Winter 2019 - 6. Neighborhood Around Uma Sari

6.  Neighborhood Around Uma Sari

Small Rice Field Near Uma Sari

Years ago the area around Uma Sari, our hotel here, was just rice fields. A smallish road ran through the paddies and someone decided to build a Hotel smack in the middle of the rice paddies and name it…Center of the Rice Fields (Uma Sari). This Hotel was within walking distance of the center of Ubud, the market and the old Royal Palace. Years ago it must have been a lonely place, albeit maybe very idyllic. Nearby were some temple-like structures, maybe another hotel or guesthouse and within a few decades, people added other buildings. Restaurants, spas, some galleries and/or souvenir shops and the old rice paddy road was partially paved and named Jalan Bisma. Well, that is how I imagine it anyhow. I am sure I am not that far from the real picture of the development of the area. Alongside the road ran a small creek, enough to water the rice paddies and then take the excess water and guide it further down the fields. OK, I can make it sound even better… we are in the middle of an ancient swamp.

                                                                         Worker in the Rice Field 

                                                                        Worker in the Rice Field 

Exploring the Lane-Ways

It is evident that the whole of the area was a rice field. There are still some smallish plots that are planted and harvested even today. But progress has taken hold of this part of Ubud. Houses sprouted up in haphazard fashion and a kind of suburb developed, made for modern day tourists. The world is coming to Bali and the people around here are taking advantage of it. 

Yet there are still venues, small paths, hidden treasures, quirky views in abundance that we wanted to visit. We walked, camera  ready, just meandering through the back allies.

Friendly Local Hanging Her Wash

Mind you we are no hikers, we are not even the best walkers any longer but we had a fine time peeking over the fences, walls and we explored the neighborhood in our own, peculiar way. What we missed were benches to sit on and just watch but we nevertheless received a local view not visible from the main road (Jalan Bisma). Dogs barked at us but were friendly enough, while we wandered through the back allies. Housewives gaped at us; we were as foreign to them as they were to us. Some even waved and smiled at those ‘tourists’, meaning Carol and me.

Water on the Driveway

We saw a more rural life of Ubud, of Bali that many people do not see. Vistas inside some court yards revealed that the water table is still very high. Some front yards had water standing about an inch deep after the heavy rain we had last night. No, there are not many rice fields left, most have been replaced with local housing, with banana trees, with gardens, with driveways and tarred walks but the area around our hotel is still ‘rural’.

While our main street, Jalan Bisma, is actually busy with mopeds, cars and delivery vehicles, those back allies are quiet. Roosters take pride in their flocks of hens, wash hangs out to dry, a kindergarten, while empty, shows the ‘art’ the students painted all over the walls. 

Palapa

Living arrangements here are not totally inside a house. While a surrounding wall blocks the casual view from neighbors or passing people, within their compound, actual living occurs under verandas, palapas (open sided structure with thatched roof of Palm leaves) or in the shade. Sure they have rooms for privacy, but there is still a lot of outside living present. Each house we saw, each building or doorway, each possible path had some kind of altar covered with flowers or representations of deities. Offerings, some expired for some time, are still sitting on those altars. Religion, Hinduism, is evident everywhere. This religion is not for the tourists, it’s a part of their daily life, its part of what Bali is, even today.

Painted Outside Walls of a Home

The vegetation is tropical. The soil is very fertile. There is enough water for everything to grow. With a bit of care by people, a paradise could be created but the locals have a tendency to just let nature take over. Or is it that creating paradise would be a burdensome chore of daily labor? 

Anyhow, everything is green and with all the water around I expected we would have mosquitoes, but no… I think I had one mosquito bite in the 3 plus weeks we were on Bali. The temperature is a comfy 28 to 30C but the humidity was very high. Well, we were there in Jan/Feb, their rainy season and had brief showers many afternoons.   

Lush Vegetation at Uma Sari

Our exploration of the neighborhood was a pleasant experience.  We could easily have spent days doing this but we wanted to also see more of Bali, so our next trip was an outing to the old Kings Royal Palace and some of the history of Bali.