Ubud is a beautiful place. A few main streets with nice shops and restaurants, and rice paddies everywhere. Touristy? Yes. But a welcome change of pace after everything that happened inThailand. Not filled with drunk 18 year old backpackers either. Landing in Bali, I had no idea really how I would spend my two weeks here. From what I found online, Ubud sounded like a nice central place to start things off. I had no idea that this was where Elizabeth Gilbert came in Eat Pray Love.
There are plenty of classes available in Ubud, and I took a Balinese cooking class. At the class, I got to talking with a Canadian woman in her 50’s who’d been in Bali for the past month. The topic of medicine men came up, and she said she’d gone to a really great one. I didn’t have any particular medical issue I wanted resolved, but it just seemed like while in Bali I should visit a medicine man because it was the thing to do.
Everything I’d read online about Ketut Liyer (Eat Pray Love) was that visiting him was a waste of money because he told everyone the same thing. I’d also heard that if I wanted to go, it was better to go really early, because people have to take a number and line up to see him. Part of me wanted to see Ketut just because I really enjoyed Eat Pray Love and he’s kind of a minor celebrity, and the other part of me wanted to visit a legitimate medicine man that came with a solid recommendation.
I made plans with an Irish woman Polly (also in the class), to try and find this legitimate medicine man the next day. The only information we had was that he lived in a village near the Bali zoo. We left bright and early at 7am. Our driver had to ask around a bit, but at 8am we arrived at the home of a medicine man. Whether it was the same one that our friend from the cooking class recommended, I have no idea. Both of us felt a bit silly about the whole thing, because these men must see a steady stream of women in their 20’s and 30’s who have read Eat Pray Love and are looking for answers.
He came out, looked us over rather quizzically, and asked us “Why you here? You young.” Meaning what possible medical issues did we have that needed his expertise? He also told us we were too early, and if we wanted to see him to come back in 2 hours. Neither of us wanted to sit around and wait, and our driver suggested we visit another medicine man nearby, one who read palms.
We pulled up, and as soon as I saw the name on the sign, a light bulb went off. Our driver had totally taken us to Ketut Liyer, despite our attempts to avoid seeing him. But really, if I were him, I would’ve taken us to the same place. We fit the demographic perfectly.
Since we were there, I figured “Why not?” It would be fun to see the character brought to life. It was only 8:15am, and we were the first people there. We grabbed numbers 1 and 2, and then waited until 9am. There was a poster from the movie up on one wall, and in a corner water and snacks for sale. A regular tourist attraction. Three other women showed up before 9am.
Ketut came out of his room at 9am, and I was lucky number 1. He invited me to sit on his porch with him. He looked exactly as described in the book. A single tooth poking in front of his gummy smile, and some crazy long eyebrows. He’s also quite small. He was wearing a polo t-shirt with a wrap around his waist. He was all smiles, and very happy to see me. We chatted a bit, and he told me he would read my palm.
“I see good, I tell you good. I see bad, I tell you bad.”
Before starting, I noticed his copy of Eat Pray Love, which I knew had been autographed. I asked to see it, and he read me the message written inside. Then he pulled out an envelope tucked in the pages. It was a note from Liz Gilbert, on official “Elizabeth Gilbert” stationary (simple, cream coloured with her name embossed across the top). He asked me to read it to him, and I’m sure I’m not the first person to do that. It basically said that she’d heard he was feeling sick and hoped that he felt better soon, and that she was very grateful for everything he had done for her. He asked me to explain the word ‘grateful’. The envelope looked a bit worn, and he said he’d received it about 2 months earlier. Even if I’m not the first person to have this conversation with him, it felt nice that he was trying to make it special and unique.
The palm reading actually started with my face. He looked at my ears, then nose, mouth, cheeks and eyes, all the while saying that I’m “very pretty” and “very happy”. When he got to my mouth, he said “Your lips are sweet like sugar” which I had read in another blog that he said to everyone. He took my left palm in his, and proceeded to predict my future. I’ll live to be 100, and have 3 kids. I’ll have a very successful career and good relationships. He did say that if I got divorced, not to cry because I would find love again. So I guess he did predict some bad, but mostly good. The squeezed the tip of each finger, each representing a different organ, all the while saying “good, good, good” so I guess that means I’m healthy!
He also looked at my back, at the base of my neck. I’m not sure exactly why, but he said he saw lotus flowers which I think is a good thing. Then he looked at my mosquito bitten legs, poked and my knees and predicted good health.
The whole reading was peppered with numerous “very good, very pretty, very lucky.” After saying certain things, he looked at me and asked “you understand?” His english was really good – I’m sure with all the visitors he’s received in the past few years he’s gotten plenty of practice. He said that he’s “96 years old, but then again not actually sure.”
I got a couple of photos with him, and some of just him. He asked me to mail him a copy of our photo together. At the end of it all he asked for a donation of 250,000Rp, about $28.00 CAD. In a day he said that he sees up to 50 people! 50 people x 250,000Rp = 12,500,000Rp = $1,400.00CAD/day. I’d say he’s doing pretty well for himself. It may have been expensive, but I found it fun and worth if just for the opportunity to meet him.
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