Canggu – get there before no one else does

*No pictures this time, as someone has effectively picked my pocket...

Canggu (pronounced chan-goo) was my first taste of living by the Bali ocean and I was so happy to finally be doing it, I danced naked in my room for almost an hour.  After being in Ubud, which I still refer to as the “Williamsburg of Bali”, seeing those signs for the infamous Echo Beach were more than my little heart could handle.  And seeing a huge Deus Ex Machina was the cherry on top of my second chapter in Bali.  Although I’ve yet to be homesick, the casual, relaxed and open vibe of this part of country tastes very similar to my familiar Westside in LA.  Oftentimes it’s the absence of that which makes us love it more.  Canggu is still pretty suburban with one main road going through and very little English spoken.  It’s still mostly rice fields out here but construction is picking up and most people are sad to see it.  Throughout the day a nearby mosque broadcasts a man singing prayers, his voice carrying foreign prayers across the rice fields and into my room.  Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night and he’s still singing.  It sounds like something out of a Moroccan movie. On the first day  I was so excited to get to the beach I forgot three VERY IMPORTANT things: water, my bathing suit and sunscreen.  It’s a little more than a mile to the beach and since this wasn’t a far distance and I’m still not ready to scoot around town, I decided to head out on foot – even more proof that I must be a long lost relative of Jane Austen (how confident of me, right?).  I’m just not the type of person to wait for life to happen to me, I must go out and get it (and while I’m out getting it, I’ll also pick up a sunburn and some massive dehydration, thank you very much.)

But I digress…

To stay in theme with my theory that everything happens perfectly and at the right time if you simply have faith and patience, there was a party thrown at Deus on the evening of the day of my arrival into the hood.  What fun!!  Ain’t no party like a Deus party…Even with their overpriced drinks, service charges, card usage fees, etc. my bill was still a meek $10 out the door and I made some amazing friends in the members of the band playing that night as well as a few special others.  One in particular was a hot little Aussie thing named Andre, or Andreas or Ande or something like that – we’ll call him Ande for this particular story.  Ande has fantastic white teeth, really blue eyes and some wild energy about him – like he really feels like anything can happen and it’s all a pretty great experience.  He quit school when he was 14, had success early on in real estate in Australia, started his own company and then opened a very successful Mexican Mecca restaurant with donkeys and chips and salsa – the whole thing.  It’s going so well he decided to do the same in Bali and he asked me to attend his soft opening on Friday.  Tempting me with Mexican food he claims I’ll love more than LA Mexican??  Boy must be crazy.  But I’ll do everything once.  He also gave me some amazing directional advice for my future.  While I still insist I’m not running from anything, but searching for something, Ande touched on that as well.  He also told me about some sort of snake blood a person can drink and it will cure eczema.  I’m hoping to hear from him if at least to get some good Mexican and the details about that blood…anything else is a bonus.  I was also extremely lucky to run into Sebastian, my Argentinean neighbor and travel guru.  Seb speaks Spanish, French, English, Portuguese and Indonesian and he is a surf photographer.  How friggin cool is all of that??  He showed me some really gorgeous parts of Canggu during low tide and he also provided me with a sense of security to be able to relax a little and let someone else take care of decisions, directions, plans, safety and lots of other things I have to think about every day while I’m here.  He told me how to travel cheap (book travel at night, thus saving on lodging) and he even offered to keep the bulk of my luggage at his place while I hop around Asia.  Seb provided me with a mental break as well as another great adventure.  He took me to Kuta and told me about the money exchanges, the petrol stations and how every newcomer to Bali gets cheated in one way or another; it’s like a rite of passage.  We also experienced traffic worse than I’ve ever seen ever in my entire life – including living in LA.  We were actually hit on both sides of our scooter at the exact same.  Somehow I came out of that experience physically unscathed, but you know those moments when you are so scared you’re holding your breath?  Like, really really holding your breath because there is nothing else you can do to react…I was doing that – inwardly panicking but keeping my cool on the outside.  What other options do you have, you know?  If you’re going to buy the ticket you better be ready to ride the ride.  I guess.  The great thing about Seb is that he drives very cautiously and we also wore helmets and mine actually almost fit this time.  He’s also good with comfortable silences which is nice.  Poor Truce would just talk talk talk talk talk.  We hopped all over Kuta running errands, going to the grocery store (a major highlight as I LOVE grocery stores), went on an unfruitful quest for that Oz sunscreen that looks like really bad makeup and finally ended up on Kuta Beach in the warm water.  He told me about the surf breaks on either side of the airport runway, aptly title “Airport left” and “Airport right”, the Bali prison where EVERYONE goes –from drug dealers and gang members (very rare)to kids who were at the wrong place at the wrong time and got caught smoking a joint.  They throw them all in there together.  I couldn’t imagine.  Seb and I ended our day with some tea at a popular spot in Seminyak called Ku De Ta.  It’s a favorite in the area to see and be scene while watching the sunset.  I had considered Seminyak as a possibility for my next location, but once I caught the essence of this little area I decided it wasn’t for me.  Seminyak is the Hollywood of Bali – been there, done that.  Meeting both of these amazing people made me realize that we all come into each others’ lives for a purpose.  Ande gave me the attention I was craving after being in Ubud and he also gave me some great professional direction.  Seb gave me amazing insight and companionship that I think people like us need while we’re on this road.  And for a guy who works with all men all the time, I think I was a nice break in the masculine monotony that comes with having his dream job.  Spending time with both of these guys makes me think of some of the relationships I could have had and how much they would have limited me in my growth.  A lot of people say they were able to grow along with their relationship, but I’d have to say, it just wouldn’t be the same.  I’m leaving this wonderful little underdeveloped sleepy town tomorrow morning and while it has done me no harm, I’m happy to go.  I’d come back here if I was staying with someone who could scoot me around (I’m especially hesitant of driving since yesterday’s chaos)but spending time in these little pockets has shown me what kind of energy and stimulation I like and don’t like and I know I need more at this time.  I was packing my suitcase today and a thought came to me: I felt happy about knowing I didn’t want to be where I was, but I had no idea where I was going.  I need more people around, more options, more action…I need a bit more of a city feel right now.  It turns out you can take the country out of the girl.  However if I ever come back to Bali it will be interesting to see what Canggu looks like and how much will have certainly changed, because that is the one thing you can be sure will happen. 

“A good traveler has no fixed plans and is not intent on arriving.” – Lao Tzu

Get Lost

On my way to Bali I spent some time reading a guide book my friend Holland loaned to me for my journey.  I read almost everything that would apply to my first leg of the trip, including history, tradition, safety, money, emergencies, transportation, etc.  Frommer’s had some great information on the history of the rice paddies, the yoga movement in Bali and even some tips on travel –like asking how much a taxi ride is BEFORE you agree to go with the driver.  But I also noticed something else about their guide book – it plays very safe and caters mostly to…old scared people, to put it gently.  What fun is it to stay in some fancy hotel where you don’t have to lift a finger or even a brow to figure out how you’re going to get your next meal, water or even a towel – all obstacles I faced within the first few hours of being here.  I know I’m not going full-on in the adventure department, but I am traveling to the other side of the world by myself, not knowing anyone, not speaking the language and winging it on a lot of decisions.  Frommer’s briefly mentions home-stays which make up a HUGE majority of the places to stay in Ubud and their section on warungs does absolutely no just for the food culture in Bali.  So I’m going to give you my version of a guide book for Ubud. 

In the belly of the local market

1. Book a homestay.  Not only are you getting more of a genuine feel and idea of what it’s like to live in another country, you are directly supporting a FAMILY, not a hotel chain.  Sure the beds are not the softest and you have to buy toilet paper (remember, they spray here) but the experience of seeing how a family exists, makes their offerings, makes their breakfast and lets their children run around with no pants on is priceless.  If you can buy a ticket to Bali you can stay in a fancy hotel in your own town.  Take that all-inclusive business somewhere else, go to the edge of your fear and comfort zone!  The second night I was here I was woken up by a loud strange noise in my room.  It was an animal of some sort and it was a noise I’d never heard before and I could not describe.  I sat straight up in my bed, eyes wide with fear and unable to move.  What if it was a possum?  Do they have possums in Bali?  Maybe it’s a rat??  For some reason my mind went to Harry Potter (don’t laugh) staying in that old dusty hotel, The Leaky Cauldron and his Big Book of Monsters.  I thought “what would Harry do?”  I’m not exaggerating, this is the thought that crossed my mind.  Thoughts of an animal scurrying onto my bed, foaming at the mouth with rabies were just too much for me to handle, I was going to have to get out of the room.  I decided I would creep to the corner of the bed nearest to the door (thank god I kept the key –yes key, in the lock of the door so as not to lose it), quietly unlock the door, flip on the light and ready myself for a lightning-quick exit.  Door open, ready to pounce, I flipped on the light and saw…nothing.  I scanned the room, my luggage, even the bathroom, nothing.  Whatever it was, it was gone.  And it couldn’t have been an animal because there was no way in or out. This mystery was solved the next evening when I made a new friend named Tom (a Venice guy!!) and he told me what it was.  A gecko.  It was a lizard.  It could have also been a frog as I’ve heard those as well.  But Tom explained to me that they can be very loud but not to worry, geckos are seen as a good thing – if they’re around your place is safe from mosquitoes and most other bugs.  But you see if I had stayed at the Four Seasons that would not have happened!  Now when they wake me up I get into a “shushing” war with little reptiles.  I’ll also tell you another secret: I brush my teeth with the tap water, and I’m still alive.  I wouldn’t recommend this in other parts of the world such as India, but if you’re in India Buddha Belly is going to get you no matter what. 

A woman shopping at the market

2. Eat at warungs.  Lots of them.  The ones that don’t have a menu are the best.  Tell the cook what you like, be gracious and respectful of their capabilities and let them work their magic.  The food at these hole-in-the-wall places are so good, you’d swear your momma cooked it – if she was Balinese and covered in tattoos.  It’s a super yummy home cooked breakfast lunch or dinner for $1 or $2 out the door.  Genius.  And the people at these places are the locals, support them!!!  Stop going to Clear Café every single day.  Get out there and eat some local food.  If you want to hang out with a bunch of white people at a vegan café you should just stay home.  Places like Bali Buddha, Clear Cafe and Soma should be a break from the local fare, not the norm.  If I had decided that I was too scared to Oka’s delicious food, I would have missed out on an amazing adventure that cannot be bought.  Oka was nice enough to take me on his scooter (helmets not included) the next morning to a market used by the locals in another village.  This is the market he shops at to buy the food for his warung.  

Children with their mother, at the market.

Oka took me where the tourist don’t go – into the dark belly of the food markets overflowing with vegetables, fruit, candy, eggs, cooking supplies and even chopped up chickens just sitting out on a counter “it’s better to buy a live chicken,” Oka told me.  I didn’t ask him how or who kills the chicken.  The dirt-floor aisles of these markets are no more than 18 inches wide and full of locals buying their groceries.  Walking into this market was like Kyle walking into that house party in Road Trip; you could hear the record scratch as everyone stopped and stared at the little blonde chick bopping around their home turf.  But here’s what you do, behave respectfully, learn to say thank you in Balinese and try (almost) anything they offer – I turned down that chopped up chicken.  Oh and buy things.  I bought eggs, some sort of white root that tastes like a potato, bananas and some sweet fermented rice drink.  I think I may have spent $3 total.  The ladies in there were fabulous.  Smile at them and say ‘hello’ and you’ve made their day.  All of a sudden I’m the most beautiful thing that has ever lived and they all want to touch me and laugh when I try to speak their language.  It was heaps of fun.  

Oka picking out the biggest eggs for me. 

Lastly, I asked Oka if I could take pictures and I made sure that I was respectful of the people at the market.  Oka knew I was interested in buying coffee so on our way through the villages he stopped at a local coffee roaster where I was able to look at the roasting facility and even buy some quality coffee – apparently the lesser quality is cut with rice powder and other fillers.  I paid $1 a bag for the quality stuff…local prices for sure.  Oka then drove us to his house, which is actually a group of houses for the entire family, usually with a small temple in the middle.  

The coffee roasting room.

Oka's mother

I met his mother who look as old and frail as dust but had an amazing energy in her eyes which completely blew me away.  The way she came straight to me and stuck out her hand to meet was such an amazing experience.  On our way back to Ubud we stopped at a little grocery and I saw some strange things in a cooler.  I asked Oka what they were and he explained that they are “spicy ice” – ice flavored with chili pepper and tamarind and sugar.

Spicy Ice

Not my favorite thing, but you would never find this in a grocery in Ubud.  None of this would have happened if I hadn’t been open to going into a no-name warung full of local guys.  Be open to adventure.  But maybe also be open to the fact that you could be hopping on the back of a scooter just to wake up in a tub full of ice and your kidneys missing.  Just kidding, they don’t have ice in Bali. 

3. Make friends.  Go with your gut on this one, but again if I hadn’t sat down at that warung, I wouldn’t have made friend with Truce, an Aussie with a motorcycle.  Truce is a bush man who knows how to get lost and found.  He also speaks a good amount of Balinese.  Truce took me out to his little compound where I met Stephen (pronounced Steffen) and a hand-full of Japanese people who were sitting around having a conversation about biodynamic farming.  After walking barefoot through the organic garden and rousing up a snake (yikes!) we chopped down a ripe papaya and had a little snack with some coffee.  I still speak a bit of Japanese and they were so thrilled they made origami animals for me!   Truce and I also took a motorcycle ride to the east coast of Bali where we saw the black volcanic sand and went swimming in the ocean with the locals.  Figuring out how to get to the ocean was part of the adventure, as the roads are not marked well and the maps are not always up to date.  I discovered I have some pretty good directional instincts when we were trying to figure out which way to go.  Most of the streets in Bali run north-south because of the mountain and the water runs downhill and eventually into the ocean (obviously, right?).  So when we couldn’t figure out which direction we should head, I suggested following the water and also knowing the position of the sun allowed us to head southeast. 

Stephen's friend who came from Japan to see the garden.

I also made friends with Rojes.  He’s the kind of guy who can get you anything.  He’s a bit of a shyster but he has very good intentions.  He just likes to sell everything.  But he’ll also share his lunch with you just to spend time and have company.  Rojes taught me how to eat with my hand like the locals do and he shared his food-stall lunch with me – it cost him $.30 (that’s 30 cents).  And then he taught me how to wash my hand with the little bucket in the bathroom, which is great because I was completely lost.  It’s literally a tiny square thing, the size of a linen closet with an eastern toilet and a bucket with water in it.  That is not in your Frommer’s book.  I came to Bali for an experience – a real experience, one that cannot be found in a guide book.  Why would I travel for almost 30 hours for something I can get at The Standard on Sunset?  

Give me something real, take an unknown path, say yes, take a chance, do what they tell you not to do.  And if you die doing it, well that’s a great story in my opinion.  

Ubud origami 

Steffen's "outdoor" bathroom

An organic papaya from the garden

Stephen's kitchen with a real banana hammock

Our road trip adventure to Sanur, swimming with the locals

I'm not here to Eat, Pray, Love.

You are here.  Almost.

My first Balinese experience aside from the 29 hours of travel it took to get to Indonesia, was a Bali guy spilling his beer directly into my carry-on bag two hours before I landed on the island.  It was 9 a.m., he just sat there perplexed and after I got him to get up so I can get my things out of the beer soup, he gave me two paper towels to clean up the mess.  I was definitely upset, but seeing as this is a spiritual/mental/healing trip I decided to use a new train-of-thought on the situation.  Sure I was upset, but I knew he didn’t mean to and he probably felt worse than I did.  Am I going to call him to be my driver?  Nope.  I have no business being in a vehicle with a person who chooses to drink at 9 a.m.  The person who was actually supposed to be my driver never showed, and I knew this was another challenge the universe had given me.  I asked for the challenge of change and she is giving it to me faster than I can fix, swallow or expect.  It’s interesting to me what your brain will do when it’s faced with a new perspective in which it is forced to adjust.  It’s almost like there is a net over your beliefs and what you think you can comprehend or know in your world, but when you decide to change it; either by becoming sober, changing where you live, who you love or buying a one-way ticket to paradise your brain and your spirit does something interesting – it’s stretches itself to allow that new perspective, way of thinking or surrounding into your world.  It’s like each person has a protect web covering them and what they know and the second that person decides to allow something else in, the web stretches to include that thing, which the person is now able to attempt to process. 

Run of the mill "wing shot".

I’ve not even been in Bali for 24 hours yet but I’ve already felt the stretch of what I asked for, and what I’m receiving.  Those two things never look the same, by the way.  (Small pause to apply sunscreen – at 7 a.m. the sun is on full blast).  My “hotel” for example is actually a “home-stay”.  I wondered what the difference is and now I know.  My room is absolutely gorgeous; I have my own balcony with a fantastic teak patio set that would go for $1,000 in Pottery Barn, and my source of light is a single little bulb (the kind Americans n pay $15 for at their stylish restaurants and bars) hanging down from a dust fabric-covered cord.  My bathroom sink is on my balcony so when I wash my face and brush my teeth it’s anyone’s business.  But I don’t care.  My bed linens are covered in a traditional woven blanket.  It’s thin, but at this very moment it must be 90 degrees outside so I’m fine with that. The bed is enormous and hard as a rock but I don’t care.  Bathroom is literally a square room, tiled top to bottom and as soon as you walk in, you are actually in the shower.  I’m thankful for the western toilet but honestly I don’t even know if I would care if it wasn’t.  There are no towels, there is no toilet paper and no mini-fridge.  These are the clues that led me to think “home-stay” means you’re literally staying at home.  Get your own towel, toilet paper and the mini-fridge isn’t happening.  But what it’s lacking in amenities it makes up for in absolute serene beauty and a real Bali experience.  My balcony faces two things: East, and a small jungle valley full of roosters, chickens and a little creek running through it.  That means I saw the sunrise this morning.  And roosters were crowing at the same time.  I smelled the smoke from a family burning their old offerings to the gods and I watched at the hot sun took away the morning mist.  Even now as I write this there is traditional Balinese music making its way to my balcony, there are birds chirping, ducks quacking, some sort of locusts or crickets singing and water making its way down the mountain and eventually to the ocean.

On my "porch" looking into my room.

I finally figured out why there is a little sprayer handset next to the toilet, and it’s not to rinse down the inside of the bowl.  It’s to rinse your ass.  This was explained to me today while I had my first Bintang (Balinese beer) at a very very local warung.  It was actually an Aussie who filled me in, you see the locals as well as several other Asian countries don’t use toilet paper to wipe, they use the spray hose.  A spotlessly clean bum every single time.  Amazing. 

Today I spent quite a bit of time at the little French café down the road.  They have Wi-Fi and for some reason we still don’t so I took my research and my coffee habit to this open-air two-story stucco building.  A few hours later I had slightly more knowledge of the lay of the Island and I had also found what could possibly work as a running route.  Running is not a typical sport in Ubud; the sidewalks are tiny and treacherous and the streets are even more deadly but I knew there had to be something else besides some sort of gym with a treadmill.  So after some research I set off on an adventure to find my (running) path.  It’s funny how you search and search and search for something and halfway through your search you realize…you’ve found it.  That’s exactly what happened on my run today.  I was walking down this tiny road for ages, looking for this running path and all along I was right on top of it practically slapping it in the face with every flip of my Havianas.  I’m already beginning to see if you ask for something…a running path, to see the terraced rice paddies, a drink, they all seem to pop up exactly when you need them.  Take Coco Wayan for example.  I was rounding the bend of my unknown running path when I saw Coco Wayan fanning a little mosquito fire.  He literally popped up as if on cue for his scene and invited to me to his little garden area for a fresh young coconut.  $1. He pulled it out of a basket and hacked into it right there in front of me, splashing both of us with fresh coconut water.  

Organic "straws" made of bamboo, ylang ylang oil, coconut oil, coconuts , offerings and vanilla bean.  All for sale at Coco Wayan's stand.

It was amazing.  He showed me his organic farming “We only use cow sheet, not spray or growth products” and explained to me that the rice he planted 10 days ago would be ready in 100 days.  They cut off the stalks at the bottom and beat the end of it against a basket, releasing all of the rice grains from the plant.  He then showed me his full stock of freshly planted herbs including ginger, turmeric, ginseng, lemongrass, vanilla bean, oregano, small eggplant, mint and more.  Coco Wayan told me I could come up there anytime – he doesn’t have to be there- and I can meditate, get some quiet away from the scooters and just think.  He said people do it all the time.  This is the typical personality and mindset of the Balinese people.  Or at least the one they present to us.  They’re happy – they have a big toothy grin on their face and they are happy to give you a glimpse into their world.  I think that’s the best way to travel; find the locals and talk to them, sit with them, have coffee with them and buy something from them.  Most of all, show gratitude and respect.