfortable 100 meters away.


The town of Ubud left us uninspired. Hundreds of shops selling much of the same - wood carvings, batik dresses, bright minimalist modern oil paintings. They lined a street filled with taxi hawkers and noisy motorbikes. We left the main road in search of a power converter for our camera and enjoyed a more residential Balinese road, with more mangy dogs and skinny chickens in the road than motorbikes or tourists.


We found a fantastic lunch at a small shop specializing in local cuisine and populated mainly by Balinese people, and filled our bellies with coconut chicken, corn fritters, jack fruit, and a curry so hot that L-- burned herself.


Just as she announced I like spicy chicken, she rubbed her eyes.


A little irritation.


So she rubbed again.


Within moments, she was screaming and one of the staff raced her to the sink and splashed water in her face.


She recounted the adventure for days.


Just as naptime began, so too the downpours. They didn't let up all night, which led to a particularly intimate Christmas dinner. A restaurant down the road from our hotel offered a Christmas buffet with turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce and loads of Asian favorites. Each item on the buffet tasted wonderful, but the setting took the cake. We sat outiside on a raised landing, our table low so we could sit cross-legged and the girls could reach or wander. The sloped, thatched roof above our table kept the rain a few feet away. A staff member stood by under our roof, probably there to clear our plates and hand us umbrellas but much more appreciated for holding S-- through most of the meal. In Asia, we are teaching our children not to fear strangers - what a rude shock that change will be when we return to the states!