During our 3 days in Ubud, we had an unexpected but amazing experience where we had an insight into Balinese life.

At the end of the Campuhen Path, we asked a local man sitting on the side of the road where Ubud market is. We got talking and he then asked us if we wanted to see the real Ubud. We were reluctant to follow this random man and I think he could sense our hesitancy. We said it was fine and that we have specific places we wanted to see which are on our itinerary – but he simply dismissed each one of the sights saying ‘this is touristy, not the real Ubud’. So we followed him…

And continued following him…

until we reached the most beautiful and authentic rice fields we’ve come across. It was so peaceful and quiet and the only people present were those working on the land… He knew everyone there and explained to us what they were doing on the rice fields and the process of making rice. Khaled and I loved every second of it and felt bad for making initial judgements (I thought we were going to be kidnapped and/or killed for following this random stranger through alleyways).   

He explained how hard working they all have to be on the land and how they don’t sell the rice, they share it with the families in the area. Each piece of land was owned by a family. He said there is a real sense of community – they look our for each other. It reminded me of my family back home in Palestine and how community/family is everything to them. He showed the rice leaf and how he pealed it so rice grains can come out – it’s only ready once the leaf turns yellow.

He kept repeating that Ubud means medicine in their language, we have to come here to heal and let go of negative energy and life stresses. That’s why many people come to visit Ubud – they need this medication.

Whenever we tapped this plant, the leaf would this its being attacked and would close.

He told us his name is Made because he is the second child. Baliense names within the lower caste (Sudra) is quite confusing but he explained it to us well. The position of the child in the family birth order influences the choice of a person’s name. In Balinese culture, children of both sexes are given the same name depending on their birth order.

• First Child: Wayan, Putu, or Gede
• Second Child: Made, Kadek or Nengah
• Third Child: Nyoman, Komang
• Fourth Child: Ketut
• Fifth Child: Wayan Balik

To distinguish between male and female, ‘I’ (proncounced “e”) for males and ‘Ni’ for females are placed before the name. So the first born female would be “Ni Wayan”, or first born male would be “I Putu”.

He took us to this beautiful garden and explained the how the different herbs and plants can be used for different medicinal effects. As someone who hates any sort of tablets or pills, I really appreciated listening and learning about this.

We spent a few hours walking and talking before he made a few phone calls to his family. Before we knew it, his wife and son came in two separate scooters and he asked if we wanted to come and see a typical Balinese home! Of course, we accepted the kind offer and so we jumped on and he took us in to introduce us to his family and see what a family compound looks like. He explained about his traditions and family life. It was beautiful meeting the family and hearing these stories.

What was crazy is that the end of this, we offered him some money for his time and for the entire experience and he refused to take it. He just wanted us to know the real Ubud. I just found it astonishing how he took up almost half a day showing us around these exclusive places and letting us enter his beautiful home and he didn’t want anything in return. This entire experience restored my faith in humanity in which I will forever be grateful.