Roaming the countryside with Ketut (Ubud, Bali)

Our huge room at Green Field - rooms are very cheap in Ubud

View from our room

Our hotel pool

Our first stop with Ketut was Monkey Forest

It is filled with macaques contemplating

Sitting peacefully

Eating sweet potatoes

Binging

That does not look good at all

A failed escape

In Monkey Forest

Huge tree

Balinese leave offerings everywhere

 

One more monkey

A rice field on the way to Mount Batur

Our view at lunch

of Mount Batur - a huge volcano

Small coastal village

Kristin

This lady really wanted to sell Kristin this sarong, of course she

bought it and even tried to justify buying a second one

One more picture of the mountain

A small puppy on the street

just hanging out, dog days

In the Tirta Empul - Tampaksiring

Huge Banyon Tree - all big temples have

at least one and they are sacred

Temple Entrance - each temple has 3 sections,

the first is for preparation, the second is for

concentration and the third is for praying

Better angle of temple entrance - Ketut washing

This spring cleans soul, body, and mind.  In the

background, one can see the old presidential

palace up on the hill

This one fountain is only for the deceased - and is called

Tirtha Pangentas

Kristin and Ketut talking, in holy areas, one

must wear a sarong and a sash, hindus receive

yellow

Kristin and I with our sarongs

Praying and getting a blessing

with water from this natural spring.  The water always stays at this

level, regardless of rain or drought

A street outside of Gunung Kawi

A mask and fabric store

lazy corner

These birds just rolled up on the scene like a gang.

And after having a brief conversation,

rolled up on the rival gang.

 

Fields

Rice Terraces

Gunung Kawi - carved into stone

A rice field scene

Some Indonesian kids

Sleeping Indonesian dog

A small chick about to safely cross the street

Some kids

Temple Rules

Huge Tree at Goa Gajah

Goa Gajah fountains, this site dates back to

the 11th century and is very mysterious

The elephant cave at Goa Gajah, a dark dank place of worship

Closeup of less than welcoming entry

Some purple flowers

An ornate mens restroom at Tepi Sawah -

our second hotel of the day

Our huge bedroom at Tepi Sawah - the bathroom is the size of our

entire room in Hong Kong

The bathroom, which came with flower petals in the tub, note outdoor

shower to the left

Our dinner table on our terrace

Kristin with a flower in her hair

Glamor Shots

We saw alot of kites flying overhead around dusk

A farmer feeding his beasts

Our pool area

Kristin sitting by the pool

Great picture by Kristin with a little man-cleave

Bainese Internet is holding us back (Ubud, Bali)

Our pictures from today are taking roughly 4 minutes each to upload to the site, so I am going to leave it on overnight and throw them up at 6 or so in the morning here, or in the late afternoon for the United States.

Right now, Kristin and I are sitting in our private garden terrace, listening to chanting and a Balinese storyteller engage some kind of fervent crowd in the distance across the rice fields.  We had a very productive day.  It all began with a lone bird singing his songs to us from above the bed at about 5am.  His bird tales of soaring through clouds and eating grains sounded like an old lopsided creaky tire, and though we banged on the wall to beg for his mercy, he want on with his chirps.  When we finally fell back asleep after assimilating the bird noise into our cycle, moments later, we were stirred from sleep with a loud, "Uhh-ahh, Uhhh-ahhh...Uhh-ahh, Uhhh-ahhh."  It sounded as though a man was standing at the foot of the bed, groaning.  Since our room at Green Field sat directly on the rice field and we had holes in our windows and ceiling, we could hear the rice farmer right outside scaring off the morning birds, very loud and very clear.  Exciting ways to wake up.

We were served breakfast on our patio, and Kristin and I had banana pancakes.  Pancakes here are much thinner and chewier than their american counterparts, but just as tasty.  We did some light exploring around Ubud (ooo-bood) before our driver, Ketut, was to pick us up.  Ubud is a town in the center of Bali, and it is filled with small villages, each filled with artisans that specialize in a certain thing.  There are stone worker villages, wood craftsman villages, painting villages, and so on.     Everything is organized.

Ketut arrived to pick us up around 11:00.  We took a leisurely stroll through the Monkey Forest, which is a dense forest filled with fun loving primates.  After picking out our sarongs that we would need for admittance to Bali's holy sites, we were off to the volcano of Mount Batur.  Batur is an active volcano and a huge mountain that sits next to a picturesque lake.  We also visited numerous temples throughout the day, but most of that is better explained through pictures that will be uploaded later.  We had a great day, just driving around with Ketut, learning about Hindus, and marveling at the intelligence of the animals here.  I saw a chicken look both ways before crossing the street.  Some monkeys here will steal your stuff and hold it until you pay them money.  We have no idea what they do with the cash, probably buy ipods.  Dogs can see ghosts and run alongside busy streets like pros.  It is pretty amazing stuff.

Arrival in Bali, Indonesia

Bali is the little one that looks like this, click through to find it

The plane rides keep getting better.  We were fed on both planes today with unlimited wine and beer.  All of our meals came with a 3 pack of Ferrero Rocher choclates.  Yum.  We hired our driver for the next few days on the way home from the Bali airport, Ketut.  Hopefully, he lives up to the standards that the great Mr. Nehm set.  He works 6 months of the year as a server on Celebrity Cruise Lines, and the other half of the year in Bali with his family.  Ketut speaks English better than some professors than we have had.  He told us that he makes 4 times as much on the cruise line as in Bali.  We talked about dogs on the way home, and since Bali is not muslim (like the rest of Indonesia), dogs are very popular here.  He told us that most people have dogs because, since they are smarter than people, they can sense ghosts and spirits.  He said that dogs here will make a special bark when they see a ghost or spirit, and one must heed the dogs warning and throw water and salt out their front door to ward off negativity.  Yea, we already love this place.    

So, we arrived in Bali after 12 hours of flying, driving, grumbling, and bumbling.  I do not have much to offer in terms of visual stimulation of Bali.  We touched down after sundown, and Ubud, where we are staying, is a very dark place.  I am going to instead treat you to a few things that I have read and heard about this place.  If you check the site for the pictures, maybe come back tomorrow.  There will be plenty,

For the Balinese New Year, people throw a huge party with a lot of noise on the eve.  They bang on pots, set off firecrackers, and burn huge monster effigies.  On the actual new year's day, everything is shut down, and people must remain as quiet as possible with no one leaving their house, for 24 hours.  Entertainment is forbidden.  No lights are allowed to be turned on.  Tourists are not allowed to leave their hotels.  All of this is done so that the demons will assume that the island has been deserted and not venture back in the new year.  Flights to Bali do not operate on this day.

In Petulu, north of Ubud, huge flocks of white egrets fly off to search for food, and return in a huge commotion promptly at 6:00pm.  They look like snow on the trees when they return.  In 1965, a failed communist coup in Jakarta prompted the massacres of 100,000 people connected to the Coup. The Egrets began to appear in Petulu in 1966, shortly thereafter.  The Balinese believe that the birds are the manifestations their souls.

People with physical disabilities are treated with compassion, though the Balinese believe that physical and mental disabilities are punishment for behavior in another life.

Pointing with the index finger is thought to be a challenge.  The left hand is considered unclean, one should never use it to give, receive, touch, or point.  Never touch anyone on the head.

Addresses are very strange in Bali.  First off, streets change names frequently as historical and political figures wax and wane in popularity.  People generally refer to streets as their old names, but the signposts show the new names.  Frequently,  a street will have several houses or businesses with the same number, as some people just pick their lucky number as their address.  Taxis generally use landmarks as direction finders.

Ones head should never be higher than a holy person's.

Menstruating women are not allowed to enter any temple in Bali.

In Bali, pointing with one's toes is considered very offensive, and one should never sit with their soles pointing at someone.  Since the feet are the lowliest part of the body, this causes great offense to the Balinese.

Rice farming is the main economic activity for the Balinese, but tourism brings in more money per capita.  Textiles, garments, tea, coffee, tobacco, vanilla, fruit, fishing, and seaweed farming are all other significant sources of income for the Balinese.

When the rice grains appear on stalks, it is said the Dewi Sri, the goddess of harvest, is pregnant.  Before a harvest, a symbolic mock wedding celebration takes place.  The farmers conceal their rice knives that are used to cut the grains as they slowly and quietly approach the stalks.  They do not want to frighten the soul of Dewi Sri that dwells in the rice.