Arse to cup coffee

I am blogging by the pool at the Padma Ubud hotel. It is absolutely idyllic; an infinity pool in front of my sun lounger with the jungle beyond. However the news reports from around the world about the Coronavirus - which is now officially a pandemic - are very worrying and we are wondering what lies ahead with our journey homewards. In the hotel lounge yesterday afternoon we overheard a group of Americans discussing cancelled flights and missed connections. So far we have had no word from Emirates about our flights. But much more important is people’s health. Apparently most people who catch the virus will experience cold or flu symptoms, but vulnerable people who will be in real danger - some of our friends and relatives fall into this group so it’s extremely concerning.
Yesterday we decided that we really should see some more of Bali so we booked a tour in an open topped car - a cute wee vintage Volkswagen convertible. We had a driver and a guide, the friendly and knowledgeable Fiska. It turns out that Fiska is exactly one week younger than our Jamie and so has also just turned 30. It was a great and informative tour. We noticed that nearly every house has a wee temple in its garden, and there are also lots of larger community temples. The first one that we went to was Ulun Danu Batur. We had to put on sarongs before we went in, which were thoughtfully provided by the hotel. It was amazing inside; lots of statues and offerings and different temples. The people all brought beautifully prepared offerings of food and flowers and incense sticks. There were banana leaves with little piles of rice on them, exotic fruits, coconuts and much more. When we arrived we were able to observe one of the ceremonies. There was also a separate part that our guide was not permitted to enter, for “higher up” people.
Then we went to a coffee plantation where we sampled many different types of coffee including the disgusting but highly prized Kopi Luwak (aka civet coffee) which is made with partially digested coffee cherries which have been eaten by the civets (they look a bit like weasels) and then defecated. I was horrified but in my polite Scottish way I touched the cup to my lips. James cared not a jot about the way it was made and quaffed a whole cupful (I called it “arsehole to cup”).
Our final stop was a large temple and holy spring area called the Tirta Empul Temple. This was much more touristy and since we were now in the middle of the day with a lack of breeze it was very hot. It had the most beautiful giant and ancient banyan tree in the centre. Again there were lots of different temples and this one had holy springs in which people (mainly western tourists) were bathing. I was relieved to get a breeze in my face as we zoomed off back to our hotel in our little car. We passed lots of rice paddies on the way back which are very beautiful. Fiska had noticed that I was flagging at the last temple and was worried about me - he didn’t know that I always suffer when overheated! I noticed that he was on the phone as we sped homewards and when we arrived at the hotel there was Pandé waiting for us with cooling damp towels and cups of ginger and lemongrass tea! And when we got to the room there was a flower arrangement waiting for me from Pandé with best wishes and hoping that I would feel better soon! Just after we arrived back the heavens opened - there was a total downpour with much thunder and lightning. We watched it from the club lounge while enjoying our afternoon tea, which segued into pre-dinner drinks. Lovely.