Road Trip Java
Fri Mar 11 2022 22:59:00 GMT+0800 (Malaysia Time)
Greetings from Ubud, Bali.
The covid situation here is changing day by day, restrictions across Asia being dropped. PCR tests are no longer required for flights in Indonesia and from next week no quarantine into Bali. So great excitement that the tourists are finally coming back. There is a real sense that the pandemic cloud is passing. But also a sense that a particular era is coming to an end..Last week I was telling you about Bali new year and the day of silence. On New Year's eve we had a little adventure in depth of the Monkey forest. If you missed it you can read about it here.
The day after we went to Ringo's hometown in the remote Bangli region, to attend a wedding ceremony. I'll maybe tell you more about it next week because it was very special.. but here are a few pictures..
It rained but was lovely. I had to wear a traditional Balanese dress. And like any wedding, I made lots of new friends. A great honor to be accepted as an outsider on such an occasion.
The day after that wedding we flew to Java - the next island to Bali and the main island for population.
We just arrived back, my goodness it was a hectic and eventful road trip across the island. Carefully planned by Bondan (assistant to Ringo) after a research trip a couple of months ago. He set meetings with various artisan family businesses and laid the groundwork for meetings. Bali has amazing artisans and lots of homegrown product groups, but a lot of the basic materials come from other parts of Indonesia, especially Java. Shipping costs and middlemen push those prices higher so we thought it good to go direct. Since Bondan is from East Java and speaks the local language he had more chances of gaining trust and opening doors.
Artisan skills in Indonesia are very localised with whole villages devoted to one type of production. Skills are passed down the generations and the work is very collaborative with different families focused on different parts of the process.
We visited three villages. The Seagrass Village in the east, then the Teak Village in Central Java, then near the North West Coast the Brass Village. Travelling diagonally from East to West, from the north coast to the south.
Artisan skills in Indonesia are very localised with whole villages devoted to one type of production. Skills are passed down the generations and the work is very collaborative with different families focused on different parts of the process.
We visited three villages. The Seagrass Village in the east, then the Teak Village in Central Java, then near the North West Coast the Brass Village. Travelling diagonally from East to West, from the north coast to the south.
An epic road trip, Ringo, Bondhan, myself and our driver. We stayed in three big cities Yogyakarta, Solo then in Surabaya, each time in luxury five star hotels at ridiculous pandemic prices. The hotels, although empty, are gearing up for the arrival of tourists again. So we hit a sweet spot of full service and low prices. It was great fun in the evenings.. Our own private chef, staff and rock bands in rooftop bars.. But the daytime was spent out in the artisan villages of rural Java.
Very different villages but what each had in common was peace. Idyllic pretty towns with an artisan industry as its focus. Bondan has done a great job discovering these places because they are kind of secret locations jealously guarded by the traders and agents working from flashy showrooms in the city.
The first place was the Seagrass Village just an hour or so from the new (impressive) Yogyakarta airport.
Nestled amongst rice terraces the village is quite prosperous with nice villa style houses and lush green surroundings. The first thing we noticed was the rope makers, twine of different types stretched out along the side of the road, with a kind of pulley system where runners stretch lengths of raffia and a spindle guy or machine does the weaving. Lots of small businesses simply make natural rope and twine, these are supplied to the businesses that weave the baskets and other products. Other places make the wooden frames that serve as mould designs that the baskets are first woven on. So the village is totally collaborative and interdependent on each other. Everyone works together to produce beautiful things.
Sat on the terrace of one potential supplier discussing ideas, a cow wanders past, the occasional passer by on a bike, very few cars. Apart from the sound of birds tweeting, it is as quiet and peaceful a place as you can imagine.
We visited six different artisan and within the day settled on two suppliers who we felt we could work with and asked for modified samples. We came back the following day and actually managed to place orders for two container loads.
Here is a video to give you an idea of how the Seagrass Village looks and feels.
The other villages we visited had the same kind of dynamic, I'll tell you about those later.
There is a lesson to be learned from these villages, that collaboration, trust and trade bind us together to create a peaceful prosperous world.
A darker side of human nature seeks to be self sufficent, nationalistic, controling of others, then eventually wars happen. Trade (fair trade) is maybe the only vaccine against this, the peacemaker.
Meanwhile we have lots of new and interesting gifts coming in stock.. check out the details below.
Hope you have a peaceful and stress free weekend.
David
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