While here in Bali I was extremely lucky as one of my sponsors pay for a stay at this “Five Star” small boutique resort in Ubud. With only 46 rooms and villas it has a very intimate feel. The Balinese staff are so attentive and friendly. They really made me feel as though I was a part of their family during my stay here. The views around and from the property are amazing as the property borders and is perched atop of a 100 meter high gorge. Koi ponds abound the property and many of the villas. The Como Uma resort is only a 10 minute drive from the center of Ubud, which has lots of bars, restaurants, shopping and of course, temples.
There is a “sister” property about a 20 minute drive from Como Uma by the name of Como Shambala Estate. It is much more quiet and a bit more exclusive with only 30 suites and villas. This property is much more a retreat from everything. I visited that resort for a day and had an incredible experience hiking 525 steps down to a series of fresh water ponds for swimming and soaking. The ponds are in the jungle and about 15 meters from a raging river. See some of the images below. Because I was visiting at the end of the rainy season, the waterfalls were both frequent and flowing.
Approach to the pool area at Como Uma.The pool at Como Uma.Restaurant surrounded by koi ponds.View from restaurant.Walkway to my villa.My humble abode. The air conditioning was critical as the temperatures and humidity were pretty high.Villa view into the jungle below. The plunge below was almost straight down and approximately 250-300 feet.Villa infinity plunge pool. Appears like a luxury, however it is totally required if you want to spend time outside.Better view of the nearly 100 meter plunge to the jungle floor. The birds could be heard 24/7. Really felt like a jungle. Also interesting to note that at least for me the mosquitos were non-existent.One of the guests. Loved the colors of these snails. Also a pretty good size for escargot.Yoga studio atop the gorge. Really conducive for this activity.Spa reception area and surrounding koi ponds. I was so relaxed just sitting here, I didn’t even need to get a massage.Koi ponds in Como spa area. Amazing architectural design for this part of the resort.Market in Ubud Center. Almost everything sells for half of the sticker price.Friendly young merchant. Cute but not too talented. I offered to buy some stuff just to get him to STOP singing.One of the many temples in Ubud Center.Main Street in Ubud Center.Another shot of the street scene.Beginning of the walk down to the ponds. “Take me to the river.”The walk. “Drop me in the water.”Waterfall on the way down.First pond encounter.Another pond. All of these are few by rainwater flowing from the jungles above.Yet more. As can be seen here, not to many people. Maybe it’s the 525 steps to get here.Another shot of a pretty magical place. I was able to spend several hours here and enjoyed every moment.
Nyepi is the Balinese “Day of Silence” that is commemorated every new year. I travelled to mountains in Ubud to witness this event for myself and was not in the least disappointed. The celebration taking place in the following images happened the night before the “Day of silence.” Each village has its own parade. “Ogoh-ogoh” are the statues or floats built for the “Ngrupuk” parade which takes place on the evening before the “Day of Silence.” Most of the “floats” are created each year and then burnt as an offering of purification, as the entire parade is meant as the purification of the natural environment of any spiritual pollutants emitted from the activities of beings (especially humans). The predominant religion on Bali is Hindu and everyone is extremely peaceful.
The “Day of Silence” observed from 6AM to 6AM the following day and is reserved for self-reflection. Consequently, anything which may interfere with that is restricted. The main restrictions are no fires, no lights, no working, no traveling (airports are closed), no street travel (except for emergency vehicles), beaches are closed, no entertainment, and for some no talking or eating.
As a traveler and non-Hindu person I was confined to my hotel, but free to do what I wished within the premises, although there was no social media on the internet. Before and after Nyepi many purification and offering rituals take place.
Typical float, but this one depicts both positive and negative. Not hard to decipher which is which.Preparing for the parade. Interesting to note that when carried during the actual parade the height of these floats often exceeds that of the power lines suspended above. Consequently, a person equipped with a 6 meter bamboo pole escorts the floats as they proceed. His job is to lift the power lines high enough to allow the floats to pass underneath. As you can well imagine this really impedes the parade’s flow.Warming up before the big event. Many times children are carrying the floats, although it takes about 30 or more of them.Everyone participates in this event. Young and old, boys and girls, rich and poor, tall and short, thin and fat, smart and dumb, conservatives and liberals, slow and fast, nimble and awkward, straights and gays alike. No one is prohibited from participating.Rainbows of colorful clothes adorn these young children. Another thing I noted was that even young children roam unescorted by parents. The biggest danger here is not posed by other humans, but rather by being hit by one of the ever present scooters and motorbikes.Typical village street and again the flow of scooters here is relentless. Nearly impossible to get an image with a street without one of the ubiquitous scooters.Celebration with both positive and negative representations. The goal is to vanquish the negative and create a balance with God. This parade after nightfall felt like a scene from a James Bond film.Quite obvious here is the tongue on this bull. Not really, but the penis evidenced here dates back to early Brahman’s practice of worshiping the penis of the supreme god, Shiva. Quite a sizable “Johnson” on this bull.The negative representation is depicted in the float above.The negative representation in real life. Quite theatrically, this guy moves and dances in a very menacing way.The positive representation (in the form of these dancers) is meant to vanquish the negative and follows the menacing dancer above.Some of this is probably frightening for young children and babies. Although this child looks pretty unaffected by it all. Hard to miss the smart phones (which look like juxtapositions) in the context of this image.
I am traveling though Bali for a bit and will be posting more. So if you’re interested please click back in when alerted. Until then, be safe.
