Its crazy how easy it is to wake up early when you are in a place like this I swear every morning we’ve been up by 7a!  Aside from adjusting to the time warping from time zones, there is so much relaxing to do, so many things I want to see.

This morning, as with most mornings started with a dip in the pool…slowly transitioning to a little stint next to the pool, coffee in hand with a good book.  Eventually breakfast becomes part of the morning routine and somehow we eventually make it out for some adventures.

We started with the Medicine Man and figured eventually we would make our way towards the market.  Who is this famous Medicine Man?  Ketut Leyur is somewhat of an international superstar thanks to Oprah’s Book Club feature “Eat, Pray, Love”.  I was pretty excited… I’d bought into the hype of “Eat, Pray, Love” and basically preach that thing like it’s a bible.  A colorful writer with a story that parallels a path that I think we all head down at some point in our lives… the Medicine Man was part of her personal journey, which I think in some ways becomes part of each of her readers personal journey in the end.

Anyhow, we were all skeptical but excited at the same time.  He had a pretty solid formula that he tailored to each of us.  Basically he’s a fortuneteller for us tourists and a spiritual healer to the locals if understood correctly.  He told me that I’m a good girl, and when I’m 30 I can marry a good boy and I will have 3 kids.  I will live till im 105 years old, which I’m not so sure im excited about, but I will also have success.  There was more, things he touched on that I kind of already know but there was something special when he said it, something mysterious about his delivery.  This man is just as you’d imagine. Large cloth coiled atop his head, dry cracking skin, and a smile that could steal any show.  He really only had 1 tooth poking out and the rest appeared to be rotted out.  He tried not to smile with his teeth but it was special when he did..it was almost a game for me to try and get him to smile.

So we all tipped our $200,000 Rupia ($20US) for his wisdom and in most cases I think I’d feel pretty duped but it felt auspiciously right that we went to see him.

Next it was food time again!  Tim and Claire from Bukit had told us about this incredible restaurant Sari Organic that’s nestled in the middle of some rice fields right outside of Ubud.  You have to either hike in by foot for about 30 mins, or scooter in on a narrow slightly paved but mostly dirt trail.

We scootered in and found ourselves standing in front of a 2 story hut basically, surrounded by organic gardens and nothing but rice fields.  As we waited for a table we enjoyed a local brew called “Storm”, recommended by our Aussie friends, as well as a couple rounds of Organic -Vanilla, Banana Milkshakes. Yum.  The crowd dining there was eclectic, but what I expected I’d say.  There were no more than maybe 30’ish seats in the open air café, a couple groups of uber hippies, a family or two, quite a few of what appeared to be ex-patriots carrying on intense conversations, and then there was us.

The food was incredible…haha, surprise surprise!  Everything we’ve had so far has been nothing less…im wondering if a bad meal is in our future?  So yeah, we enjoyed more Mie Gorang, handpicked salads, pumpkin soup, banana pancakes, and more local beers and shakes…and it was all organic and I didn’t feel guilty about my over consumption in the slightest!

In the midst of our feast a torrential downpour decided to join us! It was beautiful and terrifying at the same time!  Thunder literally rocked the patchwork hut and run drops were so large you could see single droplets pool in your hand.   So needless to say it wasn’t that hard to convince us to stick around awhile longer.

Finally we figured it was time to make our way to the heart of Ubud and check out the market.  The rain had subsided however the roads were pretty slippery and one of the scooters went down and sent Ira’s shoe and Courtney flying!  Neither were seriously injured in the incident but it was definitely a wake up call…scootering and Balinese, Organic, Vanilla Bean milkshakes = danger!

Next the market place!  It was perfect, hungry peddlers ready to make a friend, haha, a sale I mean! Everyone was my new best friend, “friend, I make good deal for you!”  I spent a couple bucks and brought back some souvenirs for myself and the family but didn’t have enough cash to do too much damage.  There were interesting things at the market.  I saw vendors with all kinds of fresh spices, silver jewelry on every corner, a ton of wood carvings, locally crafted apparel, farm tools, and all kinds of crazy chotchkies that you could never imagine needing or wanting!

We topped the day off with an almost sunset scooter ride back from the heart of Ubud back towards our Villa in Sebali (also called Villa Sebali).  The landscape was SO lush and rich with GREENS, and YELLOWS and LIFE you almost felt it creeping on your skin…in that good way…you know like when you know someone is right behind you, or SO close to you that you can almost feel them?? Yeah, just like that!

evoTrip | Day 12 – The Medicine Man, the Market and a storm! from evo on Vimeo.