01/16/2001   Ubud - BALI   S 8°30    E 115°15   +36 The lunch of the village's chief turned into a mess! We arrive in the gorgeous villa of Wayan Ida Bagus, but the business man is not here; however, he prepared a huge meal for us. Around the table, waiters serve us one and thousand courses, as women dressed in celebration suits, answer to any of our expectations. Vale, who seems to have recovered (thank you again for your numerous messages of support), walks unconsciously towards the kitchen and, after three days of a white rice diet, devours whatever she can find. During the lunch, we discuss about the village's chief birds collection. Arya explains that one of these birds costs about 20.000 US$. But we doubt about this figure, and to frighten our hosts, Theo imagines a shaman trick. A little bit of sleight-of-hand and he puts some ash in one of the waiters hand, before making it disappear. Then, Vale says: "Now, be careful with your bird!". Happy and satisfied, we leave them. On the way to the heart of the island, we stop in the profound valley of 'Monkey Forest'. In this part of the jungle, the peasants had to leave the land to let them to our far cousins: monkeys. Here we are in their den and their gesticulations, says Gedé, mean a lot about their clan: chief, warrior, mediator or mother with its children. As soon as Theo sees the monkeys, he becomes an animal again. He communicates with faces, strange gestures and screams. And seems to have turned mad, as he give the site address to the 'baboon chief', hoping to keep in touch!?! Bali's claim is 'the island of 1000 temples'. Indeed, as we arrive close to the monumental city of Ubud, we are blocked by a great religious march. We follow the procession with humility, accompanied by a percussions and dancers orchestra, carrying images of Hindu divinities to a sanctuary, on the other side of the city. After this intense moment of Balinese folklore, what will we find in the city of Ubud? Located near the Monkey Forest, Ubud is famous for its arts and culture. People here work on wood, silver, precious tissues. Thanks to an alliance policy, the city always managed to flee from the Dutch domination (who tried to colonize the island at the beginning of the 20th century). From 1927, the King of Ubud, Cokorda Gedé Raka Sukawati, had invited Walter Spies, Rudolph Bonnet, or Gregory Bateson, Miguel and Rose Covarrubia: writers and anthropologist that made the island famous all around the world. Pengosekan, a village-suburbs located in the south of Ubud, even had the visit of Queen Elizabeth II, in the seventies. Her Majesty was admiring Gina, a local artist. But the inhabitants of Pengosekan were very disappointed to note that the Queen didn't wear her crown. We are waiting for your vote. The voting form will be on-line for only 24 hours, go right now on it, to decide about our destiny... Guide our next steps,insert contacts & info on