As I think I mentioned earlier, the Sananda Bungalows where we are staying was set up by a Swiss woman who conceived of this place after a vision in a meditation. And there are definitely some hippie aspects to it. Before building any of the villas, she constructed an obelisk in the garden to communicate with Switzerland. And as there was no telephone mounted in the obelisk, I can only conclude that she meant communicate spiritually.... But the place itself just felt calm and relaxed with a focus on nature and fresh, mainly vegetarian organic food from the garden, which was gorgeous. We were treated to a small dessert after each meal - delicious homemade Indonesian rice flour concoctions (except one lunchtime when there was a small piece of what tastes like Christmas cake. It turned out to be... Christmas cake. Slightly incongruous in september, in Bali).
Sheila, an Indonesian woman, was our hostess in Lovina. She took us to the neighboring village one morning to the home of all the staff so we could see where they lived. Phil and I drew water from the well and carried buckets of water on our head, local style (about 10 metres) much to the amusement of everyone watching. We must have seemed like such lightweights - These women carry water to use pretty much every single day of their lives.
It was sad to pack up. We met a lovely girl from Germany and one from Switzerland there. Sheila made us treats to go and packaged them up for us. So thoughtful. I really want to go back later in the trip. It's not that we did anything special there, more that it was a place of zero stress.
Actually, one thing did happen - I organized a massage with a woman from the local village who came over. All the girls had a massage and later when comparing notes, we discovered that we all found it "interesting". She walks all over your back in a sort of effective but painful way. I was thinking during the massage that I really should have learned the Indonesian word for "enough", although I got the distinct sense that the masseuse did not believe that massages should be an enjoyable experience. In addition to massaging the stomach, she also has a technique of aligning the inner organs by... Sticking her finger in your bellybutton and wriggling it until you are aligned. Eewwwwwww.... Really very unpleasant!! Afterwards I felt pretty good - my muscles were definitely more relaxed. But there was a feeling of violation that hung around for a bit. Ah well, just another experience to add to the pile.
- Posted using hippie vibes and Xmas cake
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