Costa del Aussie.....

After the relative peacefulness of the past couple of weeks central Ubud is noisy, busy, brash and full of Aussie's (who are generally noisy and brash - in fact so far I have only seen them being rude) and bursting with tourist tat! Having said that there is some amazing food, cocktails galore and I have tried hard to spend some of my money!

I got up early yesterday (to avoid the heat) and it didn't take long before there were rice paddies and farmers, but all around them strips of land are being turned into huge hotel complexes.

One of the pathways was full of concrete squares full of writing / messages from tourists and locals.

After following the road for about 15 minutes it led to a primary school. Apparently the road was a way to raise funds for the school!

The average monthly wage in Indonesia is 712,000 Rupees, about £35. I head to the furthest corner of the market so that I could spread around the money and you can see how desperate they are to make a sale. Bartering over a £1 just didn't seem really necessary and I ended up buying more than I needed just because I  felt sorry for them. One lady said I was her first customer that day, and it was 3:30pm. As soon as they get money they rub it against other items in the shop to bring them luck and fortune.

On another note completely our lovely guide, Evy, received bad news overnight. Her youngest son had been rushed to hospital in Jakarta with Dengue Fever. She has been our Mother Hen for the past 3 weeks, calling us her children, sensitive to our differing needs, helping those who became ill, making us laugh, organising us and imparting as much knowledge of Indonesia as we could take.

She is a working mother, she has 4 children, the youngest of which is 5, and she has been away from home for 6 weeks, because she has to take work when she can get it. She speaks fantastic English, Dutch and Japanese! 

She didn't want to tell anyone her news but the worry was etched on her face and when we found out we all insisted that she head home. Ever the professional she agreed to head home after arranging a final meal for us all. It has been a privilege to meet such an incredible lady. 

Our final evening was centred around some incredible Javanese dancing, not the tourist show in Ubud, but some way out. In two pieces, the first involved 50 or so men sat on stage chanting melodies whilst the story of the gods was danced. 

The second part involved the wise man hypnotising one of the men, so that he would be possessed by a spirit and would dance through fire. They brought a huge pile of coconut husks onto the stage, poured kerosene all over them and  threw on a match! No health and safety here!!! As he ran through the husks they scattered everywhere, and Those sat on the front row were no longer quite so smug!!! At one point he was sat in the middle of the fire and holding bits of the coconut husk embers. With no ventilation I was quite pleased his performance didn't last too long!!! I am sure that when we went for dinner afterwards we must all have smelt of bonfire!

As I sit and write this I am ensconced in a little street cafe, eating vegetable samosas and drinking a ginger fizz!

It's made with fresh ginger and lemongrass, and I may have to order another one it is so delicious! It is just the tonic after some hardcore shopping! I headed out for a new pair of flip flops and appear to have flip flops, a pair of sandals, 2 pairs of trousers, a dress, 2 sarongs and various gifts!

Time to hide by the pool!