Part of our '99 holiday in Bali was a short stay at Ubud, the so-called centre of the arts in Bali.
Let me say early however, that there are no pictures of your favourite hotel here, nor indeed any at all of the town of Ubud. Whilst Ubud is picturesque, on this occasion it served only as a base for touring the near district.
Inevitably anything which is 'so-called' or 'reputed to be' is really much more than the description that follows. This is very true of Ubud which is certainly an art centre but which can also be the hub for scenic tours and investigations of a more basic lifestyle than that found further south.
From Tuban where we were staying our route to Ubud took us through Denpasar, the capital of Bali, north east to the incredible market town of Sukawati, and then to Ubud.
The mob stayed for two days before Wayan Suka, our driver at the time, took them back to the shopper's bliss at Kuta. I stayed on and the next morning Wayan returned on the dot of 7 am to be at my sole command for the rest of the day - a day I intended to use for photography without the mob braying about 'the tripod'! A day to focus (pardon the intended pun) the remnants of my grey matter on the task before me without distraction.
I wish to this day that I had focused earlier on the exact directions that Wayan took me, but all I can recall is that we went north into steep and wet country, and east into more of the same, towards the temple at Besakih although we did not get that far.
From the window of Wayan's bemo I was regularly if not constantly distracted by the magnificent scenery, magnificent even through the low cloud and misty rain that often blanketed us.
"Stop here!' I would yell, and Wayan would do his best but the narrow roads meant that I usually walked back to the shot that I wanted. Time and again, as I saw an even more remarkable scene on my way back, I was reminded of the old photography teacher's admonition, 'Use the eyes in the back of your head to see all around you'.
Some of the best that I saw I cannot share, because down in the jungle at the bottom of some ravine, with the cloud settling in overhead, my eyes saw but the camera could not cope. Often I climbed up to the road some distance ahead of where Wayan had stopped to see him back in the distance, peering down into the gloom from the edge of the road, wondering what had happened to me.
These are a selection of those shots that appeal to me. I hope that I am not just remembering the scene and being blind to the photo, and that most of them will appeal to you also.

A grandmother and child at a stall in the Sukawati markets.
The markets all over Bali, I think, are family affairs as is selling. I suppose this is not surprising as selling or farming mean life to these happy, gentle people.
The sure way to a Balinese heart, be it male or female, is to ask about the family and particularly about the children.

The incredible Sukawati markets are north and east of Denpasar and on the way to Ubud without too much of a detour. Can you see the aisle between the stacks of goods in this photo?
If you want a hundred pencils with painted fish stuck on the chewing end not only can you get them here but you can probably select from a dozen different styles. Any thing from antimacassars to stuffed zebras - 'and what colour you want missus?'
The main building is a multi story concrete block which has been extended at least once, so crammed with 'stuff' that there is barely room for the sellers between the roof-high piles let alone room for the buyers to move. The overflow from these main building spreads along a side street in a series of stalls that are a riot of colour and movement.
Thankfully you can now buy a drink here. It used to be either a two-waterbag trip or a very dry argument.
 

Artist, I Made Karmayasa, with his paintings in his little tin-shed studio in the Monkey Forest at Ubud.
He is working on the partly finished painting which we bought, having kicked ourselves for over 20 years for not having bought a similar one on our first trip to Bali. It hangs in the centre of our living area and faces me every morning ( except when I'm actually in Bali) as I stagger down to the bathroom.

There's really no connection between Ubud and this Balinese hardware store in Denpasar except that we went through Denpasar on the way and the store reminds me of Australian country stores of yester-year and Ubud is more country than Denpasar.
It's still a delight to rummage through a place like this if you're old enough to remember REAL Aussie country hardware stores where you could buy anything - as long as you could find it.
 

The entrance gateway and courtyard of the Puri Ayung restaurant near Ubud.
The path down from the road to the restaurant is steep and torturous, and even worse going back up from the restaurant with the added weight of a full belly.
The restaurant cats often frolic in this area, rolling and leaping in spirited games.
From the dining area the view down into the Ayung River valley is fearsome.

The rice farmer's house may be two story but it's really quite primitive, although obviously it does the job of keeping people and animals dry and warm when necessary.
This sort of structure is not what is commonly seen in tourist areas.
This is obviously an overcast and drizzling day, quite common as these are higher altitudes than the southern tourist areas.

As you'd expect from the photo of the farm house, primitive ploughing methods are still commonly used in many areas of Bali.
It's hard to imagine a tractor being viable in such small and muddy fields as this - and a tractors droppings would not be good fertiliser either!

Rice grains planted near the duck pond tend not to accumulate tasty morsels, such as snails, as they grow into seedlings. (Foreground.)
These seedlings are ready to plant out, and the eventual crop will be stored in the building in the background.

This woman planting rice did not pause or look up during at least a half an hour I spent next to her field.
In that time she planted an area of perhaps 5 meters by 5 meters (16 feet square) with about 25 plants per square meter.
The plants are kept in the round basket floating near her, which she rhythmically pushes on to new ground as she fills up the area within her reach.

Beds of rice seedlings seem to be planted continually, a few days or perhaps a few weeks apart. This ensures a continual supply of seedlings to be planted throughout the growing season, and therefore a continual supply of food for the family.
This is an example of very mild terracing along the top of a ridge. The top of the fully grown palm tree just visible in the right background gives a rough idea of the way the ground drops away just past the edge of the rice paddy which is just short of the ridge crest.

The ancient construction and the current maintenance of steep rice terraces down the side of the River Ayung valleys challenge the mind.
These terraces all along both sides of the valley, and the system of watering, are thousands of years old and still working without apparent flaws.
The myriad shades of colours, particularly but not only greens, are astounding. At certain times of the year and in certain conditions of light they all seem to glow together with a rare brilliance.

At least the rain during this trip put a fresh surface on the paddies and gave me some remarkable reflections.
The deep red brick walls, the wet black thatch and the clean, bright greens make this one of my favourites.

Thickets of bamboo grow in tiny clearings made in the dense and quiet forests along the river valleys. The clearings may have originally been made by a farmer to grow vegetables.

Coconut palms and ferns are also found in the timber forests.
Palms not only provide the coconut fruits but when cut down also provide a dense timber with a very decorative grain pattern. The timber is able to be polished to a high sheen and is much favoured for furniture construction as well as building poles.

Palms in Paradise.
- got to say that this is another of my Bali favourites.

 LINKS -


Home Page.

Holiday Inn '96. Some of our early photos.

Lombok 97'. Photos of one of our favourite places that we will go back to one day.