Ubud

However much I try not to be, I am crap at bartering. There are some things that just seem wrong to barter for - food, drink and accommodation, for example. I seem to also have a problem with bus tickets. In the end I feel slightly ripped off but it is my knowledge that I am a million times better off financially than the locals that makes me feel bad and my bartering never goes as well as I would have hoped. You see, Ubud is a very westernized yet beautiful little town about 1 hr inland from the airport that has become a mecca for those looking for artworks and yoga lessons. The red-tiled roofs of family compounds mingle with small temples and hundreds of shops selling silk scarves, sarongs and variations thereof. Jewellery, painting and ornate flip-flops are also on offer.

The terrible thing is how globalisation has affected my view of things. I have seen all these items at home and even with bartering the prices are not much different. Hence my need to cut to the quick and give a price that's half of what I'm originally quoted and less than I truly am willing to pay. Or just not buy anything - I don't exactly need anything other than a roof over my head and food and drink, and those are incredibly cheap to come by.

No matter how I like to think otherwise, I am unable not to chuckle internally at the many Westerners who have affected the S.E. Asian dress. I don't mean that there's something inherently wrong with wearing the same clothes or headwear etc. (often it makes sense, what with the heat plus if you go to the temple you have to wear certain clothes as a sign of respect)... it is those who seem to supremely...peaceful or collected in this dress, as though they were born in these clothes or have adopted a whole new way of life and will go home to California or London or Berlin or wherever and say, in almost reverently hushed tones, about how spiritual Bali was and how wholesome.
Yes, it is a spiritual place: every Balinese family has their own temple where the spirits of their ancestors are said to dwell, and their religion, Hinduism, is far more a way of life (in that it is part and parcel of who they are, their every day) than for most Westerners. However, I think we often see other cultures as some sort of pick & mix affair, taking the bits we like and leaving the others behind. Women can work here now, but are not at all equal to men. There is a caste system. Healthcare is not free, neither is school; in fact many young schoolchildren (noticeably only boys) are out in the streets of Ubud doing dragon dance parades or selling tickets to dances to get money to pay for books and other supplies.

So, what is it that gets to me the most about the yoga tourists? Maybe it is the snippets of overheard conversation or their smug looks at those who have not yet 'converted'. Inferiority complex? Me?! ;)
Just as with falling in love at first sight or liking someone almost immediately, it seems that you can have an almost instant dislike of some people too, or they somehow make things feel wrong. It is not, of course, all yoga tourists. Many are lovely and I understand what they are doing and why, and applaud it. Maybe I am just wanting to have someone to share this experience with (and deflect the many questions and suggestions of whether and why I am traveling alone).