Amazing Bali

We anchored on the North West coast at Lovina Beach which is the northern beach tourist area.
Bali is predominantly Hindu which was brought by Indians evacuating to Bali 1000 years ago. It has evolved away from the pure Indian Hinduism and has developed into a unique religious practice.
We were so happy to be leaving the mosques hoping not to be awoken at 5am only to find a mosque right beside the anchorage!!! Fortunately they have moderated the calls to prayer which are very short and not as loud as we had been accustomed to.
The local government had pulled out all stops and onshore were several large tented areas. One with a stage and chairs for the nightly performances, one for the vast array of Balinese handicrafts and one for spices, coffee and cocoa, all produced on the island.
Some of the wooden crafts were stunning—a small chest of drawers made with mahogany and the fronts of the drawers done in coconut wood--$70—if only we could figure a way to get it back home!!
There were a multitude of restaurants all reasonably priced with a variety of foods.
Each evening at 6pm local dancers and large orchestras set up and dance the very Hindu style dances. They wear very elaborate costumes with a lot of gold and red and perform very controlled dances using expressive hand movements and use their heavily made up eyes looking to the left or right mesmerising the audience.
Each dance has a theme and several dance companies perform each night. I found the dance performed by a young troupe interesting as the theme was of ants realising that if they work together all can be accomplished—it is the philosophy of the Balinese culture as there are many cooperatives here, so obviously is a lesson to be taught.
We travelled locally on a bemo to the local Carefore supermarket only to be disappointed with the selection of foods we had come to expect at this international chain we have been shopping at since Tahiti.
This was compensated by the sights to get there. Rice paddies along the roads were in various stages of harvest with both threshing and planting taking place. Most homes and businesses have small temples of varying degrees of complexity. They have carved statues with coloured wraps around them and are often topped with an umbrella which apparently is like housing the statues to keep in the good spirits. They are attended by locals all carrying offerings of flowers and incense and we even saw chicken legs with the offerings which are served on woven baskets carried on women’s heads.
A local tradition is bull racing which is held several times a year and they put one on for us.
We walked to the fields along with a large number of locals where the bulls were all getting ready. They are the bulls used for working the fields and are teamed in pairs and highly decorated. There is a jockey for each who after the gong has sounded the start jumps on a cart with sleds and rides his bulls to the end of the field along with a competing pair. We were not sure of the rules as apparently they are judged also on costumes and the way the bulls have their tails in the air. There was much hilarity and cheering and we were never sure who won but it was a great show. After the serious racing was over they invited us to participate and most of us took turns racing each other with a local running alongside trying to control the direction of the bulls. This was not always successful and often they would run into each other. It was not as fast as it had looked and did not compare with bull riding at the Stampede!!
After that night’s dancing we joined Lyn and Ian at a restaurant for two ducks they had ordered the night before. One would think that if it was ordered the night before it would be ready but apparently not, I think it is so they can go out and find the ducks which seem to frequent the rice paddies. We waited while they had to go home and bring some chairs from home on the motor cycle. We then waited what seemed to be the whole time it took to cook the ducks which were finally brought to the table complete with heads and legs—yuk—I have to avert my western sensibilities. They proved to be fairly tough and scrawny and the dining experience was more about the experience than the gourmet food!!
The nightly performances were combined with firstly a welcome from the Regent and the final night his farewell and gala banquet. As Bali has been the tourist centre for many years the quality of the festivities was superb.
We snorkelled on a nearby reef where as seems to be often the case we saw several new species.
We had arranged a two day tour with Sam and Sally from Ramprasad to go to Ubud and spend the night.
We set off early in the morning with our very devout and sincere driver who explained the stories behind a lot of the statues at the first temple we went to. It was the second biggest in Bali and we were required to rent a sarong and Ken and Sam a hat as a sign of respect. It was amazingly complex with wonderfully carved statues and towering carved gateways. It reminded us of some of the Mayan structures we had seen and were reminded of the similarities used by the human race to worship. Many locals were coming with offerings and praying, often lead by a man (priest) who rang a small bell as he chanted.
We now drove up the volcano seeing beautiful views as we ascended. We stopped and Ken bought some mangosteins and mandarins without questioning the price. When our driver realised he paid about $12 for them as opposed to the $3 they were worth was horrified and told us he would negotiate prices for us in the future.
We stopped again where they were transporting huge bags of clove leaves on motor cycles to be sent to be made into clove oil. They were also picking and drying cloves at the side of the road. We did buy what will probably be our lifetime supply of cloves for $3—negotiated by our driver!!
We continued up to yet another temple, this is the largest in Bali and rambled its way up the hill. As Ken and I climbed we were enticed by a “guardian of the temple” to go with him to an inner sanctum. He then gave us a basket of different coloured flowers which we held up with our hands in prayer as he chanted for our good fortune. After several of this he passed us a bowl of rice and we pressed some grains of this onto our foreheads for prosperity—hope some of this rubs off!!
The temples and areas are incredibly intricate and all have meanings, this temple would be the equivalent of the Vatican to Catholics and is as complex.
We continued up to the top where we saw a large number of locals all coming up with offerings. They apparently were coming for purification after a public cremation had been held of their loved ones 12 days previously. It was an amazing sight and as we drove away hundreds more were arriving in trucks, buses and motor cycles to be part of this ceremony.
We stopped for lunch at a restaurant overlooking the rice paddies which serves a wonderful buffet of local dishes. It is mostly frequented by western tourists.
We continued our journey when suddenly our driver asked if we wanted to see the cremation process which we were passing. We readily agreed and came across a surreal series of ceremonies.
In this culture a body needs to be cremated to free the spirit where hopefully if it has led a “good” life will return to a higher status.
Often the families are too poor to be able to afford the elaborate towering structures used so the bodies are buried in a public cemetery for up to 10 years before they have saved the money. They hold public cremations every year in the dry season which are subsidised somewhat.
They now dig the bodies up in their various stages of decomposition and burn them. The bodies were dug up and burned in the holes in which they had been buried. We had to carefully walk around being sure not to step into a grave and every time I felt a lump under my feet I quickly looked to make sure I was not stepping on a body part.
The ashes are sifted through and the bones transferred to a platform which each family has constructed. It appeared sometimes more than one set of bones was burned for a family. The families gather around the burned remains and seemed to be in various stages of celebration. Some were softly singing and others playing cards or games alongside the bones along with much joy and laughter.
One lady was having a purification ceremony where she was being adorned by a priest who chanted as he helped by handing her the beads and a hat.
Food was being hawked, musicians playing at several areas and children running around with carnival toys.
The whole atmosphere was happy as they were now setting their loved ones free and the mourning had been done previously. It was over a four day period and the one we were attending was on the final day and apparently before the night was over all structures would be burned and the ground would be ready for the next set of bodies.
We left in a state of amazement that we had been able to witness and photograph this event and no one minded us at all.
We carried on to Ubud which is a classy tourist town and were able to get a room with air-conditioning, hot water, a large swimming pool and breakfast for $30.
The shops were full of good quality products and I bought a gorgeous Javanese silk sarong and scarf. We also shopped for small gifts for the family.
We ended up at a restaurant with Sam and Sally and joined the crew from Arganauta who we bumped into. Most boats had taken advantage of the time to travel inland while we were in Bali. They had rented a motor bike but had found the hilly terrain and narrow roads quite stressful and we were glad we had our driver and car.
In the morning we left to travel back on a different route. Once again we were in the high elevation of central Bali which is lovely and cool. It is the centre for growing a huge variety of fruits and vegetables and we were able to purchase enough vegetables for the next 2 weeks for $12. One would be tempted to forgo the gorgeous beaches for the temperate climate of the interior if you were deciding to settle here.
Strawberries are in peak season and we bought a lot of great berries for $2 a kilo. The “Strawberry Stop” serves all things strawberry and we had a great strawberry juice and strawberry pancakes for lunch.
Our last tourist stop was the temple built on the lake and is featured on the 50,000 ($5) rupiah note. Although it is beautiful it has become a major tourist destination and seemed more that and less a living temple than the others we had visited, as we walked we had to wait often so we were not featuring in another tourists photos.
We then went to a local market for more mandarins and mangosteins—all prices are negotiated by our driver now!! We stopped at Carefore to stock up for our passage and trip to Kumai to visit the orangutans.
We arrived back at the boat and were in time to watch the All Blacks defeat France in the world cup rugby match—yahoo!!!
The following morning we sadly left for the three day 380 mile passage to Kumai. We loved our time on this beautiful island and understand why it is such a wonderful holiday destination.
We have so much to cover in three months we seem to be always leaving before we are ready---we are thankful however that we are able to at least visit these amazing islands and experience the range of cultures and terrain Indonesia has to offer.