Have you seen the movie “Eat, Pray, Love”? If you have then I assume you are aware of who Ketut is, but for those of you who missed the movie (is that even possible?) he is the medicine man in Bali that reads Julia Roberts fortune, helping her transform her life after a painful divorce. I loved his character- he had such an infectious laugh and smile. I had always assumed that Ketut was an actor but discovered shortly before we left on our honeymoon that he was indeed a real medicine man in Bali. Thrilling news for a gal like me. I’m a sucker for fortune tellers & psychics….I also take people’s astrological signs pretty seriously. I know, I know, I’m such a product of growing up in LA. But I really do believe in the magic of it all. With that said I knew I would find a way to visit with Ketut while we were in Ubud. IT WAS A MUST.
Cut to our last morning in Ubud…next stop the tiny island of Nusa Lembongan off the coast of coast of Bali. The ferry that was taking us from Bali to Nusa wasn’t until 2pm so had many hours to squeeze in a few things we still wanted to see before leaving Ubud…first up a visit to Ketut and then lunch at the famous sucking-pig restaurant (Clearly, the latter was Brian’s choice).
After saying goodbye to the lovely staff (that I had somehow grown very attached to in three short days) and the gorgeous Rivermoon Villa (mark my words…I am going back to that place again) we packed Nyomen’s car up and headed to Ketut’s home. My excitement level was at an all time high. I was going to meet Ketut!
Through my lengthy Ketut research I learned that he worked on a first come first serve basis so I made sure that we got there a 1/2 an hour after his doors opened. Sadly, this still left me in 8th place. The only highlight to being in 8th place is the fact that eight is my lucky number…obviously I took this as a very special omen.
Brian on the other hand was not impressed with the number 8 considering that Ketut spent 1/2 an hour with every person. Yes, let’s do the math….we were going to have to wait 4 hours. HA. The loving wife part of me offered to forgo my reading with Ketut but the crazy fortune-teller obsessed part of me was pretty sure it was a pretty weak offer. Thankfully my sweet husband agreed to wait. I mean, I can’t go all the way to Bali and NOT meet Ketut. Plus Ketut is very very very old (I think over 100?) and I was rather certain that this was my one shot at hanging with him.
So we waited…..
doesn’t Brian look thrilled?
After four glorious hours baking in the sun, number 8 was called!
I’ve been going back and forth on what to report about my time with Ketut. Truthfully, I was expecting a tad more from the whole experience. Although, I suppose nothing lives up to ones expectations when they were as high as mine were. I was expecting some groundbreaking, life changing, epic shit to occur during our 30 minutes together. Instead he told me I was going to have three kids, warned me not to screw up my marriage with Brian (thanks for the vote of confidence, Ketut. Ha) and that I was a highly creative soul. Yes, there was a bit more than those three bullet points but you get the point. I will say that being in his presence might have been worth the four-hour wait. His energy is infectious! His whole face lights up when he laughs….and he laughs a lot! I pretty much spent 1/2 hour giggling with him. He really is a light.
After my visit with Ketut it was time to repay Brian for the five hours of his life that he wasted for me and stop for some suckling pig! Nyomen dropped us off at the famous Ibu Oka restaurant in Ubud for lunch.
Bali is notorious for its Babi Guling, a Balinese style whole roasted suckling pig! The entire pig is stuffed with a combination of typical spices used in Indonesian cooking including turmeric, coriander seeds, lemon grass and more. Babi Guling is unique to the island and very rare in other parts of Indonesia as the country is a predominately Muslim (consumption of pork is prohibited), whereas the majority of the population in Bali is Hindu.The dish is another of Anthony Bourdain’s favorites when in Ubud and I can see why. While I am not a huge fan of pig in general the mix of flavors was delicious.
Next up…our crazy journey to the tiny island of Nusa Lembongan…
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I am not an aficionado of fortune telling or the genre, but I will say that, as you believe, so will you experience. The time with Ketut must have been fascinating, and it is true that he has only shown you the SEEDS of your future. It’s up to you to bring them to fruition. I look forward to seeing your next posts on this exquisite part of the world.
That is so COOL – thanks so much for sharing your experience too – love it 🙂 Happy Week!
It really was! I was so happy to finally meet him! Happy week to you!
When you meet someone with that much energy, that much vitality, it is indeed infectious. I hope there were some inspiring things that you took away from your visit 🙂
This sounded like an amazing experience, but I must admit when I first saw the title of the post all I could think about was a really popular advertising campaign that ran here in Australia about a woman named Rhonda and her balinese prince Ketut (https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLPFOUSApmDPg5DE-Wj1gR5M6TtH55_BN4). Definitely worth a watch, and everyone who saw the ads got really caught up in the story,,,,
The suckling pig sounds like something my boyfriend would go head over heels for as well. As for me…I’ll just take another cocktail 🙂
I’m loving these travel posts. They are the perfect remedy to my weekday cubicle view!
OMG that commercial is brilliant. HA!
I’m with you on the whole suckling pig thing. I think I had two bites and then ordered another cocktail while I watched Brian have at it:) So happy you’ve been enjoying the travel posts. They are always my favorite to write!
YOU ARE GLOWING! Three kids, eh? I like the sound of that. 😉
Awe! You’re sweet. Can my three kids play with your three kids:)
I’ve always wanted to go to a reading for the fun of it, but I want to do it with a legit person (I don’t know what you call these people–psychics, tarot readers?) and it’s hard to tell who is “more real” than the others out there. I don’t put much stock by it, but to do it once would be interesting. Lots of them do pick up on body language so they tell you what they’ve learned just by observing you.
Also was this the medicine man in the movie Eat Pray Love? Or was he the actual medicine man that Liz Gilbert, the author of the book, went to see?
He’s both! He was the actual medicine man that Liz Glibert went to and the one they used for the movie 🙂
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No way! I can just hear him talking and laughing. What an experience it must have been for you! Love that this was able to be photographed!