After a considerable delay, here is the next chapter in my adventure in Bali.  Still to come: The last few beach days back around Kuta.

Our gang of four returned our motorbikes to the massage parlour’s parking lot on the morning we were to head to the central region of Bali and its art and cultural centre, the town called Ubud. We asked the masseuses about where to get cheap transport there, and in no time a friend of theirs had a van to take us there.

バリの中央にある「ウブッド」という芸術と文化の場所へ行く朝、四人の仲間は貸しバイクを返すためにマッサージ美容院に戻った。安い輸送について按摩さんの女子に訪ねて、逸早くライトバンが来た。

We briefly lost Michael, who turned in the opposite direction from the hotel to return his bike, since his came from another rental place off the street. While we wondered where he was I found him back at the hotel lobby waiting for us, and before long we were off in the van to get us some culture.

僕たちは一旦マイクル君と離れてびっくりをした。他のレンタル大道商人までバイクを返しすため、逆方向に曲がったからだ。ホテルに戻ったらロビーに見つけてほどなくライトバンに乗って文化をいただきに行った。

It took about an hour, which became an hour and one-half, to get there because our driver didn’t really know the way. We didn’t have hotel reservations and planned on checking out some cheap places recommended by our respective travellers’ guides, so we set off from the town plaza lugging around our heavy luggage.

一時間ぐらいが掛かっていたが、道が迷った運転者だしその次一時半間になった。ホテル予約がなかったし、旅行案内書のお進んだ旅館を探すつもりだっだし、町の広場からまた重い荷物を運びながら歩いて出発した。

The place we wanted to go to, Jati 3, was about halfway down Monkey Forest Road, the main backpacker tourist strip, and behind a narrow alleyway. From its wide entryway one could look down into tiered gardens that appeared lush and peaceful, whilst the hostess and owner embodied a sort of hippy or Zen composure. Unfortunately, she could only tell us that the place was full and to look down more alleys.

志望したのは主要の観光客が泊まる道の真中、狭い路地の後方にある「ジャティ３」という場所だった。広い入り口から色々な青々な庭が見えるが、ヒッピーや禅宗のような平気がする持ち主は「満員だからまた他の路地に探してみてください」しか言わなかったんだ。

Despite my reluctance to accept offers from people standing on the street, we decided to check out a place a guy offered for the equivalent of $10 per night per room including breakfast.

立ち売りについて不本意な気持ちなのに、一泊に１０ドラぐらい朝食も付属であり、呼んだ奴の旅館を見させてもらう方を決めた。

Down the rabbit hole... alley.

The Nani House, seemingly with some Japanese flair, was a simple hotel reminiscent of a Western house located almost at the end of a long and narrow alleyway. It had four units, two on each floor, with exquisitely carved wood doors leading into each, locked by a simple locker lock through its pull-loops. Each faced a lush garden, across from which was the usual family shrine.

微妙に日本のような特色もある「ナニハウス」というのは長くて狭い路地の向かい側に立てて、簡単な洋館のようなホテルだった。妙技で彫られた戸から開く部屋が四つ、各階に二つがあった。戸が簡単な円形の引き手の鍵が掛けられた。全部は青々な庭に向き合って、庭の向こうは家の神社が立てた。

The Nani House! What?? (Nani = What, in Japanese)

Simple rooms, but...

A lush garden and peaceful nights.

A cool view of the neighbourhood from second floor!

Intricately carved wood doors, albeit not too secure.

Possibly best of all, jaffles and banana pancakes for breakfast!

We played rock-paper-scissors (or janken in Japan) to decide roommates and rooms, and I ended up shacking with Robbie in the lower unit.

ルームメートや部屋のことを決めるために「石・紙・鋏」（日本で「じゃんけん」）というゲームでして、結果で下の方にロビーさんと泊まったことがあった。

Our downstairs neighbours were an English couple moving to Australia, who sold all their home possessions and had been traveling for the past two months.

隣人はオーストラリアに引っ越しをしの前、家蔵の販売をして二ヶ月ぐらい旅行をしていたイギリス人の夫婦だった。

The upstairs neighbours, absent on the first night at least, were imagined to be two hot girls by our compadres yet later turned out to be a friendly couple touristing from Jakarta.

一番目の夜もいなかった二回の隣人は美人だぞと言われてても優しくてジャカルタから来た観光客の夫婦になった。

We went out for food and straightaway tried the famous local dish recommended to me by my friendly Indonesian fraternity brother, made from an entire pig consumed gradually throughout the day: Babi Guling. We got the last pick of the day, so it wasn’t the best it could be, but it was tasty and salty. It came with a really tasty sort of sweet and sour soup, the roast pork meat that was a little oily for my taste, and a couple other interesting items. One of them was another chunk of pork largely made with pig’s blood that had a strange but good flavour, and the other was what was rather reminiscent of an artichoke in texture but actually fried jackfruit.

昼食を食べに行ってさっとインドネシア人の友愛クラブの友達に進んでもらった「バビグーリング」という郷土料理を注文した。全体の豚が焼き上げた物だった。最終の物をもらったせい一番美味しいのではなかったが、それにしても塩味が出てうまかっただ。定食が特に美味しい甘酸っぱいような汁、ちょっと脂っこすぎる豚肉、もう二つの面白いものも出た。一つはもう甘くて変な味が出てほとんど血で作られた豚肉の一枚、もう一つはアーティチョークのみたいで同じような食感のものが、焼いたパラミツだった。

Babi guling... fresh or rather, last pick of the day.

Walking around Ubud, we passed by many little shops, some corny and blatantly touristy whilst others were more subtle and refined. I picked up a couple special jams at a very white and sterile-looking shop, which looked much like an art gallery or Apple store. There was what was called a “palace” but as far as I could tell was just a gorgeous and historic temple near the town centre, where we stumbled upon some young girls in a class practicing a traditional dance. They were in front of the main temple entryway, a beautiful sight on the far side of lotus ponds on either side of a walkway.

ウブッドの散歩している間にたくさんの小さくて作為的なの、微妙なのもある店舗を通って行った。絵画館やアップルストアなどのように大清潔感な気持ちが出る店舗で特別のジャムを買い取った。中心街の殿堂と呼ばれた場所にも行ったが、様子が豪華で歴史的なお寺の前に女子の伝統的な踊りの練習授業を観望した。私の目の前に池に架かる橋があって、向こうに見える彼女達はお寺の正門の前にしていた。

The temple and the lotus pond.

A single bloomed lotus flower.

The girls' dance group.

I wanted to accomplish a few things while in Ubud: Seek out volunteer opportunities, do yoga daily at the Yoga Barn, try cooking or other cultural classes, and see some of the countryside. The very hipster café known in guidebooks as the Spirit Café and at the actual location just Kafe was another stop, which coincided with finding information on volunteering. They really only had information on a chimpanzee-saving project and the too-expensive Bali Spirit festival that annoyingly prevented me from doing yoga during all but one day since the Yoga Barn was closed for it.

ウブッドにいる間に色々なことをしたかった：ボランティアの働きを探したり、毎日ヨーガをしたり、料理などの文化授業を受け取ったり、田舎の所を見に行ったりする事だった。ボランティアの情報があるそうだし、旅行案内書によるととても近代的なヒッピーのような「バリ・スピリツ・カフェ」という喫茶店にも行くつもりだった。お店の前に「KAFE」だけが書いてあった。ところが、その情報は黒猩々を助け守るプロジェクトについて物、または高すぎる「バリ・スピリツ・フェスティバル」というイベントについてのしかなかった。その祭りのため行きたかった「ヨーガ・バーン」という店舗がしまってたせい、一日だけ入られた。

Rice field view from Yoga Barn.

Unfortunately, we never found time to take a cooking class, but I did go on my own to a jewelry shop offering silversmithing classes to make rings or pendants.　On the way there I stopped by a blatantly Japanese bakery-styled shop for a quick lunch, after checking back at the guest house to see if anyone else wanted to join. At the jewelry shop at one of the work tables I ate my simple bread with cheese chunks whilst waiting for the class to begin, wondering if I’d be the only one.

残念ながら料理授業を全然取らなかったが、自分で指輪や垂れ飾りを作る授業が教える宝石商を探して取りに行った。途中、仲間が一緒に受けるかどうか聞くためにホテルへ帰ってきた後、速く昼食を食べられるようにとても日本らしいパン屋さんに行った。始まる前に一人で受けるかなと思いながら簡単なチーズの四角が入っているパンを食べた。

Soon after, two middle-aged Australian ladies joined me and the class began. We were taught by a rather impatient Balinese guy in his twenties. I decided to make a ring whilst the other two chose a pendant. First I measured a length of silver that was actually white in colour, then I cut and filed it to be even before pounding in the design. Afterward, I pounded it into a circle. The teacher and I together fired it, me pedaling the foot petal for the gas, cooled it in water, and then dropped it in a fish bowl of oh-so environmentally-friendly battery acid to do something or other.

その後すぐ中年のオーストラリア人の二人が来て授業が始まった。焦っている二十代のバリ人が教えてくれた。俺は指輪のほうで、二人が垂れ飾りのほうで作っていった。最初に白い銀を測って、道具で意匠の彫る前に切って擦りました。その後丸を作るために打ちた。俺がガスの足掛けを速く押してる間に先生と温めてお水で冷やして彼はグリーンじゃないだなあの電池の硫酸が入れた近業鉢に落とした。

Silversmithing setup.

Another day, the four of us rented motorbikes and went cruising around the countryside. Since I leaned toward taking it slowly and safely on the roads, I lost them before a T-intersection and tried to find them until I just decided to head back into town. I found the museum offering painting classes, unfortunately for that day, and chatted with the twenty year old Balinese guy in Japanese since he’s studying it too. Oddly enough, whilst he knows polite language to use with customers he didn’t use it when a middle-aged couple came up to the desk.

他の日、僕たちはバイクの使用料をして田舎の所に運転した。私は安全のためゆっくり走るの方で行っていたし、仲間と離れてあっちこっちに捜しに行けば行くほど探せなかったので町に帰ってきた。絵画の授業が教える博物館を探して、その日なかったが、二十代のバリ人と日本語で喋った。彼も勉強して丁寧な言葉がわかるところが、中年の夫婦が来た時使わなかった。

Ducks in rice fields...

Vine overgrowth to the dish.

I went back to the hotel after also eating lunch at an Indian restaurant, and got a surprise outside the hotel. A gorgeous blonde woman from Holland named with a Spanish name: Gemma was talking with our hotel guy. She was doing research with quite a few others from the EU on accommodation and interviewed me about it. She was on her own after finishing her work with the group, apparently with some interviews left to do.

昼食のインド料理を食べた後、ホテルに帰ってきて驚きました。不意にブロンドの、スペン語からのGemmaというオランダ人の美人に会った。彼女はたくさんのヨーロッパから来た人と収容調査をしていましたが、グルップの仕事が終わったから一人で旅行をして残るインタビューをしているのことだった。僕に色々な質問をしたけど、あまり助けていなかったと思った。

Michael and I also found one of those Islamic plate stacks-in-the-window restaurants in Ubud and in the span of a couple days ate there three times.

マクル君と以前に話した高く積んでおく料理した物があるお皿イスラム教の人のレストランを不意に見つけて一二日に三回食べにいったんだ。

Amazing food from the Indonesian stacks restaurant!

And a few other events I won’t go into detail about:

• My three companions played beer pong at our hotel when I went to bed early.
  僕は早く眠た夜、ホテルデ三人の仲間が「ビールポング」をした。
• They also went out to a couple bars that night and met a couple Taiwanese women, who ended up giving us their leftover alcohol as they were heading out!
  彼らがバーに行ってタイワン人の彼女が二人に会って、彼女達が買えていく前に残るお酒をくださった。
• We went to the “reggae night” of a restaurant up Monkey Forest Road, and after copious consumption as we were leaving certain members were offered “the real deal” for apparently what was an exorbitant price, though it’s safe to say none of us took much interest in that offer.
  レゲエナイトがあったレストランに行って、よく遊んでいた後「the real deal」ということが発売されたが、全然興味はなかっただよね。
• A local artist, who actually lived about a fifteen minutes motorbike ride west of Ubud, came to our hotel one morning to show and sell us his paintings.  They were pretty good, and the evidence seemed to indicate that he actually made them or at least knew how to, so I bought one.
  バイクで１５分の町から来た画家は一つの朝ホテルに来て絵を発売した。良くて多分彼が本当に手作りの物らしいので、一つを買った。
• At Yoga Barn I tried Yin yoga, which was totally new to me and not what I was expecting.  It was less the type of yoga that is a workout and instead a series of sitting in stretches that were pretty challenging.
  ヨーガ・バーンで僕なら全く初めてのヨーガをしてみてびっくりした。運動の方じゃなくて色々な難しい伸びであったが、よかった。