New Bali Chapter at Pugig House

Bali Chapter 3 is well underway and my new home for it is great. Two chickens just chased each other at my feet and are putting up quite a ruckus – fun! Originally, when Nicole Lawrence advertised her extension week for Flora’s workshop, we were going to stay at Swasti Eco Cottages, where I was all of last week. But when only 2 of us signed on, she asked if we’d be willing to go to Pugig House homestay instead – a German owned complex run by a Balinese family.  It consists of a few houses, apartments and a swimming pool in the village of Penestanan, next to Ubud. This is where she usually stays. It’s great! After a week in one location, I was ready to experience something new in a new neighbourhood – plus it’s less expensive here.

my room

my window-

Amy’s room

Amy

outdoor kitchen

Once again, I had asked to share a room to reduce my costs, but ended up having my own small (yet plenty big for my needs) single room on the ground floor of a shared house. Amy is upstairs in the stunning suite with an open-air terrace. We share a bathroom. It’s quite perfect, really.   We’re now 6 participants in this workshop and all but one are in rooms in buildings around the property. We’re surrounded by jungle – that’s how it feels. The daylong concert is incredible and gets even better in the early mornings and evening! There’s a valley right below us with a spring where the village used to get their drinking water. I haven’t been there yet – instead, we walked 3 minutes up the road to Cafe Vespa, where I had one of thier Ayurvedic drinks – the Pitta one, of course.

On our first night, we walked down little alleys and even smaller footpaths that seemed to go nowhere, but ended up at shops, yoga studios and the Yellow Flower restaurant. What a feast! Sunday nights are their buffet night. It was similar to the one on our last night at Swasti, but the food was much tastier. We do eat well here! There are also many other resorts, spas, etc. around – as for everywhere I’ve been so far in and around Ubud.

Morning Walk:

On Monday, we left early and were dropped off at the beginning of a trail that went along the ridge where 2 rivers meet. It was just lovely – and being with a group of visual artists meant that we were all at a very slow speed, taking all the natural and man-made beauty in.   Stunning!  This is one area where they collect the grass to make thatch roofs.  Before pesticides, those roofs lasted 20 years.  Now they last 3.

At the end of the trail, Nicole treated us to morning tea on the lower terrace of  Murni’s restaurant & spa – beautiful!. I had a coconut drink with bits of rice jelly in it and a piece of cashew pie. It was delicious, but reminded me of why I avoid having too much sugar in my system.  Nicole taught us “drawing with a breathing tone” – a method she used to teach children how to draw in Waldorf schools. Instead of drawing outlines, something I still do, you start by moving your pencil from the center out while constantly moving. You start by making organic shapes and then change them as you go.  That’s not a great explanation and I can’t find a link on the Internet to share, but I feel it may change the way I draw.  I’ll try it on Wednesday at our live drawing class.  It was a great follow-up to the fantastic children’s book that Flora read in her workshop -“Ish” by Peter Reynolds.  That story had moved me to tears after years of battling my “I can’t draw” demons.

ATM Problems:

Our driver met us at Murni’s and brought us to one of the supermarket complexes. One of my goals was to take money out. My original spending estimate (and cash I had brought) was based on reported meal prices that are harder to find these days. Apart from meals, 2 massages and a batik class, I hadn’t used my money for anything else. My Ayurvedic consult was paid by credit card. Still, I was running out of the cash after half my time here. Fortunately, ATM machines are everywhere here. There were 5 at the supermarket, all affiliated with different banks. One didn’t work for anyone – the screen would go blank after we’d enter our PIN. The other worked for 2 and not for the next. One man warned that some ate cards. Another girl said her machine only gave very small amounts instead of the maximum 2,500,000 Rupiahs ($250 Cdn). One of our participants got the message that her password had been changed. Yikes. Although I was able to enter my PIN and ask for money, I didn’t succeed at any of those machines. Our driver then stopped in town and I tried 2 more. No luck. We were dropped off further along for our afternoon event and I tried 3 more – no luck. It was very strange as it actually allowed me in the system, so I knew my card worked. I have plenty of money in that account, so that wasn’t the issue. I tried asking for smaller amounts – $100, but again no luck. Thankfully, I still had a 50 Euros bill that I had brought to ensure I could get back to town from the airport when I get back to Vienna. But that won’t last the week. It’s pretty scary being in a foreign country and your access to your own money isn’t working. President’s Choice Financial (my online bank) had told me they didn’t guarantee their debit card would work in other countries. It worked fine in Austria though.  I simply underestimated how much cash I would need here. Luckily, there is a solution. Nicole, our organizer, took money out for me and I’ll repay her by Paypal. Hopefully $300 will be enough for the next 2 weeks, including all meals, taxis, and my ride back to the airport. I’m not concerned. Had I been traveling alone, however, that would have been a pickle. Credit cards aren’t accepted everywhere, not even at the fancy resort we were at last week.

Sound Healing:

Before I came to Bali, someone from Saskatoon had recommended I stay / visit the Yoga Barn. It’s quite the place. I’m glad, however, that I only got to visit and not stay there. There are lots of foreigners and energy moving through this popular place in the middle of a very noisy busy town. There are times when that would be great, but I was much more in the quiet ashram-retreat mode this trip. Still, I was grateful for their huge list of offerings. The one 4 of us from my group chose was a very soothing sound healing session with Shervin Boloorian. His special guest was a Norwegian musician who brought beautiful kirtan chants into the mix. I had had the great fortune of experiencing this kind of thing before. It’s truly wonderful – I had moments of bliss and lots of journeying as 65 various instruments were played by 2 musicians while a third person walked around our lying bodies introducing essential oils. I could have stayed there for several more hours.

The Hubub of Ubud:

I was very mellow after our sound therapy and although very aware of the incessant noise and constant traffic in Ubud, it didn’t phase me. We walked along a street of shops and while others shopped, I created a little project of photographing statues and motorcycles –there are plenty of both here.  I didn’t see anyone carrying a mattress on their bike (as someone had reported), but I did see 2 ladies carrying a clothing rack. I’m so glad I don’t have to spend more time in town if I don’t want to – all 3 places where I’ve stayed so far were far enough to satisfy my preferences for a more peaceful and natural atmosphere.  I would have found it very stressful to stay in town much longer.  I’ll admit, I really liked some of the purchases folks came back with during my various retreats – especially the clothing – but I’m not in shopping mode this trip.

Evening Hunt for Food:

After a swim in our pool, I decided to join the girls for what turned out to be an adventurous hunt for food. I had eaten late in the afternoon and so wasn’t hungry, but the idea of an organic restaurant at the end of a long walk through rice fields intrigued me. Sari Organik had come highly recommended.  We brought our flashlights and were dropped off at the head of a footpath (that is also used by motorcycles, which I’m glad to report, are used to squeezing by pedestrians with a friendly “Hello, Thank you!” I’m sure the walk would have been stunning in the daytime. At night, it simply felt like an adventure. When we finally found the restaurant about 20 minutes later, past a few places where the rice field irrigation system had flooded the path, they were closed for the night. So we backtracked and ended up at another outdoor terrace where my companions had a lovely meal worth the very long wait. I just had a fruit salad so I could take my before/after meal Ayurvedic medicine. By the time we got home at 10:00pm, after a desert stop at Café Vespa just up the road from Pugig House(which stayed open late to cater us), I went straight to bed and slept very soundly. What a full day!