Getting ready for Royal cremation in Ubud Bali

Late this afternoon I rode from Seminyak to Ubud for tommorow’s Royal cremation ceremony.

This event is huge for the Balinese and plenty of people have arrived in town, tourists and locals.

The area around the temple on Jl. Raya Ubud is a zoo as you might imagine with locals in traditional dress, tourists snapping pictures and insane traffic.

I arrived around 6.50pm. They say if you want a safe ride to Ubud from Kuta on a motorbike leave no later than 5pm and you will have daylight all the way. Sundown is around 6.30pm over here. the Friday evening traffic was thick and once again my thoughts turned to how a relic like the internal combustion engine is still with us. Everyone sitting in a traffic jam with his own little chimney pumping out an oily cloud…mmm that’s what I want for good health.

I have previously stayed at ‘losmans’ (guest houses / homestays ) on Jl. Hanuman in downtown Ubud. This time I rode down Jl. Raya (main street ) Ubud and took the first right turn after the temple up Jl. Kajeng, the street where ‘Threads Of Life’ is located. There are a many losman on this atmospheric little street and the first 4 I checked were full. “Oh boy” I thought, “looks like it Jl. Hanuman again.” The fifth losman didn’t look at all nice from the front but exceeded my expectations when I entered. Can’t remember the name right now ( hope I can find my way home) but will give you the low-down tommorrow when I can get some shots.

The owner asked for 80,000rp and I ended up paying 70,000rp. The room is very nice and as Ubud is full I wasn’t going to argue to long.

At the main temple in downtown Ubud is a massive sarcophagus of a bull which the body will be placed in once it gets to the cremation ground in central Ubud. The whole show is set to kick off around 2pm from what I can gather. I am looking forward to the size of the event plus the people in their outfits. I hear black in very ‘in’ this week.

I brought a sweater but wearing it I’m almost too warm. Very easy climate to survive in over here.

On another note I had a good chuckle last night when I overheard (along with most other people in the cafe ) 2 American guys talking about orgainzing a container of furniture to be shipped back to the States. It was their first time exporting and it seemed to me that apart from the supply, shipping and selling they had everything figured out. They were paying top dollar for a massive cargo container and were hoping to fill it with ‘merchandise’ consisting of bamboo and rattan furniture. Ever been to a really tacky bar or a cheap hotel? They all have old bamboo furniture that looks like it cost $1 and was made on the beach. These 2 are buying a ton of it and shipping it halfway around the world in the hope someone will buy it. Good luck guys. For a first time whack at exporting I’d try silver jewelry. Go to Java, buy a bucket load for next to nothing, get the seller to write you a fake reciept saying it is really worth next to nothing and carry it on the plane. You can always find someone who wants a new silver ring or necklace. Don’t know about the old bamboo chair.

So its a rockin’ Friday night in Ubud. Let’s see what trouble I can get into.