First, a little shout-out to the teams/cities who played in the Super Bowl on Sunday, including my hometown team, the Kansas City Chiefs. ❤️💛🏈 Congratulations to everyone involved. What an exciting and well-played game! Selfishly, I’m happy that the Chiefs were able to pull off the win at the last minute!
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“Almost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes…including you.” – Anne Lamott
Last week, a few gals from yoga and I had another Balinese adventure after class. I’ve so enjoyed getting to know them and making lasting memories – even if our time together is brief.
Eddie, our driver/coconut man/tour guide/spiritual gangster (everyone needs an Eddie in their life) helped us set up the day trip. We visited a rice terrace, a Hindu purification temple, and a coffee plantation – three things that have been on the top of my list to do while visiting Bali.
Tegallalang Rice Terrace – The Detoxification
This is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been to. Click the link above to see some gorgeous photography of the place.
Eddie dropped Kim (Netherlands), Marie (France), Heather (US), and me off at the terraces after yoga class. We were all starving so first things first – brunch. They have a lovely restaurant with delicious fresh food and smoothies and it overlooks the beautifully landscaped fields and the touristy bits. Kim had visited here in the late nineties and said it has changed quite a bit since the invention of social media. I could see what she meant – tourists were everywhere. I’m not even sure how much rice they produce out of these fields or if it’s more just for show now. She said it used to be a nice quiet walk through the terraces but now they’ve added swings and photo-op locations around the property. Plus, you can rent bright-colored sarongs to wear while you swing and the staff will even video you while they push you. It’s quite a site to see. I saw several “influencers” with drones and high-tech equipment roaming about. It made me think, am I really living in the moment or just capturing content for this blog and social media? I think I’m trying to do both but maybe I need to focus a little more on the present. It is a gift after all.
After brunch, we headed out to walk through the hills. The hike was absolutely stunning but I did not expect it to be so tiring. Maybe it was because we had just finished yoga and that is exhausting enough or maybe it was the heat and humidity. Either way, I was sweating like a sinner in church. The sweat was rolling down my back, arms, legs, and face into my eyes. I basically got a free, natural detox of my entire body without drinking any of those horrible-tasting drinks they try to sell you via celebrity endorsements. Despite the heat and tiredness, this is one of my favorite things I’ve seen so far. The natural beauty is breathtaking.
Pura Tirta Empul – The Purification
Next, we hopped in the van and headed off to one of the more popular Hindu temples and purification baths, Pura Tirta Empul. I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect. I had read about it online (sidenote: the Obamas visited here in 2017) and Kim had been here before so she showed us the ropes but the experience is personal for each person.
We entered the gates and paid the entrance fee – just a few American dollars. We walked the grounds and looked at the different statues and building structures. When you arrive at the point of entering the sacred grounds of the temple and purification bath they give everyone (men, women, and children) a sarong to wear around their waists over their clothes. It’s a sign of respect and is required in all temples.
Once we were inside, Kim showed us the holy springs/purification bath and we watched in awe at all the people in the water. It was fairly quiet except for the gushing sound of the water, as people were using this time to focus on the moment in front of them.
Next Kim (everyone needs a Kim in their life too) showed us where to rent a sarong for the purification pools – there are two. We went into the changing room and put on our swimsuits and sarongs and left our bags in a locker. As we were walking toward the pools we noticed three other people from our yoga class – Uncle (the 72-year-old man I spoke about previously), Kate, and Lynn – all from China. It’s always nice to see friendly faces and it was a complete coincidence that we were all there at the same time. Divine timing some would say.
We each made our way into the freezing cold water. The sky was overcast so we didn’t have any sunshine to provide a little extra warmth – penance for deeds done wrong? Maybe? (kidding)
Okay, I’m not Hindu or any other religion for that matter. I was raised Catholic and I love the Catholic traditions and prayers. The Our Father, The Hail Mary, the burning of the incense, the ringing of the bells during the Transubstantiation (transformation of the Eucharist), etc., etc…but what I can’t handle and it is a major reason why I left the church is the child molestation scandal and the covering up of it. This decision to leave launched me on a spiritual journey of my own to understand other religions and spirituality. From my own personal research, I have taken a little bit from several religions/spiritualities and made my own practice that I do every morning and night. It suits me well. So when the opportunity arose to experience a Hindu purification ceremony, I was all in to learn and experience something new. No judgment, only curiosity.
Given that I don’t know the complete background of what each fountain means, I used my intuition to navigate the process for myself. For each fountain, they tell you to soak your head three times – like a Baptism. While waiting in line for each one, I got mentally still and waited for something to pop up, and surprisingly many things did.
At the first few fountains, the thoughts were all about the physical. I asked for healing and purification for different parts of my body. Next was my mind and then my spirit/soul. Finally, at the last fountain (there were so many), I consciously asked for the slate to be wiped clean. Like a rebirth. I asked for forgiveness of myself (and all I’ve done in this lifetime), forgiveness towards others, and forgiveness of the world. It felt a little like a Catholic confessional with a Priest.
Was there any voodoo magic or fireworks that went off? No. Did I feel some huge shift in my life? No. But it did make me realize that each day, we have this opportunity to start anew – fresh and purified. We don’t need a formal ceremony or to travel to Bali to make it happen. Heck, with the proper intention and a shower, warm or cold – your choice, you can do this yourself every morning before you start your day. That is not to discount the belief in the Hindu holy springs – I do believe that certain elements in the world have special properties. but as Agus reminded me during our reading, we all have the power within.
Satria Coffee Plantation – Kopi Luwak – The Caffeination
The last stop of the day.
Ever since I saw the movie The Bucket List, tasting Kopi Luwak coffee has been on my personal bucket list. Well folks, Wednesday, February 8, 2023, was that special day. If you’ve never seen the movie or don’t know what Kopi Luwak coffee is, check out this clip and it will explain everything. … Bizarre I know, but again, I like to experience firsthand all things that life has to offer – even if they are a little gross sometimes.
In 2002, I lived in Prague, Czech Republic, and visited several countries around Europe. While I was traveling through Italy, I fell in love with coffee and espresso and vowed that someday I would (will) own a coffee shop, coffee truck, or something of the sort. So when I returned to America from Europe and told my father my brilliant idea. He advised me to work for a coffee shop before I threw any money at the idea. So for three years while working for the Kansas City Royals, I moonlighted at Starbucks on nights and weekends when the team was out of town. I loved it. It’s still one of the best jobs I ever had. They not only taught me about coffee but about how to run an efficient business. Back then, before you even worked a shift you had to attend two evenings of coffee school. We learned about the geography of where the beans were grown, and how the weather, soil, altitude, etc. would affect the beans. We learned about roasting the bean to different levels from the green bean to the dark roast. The lighter roasts have more caffeine than the darker roasts, yada, yada. We sampled so many coffees from all over the world, I couldn’t sleep for days from the caffeine high. But you know what? I learned a ton about coffee and I want to continue to learn more. So, to be able to see how they harvest the beans for Kopi Luwak – which isn’t pretty – they even wear shirts that say “Poo Hunter” on them – ha! – to how they clean and roast them, was interesting, to say the least. They had samples at all stages of the bean for us to see and smell. A young woman was roasting them over an open flame and the aroma was amazing. Not to mention, they make a ton of jokes about this whole ordeal including offering us “Catpoochinos.”
I was a little concerned about how they handled the civet cats. Wayan (many people are named Wayan here – it means firstborn), our tour guide said that they only keep the civet cats in cages for one week and then release them and catch others. He also said they aren’t that difficult to catch because they are fed so well that they usually hang around the plantation. The cats are nocturnal so I didn’t see any that were awake during our visit but I did capture a photo of a cute one sleeping (ignore the poo in the foreground – eww). Also, Eddie said this place was on the up and up in terms of how they treat the animals.
After the tour of the plantation and roasting station, we had a group tasting of a variety of 13 teas and coffees and a hot chocolate made from the cocoa grown on the plantation – all for free. They only charge to taste the Kopi Luwak which cost 50,000 rupiahs ($3.29) a cup which is very expensive for the locals and why most of them do not drink it.
Most all of the coffees and teas tasted amazing. The Balinese love sweet foods and drinks so everything but the Kopi Luwak had a sweeter taste to it…which I enjoyed. I liked the Kopi Luwak as well. It had a bold, earthy taste to me and didn’t seem to have any gross taste that you would think of when drinking a coffee bean from a cat’s intestine. All in all, I liked it but don’t necessarily need to drink it regularly. Honestly, my favorite coffee they had us try was the Avocado coffee. I know, sounds weird, but it was really smooth and delicious.
I loved this experience. It was the one thing I had asked to do that we added on to the end of the day. I doubt it was high on the list of the others but they seemed to have fun and wanted to buy a “poo hunter” shirt but unfortunately, those are only for the staff. None of us applied for a job, but maybe in the future.
All in all, this was another great day during my visit to Bali. Most of the week I’m trying to recoup from Yoga and I just relax, read or watch a movie. I do walk around the city a little and we go out for dinner together a lot but I’m at this point in life where I don’t need to be doing something all the time. I thoroughly enjoy our one or two outings a week but that is plenty for me at the moment. I like to unplug and restart my batteries.
Thanks again for reading along. I appreciate all of you.
Goodnight and much love from Bali! 🇮🇩
