With my joy ride over and cough in check let my Ubud Adventures continue. Putu takes me to a nearby coffee plantation. Coffee isn’t my beverage of choice, but I’ll drink it to satisfy my curiosity about this kaka coffee. The “plantation” turns out to be more of a demonstration area, explaining Balinese coffee production — specifically highlighting kaka coffee, properly known as Kopi Luwak.
The Asian palm civet, aka Luwak, is an animal that looks like a cross between a cat and a weasel. These kitty kats eat the fleshy, ripe pulp of coffee cherries, where the beans ferment in their digestive tract. Once pooped out and cleaned, they’re hand roasted and become this very expensive Kopi Luwak coffee.
Our plantation guide points out bowls showing all that’s required to make this poop java. Right next to the display of ingredients sits a well-seasoned elderly woman who looks as if she’s spent her entire life roasting these beans. And then, next to her, a caged civet — improperly labeled “Luwak.” I didn’t ask why, since I’d never even heard of a civet. I did, however, ask if the old woman was also kept in a cage after closing. They assured me she went home after her shift — on the ancient rusting bicycle they had on display, I assume.
If it weren’t six U.S. dollars a cup, I’d have gladly added this coffee to my list of addictive substances. Hands down, the most delicious cup I’ve ever had — and more than likely ever will have again. After the demo and tasting numerous coffee and tea samples, we headed out. Not without a hard sell of prepackaged coffees and teas in every size imaginable. The tickle in my throat and recent coughing fit had me giving in and buying both lemon and ginger tea.
“Putu, are all these buildings temples?” I ask on the way back to my maid’s quarters at the villa. “No, they’re houses,” he says. I point to a long wall that runs the entire block. “This whole thing is someone’s house?” “Yes,” he answers emphatically. “They are compounds.”
So I’m thinking hmmm compounds like cult-like where a bunch of different people and families live together. But Putu keeps laughing as I point at one structure after another: “That’s a house?” — yes. “And this?” — yes. Finally he says, “If you want, I can take you to my house and show you. But make sure you’re feeling better.”
I was coughing again and said “Ya, I want to actually GO IN to the Monkey Forest tomorrow.” We agreed on a private tour for Monday. I told him about the other driver and he shrugged, “Oh ya, he had to be from Java. A lot of these drivers say they’re from Bali but they’re really from Java.” No clue about the truth of that statement, or what it actually meant but Putu showed no octopus tendencies, so I felt good about spending a full day seeing more of Ubud.
The next morning with just two days left in Ubud, I forced myself out of bed at 3 p.m. and walked down the hill to the Sacred Monkey Forest Sanctuary to hang with my homies.
The place is crawling with monkeys — but beyond that, it’s also a sacred Balinese temple complex and, oddly enough, a public holding place for the dead.
The Balinese cremate their dead to release the soul from the body, allowing it to move on. But cremations cost $20,000–30,000 USD, far beyond the reach of the average Balinese worker making around $1,000 a month. So the village pools resources and holds communal cremations every few years. Bodies are stored in graves until enough money is raised, then exhumed and cremated together. Personally, I’d just as soon be fed to the sharks for free.
As if the monkeys weren’t entertainment enough..
I luck into front-row seats for the Lubdaka Dance, also called Tari Lubadaka. This traditional Balinese dance originated in Petulu village, right here in Ubud. There is a narrator explaining, but honestly, I don’t know what the hell is going on. Something about dragonflies and frogs, a prince and princess, and some scary monster creatures. Could care less — It’s a kick in the pants. The musicians make the story come alive: frog percussion, dragonfly flutes, pounding rhythms for the monsters. The whole thing is quite the treat. One of those happy accidents I just happened to stumble upon. Love when that happens.
Tomorrow’s my last day in Ubud. I walk back up the hill, heat up my newly purchased ginger tea, crawl into bed, turn on my iPad and start streaming the end of Hell’s Kitchen Season 6, Episode 5. Before long, Gordon Ramsay screaming at the blue team for serving another raw beef Wellington lulls me right to sleep.
Ubud ATV Adventure travel blog by Lary Kennedy
Living Like I’m Dying travel stories | Ubud travel blog | Bali adventure writing
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