David's AW News: Java find. This is Amazing!

Greetings Bali, where I have just landed after a week of absolute adventure.

Wishing you all the best for Valentine's Day.. Hope your day was full of Romance, Love, and Fun.

This week Bondhan and I have been criss-crossing the island of Java on a mad road trip.. and had some absolutely amazing and unexpected adventures.

I'm beside myself with excitement about what we discovered.. I'm sharing the secrets below..

Last week I was telling you about the surf in Bali and how it's connected to beating Temu, if you missed it you can catch up here.

Now check this..

Do you see the red leaves on this tree? Our first sight of a mystical blessed tree in the jungle forest of Java.

So Bondhan and I took a flight from Denpasar, Bali to Yogyakarta in South central Java. A neighbour from Bondhans hometown, kindly lent us his car - he met us at the airport with the keys. Instead of turning right from the airport towards the city, we turned left along the coast road. A few hours drive and then turned inland heading to higher ground, where we stopped the night in a small town where the only highrise was the hotel we stayed in, which marketed itself as a wedding venue. Packages starting at 85,000rp - about €4 per person. We were the only guests. But a very friendly hotel with a totally wasted breakfast buffet just for us. The next morning we went to see our Coconut craft supplier up in the hills... and spent an interesting time learning about coconut crafts (and gave him an order).. but I was keen to press on - because quite by accident we had discovered something utterly amazing. We asked the coconut man if it was true...

..he said yes but be careful... that market is controlled..

So this is how we found ourselves deep in the lush mountain forests of central Java. After bouncing along unpaved roads for a couple of hours we arrived at the surprisingly nice village of the Genitri trees.

A murural on the side of the village office depicted members of the six religions of Indonesia, and a slogan saying all people are welcome here. Given that Java is predominantly Muslim this is at first sight surprising, but all these religions use the fruit of the Gentri tree within their artifacts.. Our contact met us in the square and we followed him on his motorbike another twenty minutes to his farmstead.

So remote, there was no internet, even the electricity was limited to so many hours a day here. 

Those trees with distinctive red leaves falling like tears produce ripe dark blue berries with chunky seeds that are the Rudraksha beads much sought after in mala jewellery, rosary beads etc.  Each tree brings a unique shape, the number of segments of the bead reflects in the meaning and value of the bead. The rarest is the 16 section eight plus eight (the Gauri Shanker twin bead), worth around $500 per bead. Sought after by Hindu and Buddhist monks from India and China. The lucky farmers who find these tree's live in luxury villas hidden in the hills. The guy we made contact with, a farmer who showed us his humble farmhouse and workshops. He explained the painstaking process of harvesting and making the beads, carefully drilling the holes to thread the beads has to be done one by one. He told us that local legend has it that Hindu monks came to these mountains a hundred years ago and blessed the area with the tears of Shiva and taught the locals how to harvest.  He showed us his small collection of special beads, these valued at around €50 per bead. The quality and quantity from here far surpasses the Nepalese and Indian harvests. But he also warned us to be careful of the Indian and Chinese traders, like a mafia they try to control the trade from the area by loaning farmers money in exchange for exclusive contracts. 

Most people believe that the mala beads come from India and Nepal, the truth is the best quality and volume comes from these secret hills in central Java. Indian and Chinese traders try to keep this a secret, even ChatGPT didn't know about this area. Of course the Bali folk knew, and even they kept it a secret, but now we know. And so do you!

We have secured some supplies ahead of the next harvest, and are thinking of supplying bulk in Europe for people who like to craft their own jewellery.

But as it happens, we have Rudraksha Buddha Bangles that make great gifts for Mother's Day. 

They are good value compared to similar Nepal or India sources (Google it) simply because they are made nearer the source of the Mala beads.

But that was just one adventure.. more to come. I'll update you next week on what happened next..

Take care, have a lovely Valentine's Weekend.

David