Lost and Found - June 7th, 2011

Bali is not that big of an island, around 153 kilometers north to south, and 112 km from east to west. I mention this as we're currently on the 3rd bike rental, by far the longest one yet, and on this particular scooter we've managed to accru over four thousand kilometers with 2 weeks left. Thankfully they don't charge by the day. These photos are from an attempt to get to a water temple by the route less traveled. We never made it and ended up turning around at sunset. Regardless, there is nothing wrong about getting lost in Bali.

Rice fields are home to all sorts of life. I'm not sure if this guy was destined for a diner plate but he seemed pretty content to eat the alge and waddle through the mud.

A flower which more resembles a bird's head than a plant. The colours here are so impossibly beautiful that when you're going through your photos you can't help but think that they are over-saturated. Yet, in truth, you're equally unsure of not doing enough justice to the vibrance around you.

If I were to capture the hill side on video you would see the wind act on the grass like a squall acts on water all the while the woman works the field below.

They had uniforms yet worked without safety ropes. He does strike a purposeful pose and I'm told I often stand the same way.

This is the home of the painter of, I Nyoman Kondra. His father was the Banjan Sangging, or official painter, to the nobility of this region. Kondra would be considered the same as it is an hereditary title and the skills are transfered from father to son same as the title. He took great pride in showing the various publications in which he and his father were mentioned. Judging by his artwork I understand why. I was tempted to buy something yet at the same time this is a long trip is too easy and equally impossible to bring all the beauty home though later I may face regret in some of my decisions.

Ubud and area III - June 5th

I hope it doesn't seem like we just go to the same places over and over again. I'm not saying that's not partly true but there is a very justified reason for it. Firstly, there's surfing. While you can find surf up either coast of Bali the best is on the Bukit peninsular where the waves and crowds are aplenty. The second reason is that we travel by scooter. So we can go to the same place more than once, even a couple times, rather than moving on and on without end. That may be the case once we leave Bali behind, as we're going to get rid of a couple things starting with the surfboard, but it's too impractical here. The last reason is that it's really nice staying in the same place and making trips. You get the pleasurable feeling of coming home, the realtionship you build with your homestay family and you get to only carry what you need so stopping getting around is much easier. So yeah, we go back to certain areas more than once but each time to see something new. This time we went to Ubud to see Pura Goa Gajah, again we didn't make it, and you'll have to wait as that post is coming up soon. What we did do was stop at a tree, get a massage, and wander the streets of Ubud, oh the life.

The Balinese religion is predominately Hindu with Buddhist and Animist beliefs mixed through, shaken, slightly stirred and served with a fateful yet positive acceptance of the events of life. For instance last time I was here, I got worked over pretty good by a wave and after coming to the surface realized that I had four injuries, and four corresponding dings in my board. When recounting the event later the Balinese man I was speaking with said, "I was lucky". Meaning that no matter what happens, if you're still here to talk about it, you're lucky. It's a good point though tested at times. The point of all this is that the Animist aspect of their religion surfaces in their belief in the spirits of trees and to some degree all things. Yet it's the trees which seem to get the most focus here and the holy are identified by gold or black and white checkered cloth wrapped around them. In this particular tree was a temple guarded along its circumference by statues. It must have been 20+ feet in diameter but there are larger ones in Bali.

The after effect of a Bali massage, I don't think I could be more relaxed, topped off with a ginger tea complete with honey and lemon.

Taman Soekasada Ujung

This was called the Floating Palace on the semi-useful map I mentioned before. As it turns out it is a bit more useful than I thought as this place isn't in the Lonely Planet guide I have. So I consider it a find. The architecture looks almost roman/classical here and is a mixture of Balinese and European. The local name is Taman Soekasada Ujung, Wikipedia has nothing on it but Google does so the basics are thus: It was built in 1919 by the late king of Karangasem, I Gusti Bagus to welcome other kings and important guests. Damaged by the eruption of Gunung Agung in 1963 and furthered damaged by the 1979 earthquake, restoration was undertaken to restore the palace to its current state, which is stunning if my photos don't do it justice (and I doubt they do). I don't have much more to say, so here are some pretty pictures. One more thing though, as is common here, aside from some areas of religious places, you are given almost complete freedom of movement.

These are two fawns in an enclosure behind one of the buildings. Cute to see but sad as they're all fenced in what is a rather small area with little shade or grass. Not that it is much different from a petting zoo back home, though that doesn't make it less sad.

Pura Goa Lawah

Blogging is almost a full time job, so while these are from June 8th I'll be filling some of the previous days, including the trip south later (this is becoming a common refrain but I don't want to spend all day sitting at my computer).

Pura Goa Lawah, pura means temple, goa means cave, and lawah means bats. So this is the temple of the bat cave. The major religious currents here are Hinduism and Buddhism with roots of animism weaving through the two major traditions. This is a result of the spread of Islam in the 15th century and the fleeing of the Hindu Majapahits to Bali from Java. With that undercurrent you find sights like these of trees shrouded in checkered cloth representing the duality of life and the conflict of good and evil and are considered to harbour spirits. This is why much if not all of the wood used for construction, furniture and carvings is brought over from Java. For perspective of size if I was in this photo I would stand about half as tall as the small black statue between the two trees.

A Hindu ceremony infront of Goa Lawah. There are chimes and words spoken, at the end of the ceremony the priests (for lack of a better word) walk through the worshippers with a container of holy water, rice and a reed used to splash the water upon their heads, then they drink some and press some rice to their wetted foreheads.

This is Goa Lawah, we're not allowed inside but I overheard a guide saying that it goes back 50m or more.

A separate part of the temple complex, coconut is drying on the ground along with the husks.

Cleaning up

I can't tell you how long I've wanted a barber to shave me with a straight razor. Well for $0.50 I got my wish. It was next door to where I stopped for food and so I took a seat to wait my turn. I was behind a few guys but the owner asked if I could go before them to which I said I'd wait, I think I was a novelty there. He was skilled and focused and I did my part in not breathing irregularly or moving.

North via Gunung Batur

On May 26th with the swell dropping off and restless feet I pointed the compass north and started off. I actually bought a compass and a road map. The map is missing many if not all minor roads including some new highways, has different names than those on the road signs, and has limited but not trivial function. The compass is actually a pretty useful tool, even if I'm not on the right road I can at least keep going the right direction until something makes sense. So yes, north. The center of Bali is mountainous with a couple volcanos visible from around the island on clear days. Gunung Agung is the tallest and most important to the Balinese. Before I leave I'm going to climb to the top which you begin at midnight to arrive at sunrise. Gunung Batur is the second tallest and Gunung Pohen the third. Both of these last two volcanos have lakes and towns at the top so the path was to go to the north coast via Batur and return via Pohen. I gave two days for the trip, one up, one back. I knew it gets cold at elevation but I didn't expect it to be as cold as it was as the sun set. Not to mention rainy, misty, and overcast, which wasn't a problem until the sun set and I was still on the northern descent down bumpy switchback roads. There seems to be more poverty on the mountains than along the coast, and the persistence of the vendors increases accordingly. Yet of all the things they were hawking the one thing I would have payed anything for was a jacket. But I didn't see any other traveler on a bike so maybe I'm niche market.

The calder is kilometers across, on the right you can see the center cone ascending but not the peak (I could never actually see the summit due to the cloud cover).

This is the weather over Lake Batur, only later did I learn that this area has Bali's coolest climate.

The volcano is active but not devastatingly so. The land around Lake Batur is fertile with most of the land covered in agriculture. The soil is dark, rich and aromatic of gardening, though the use of pesticides and fertilizers is on the rise here. I was told that years ago there was one rice harvest a year used for ceremonies and then the remainder was left, whereas now they have three a year and it is eaten for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

There are fisherman all over using an number of tools, from nets, to spears, that you can see here and dugout canoes which you can see below.

That's the center cone you can see in the background and a typical example of the dugout. There also seems to be aquaculture here.

As you descend into the caldera you have a choice at the bottom, left or right. Left is where the tourists go, as you get to the hot springs, climb the cone, and there's a village which has a different culture (so I was told) where they neither burn nor bury the dead. As we didn't go that way I can't confirm this. I went right, as from the rim of the caldera there were a number of villages and it looked the more interested considering I wasn't going to spend the night. This is the village at the end of the road. I arrived an hour before dusk and there were a number of people bathing in the lake. I don't think they expected to see a foreigner here, they were all naked so I averted my eyes and kept my camera by my side so as not to offend. As you drive you're basically replying to almost everyone "Helloooo!!!" and waiving. To numerous to count were the offers of guides along the way, for pay, of course. Essentially there's one road so you can't get lost, and they were heading home anyway but I rather just explore on my own.

The road, windy, steep on the side and gorgeous. Aquaculture in the background.

Ok, so on the way back to the road up to the rim at the final town before the ascent I saw this scene in what is by day a market. It looked to be the whole female contingent of the town doing aerobics to the direction of the most masculine woman or most feminine man I've yet seen. It was the first instance of exercise here outside of the occasional person running or riding a bicycle. This is a place where the influx of western fastfood and wealth has turned obesity into a common occurrence. Thirty years ago it was rare to see an overweight person, even last time I was here eight years ago it was rare. It's interesting because if you go to the mall, where everything is more expensive, you see more of it. As though weight follows wealth.

Sunsets

There's going to be lots of these so get used to it. Not from the same day, I'm trying to catch up on my posts as I've been busy, and a little sick. I thought about writing more about the illnesses but sometimes things are best left unsaid. That said, I'm pretty sure I'll be posting something about the various health issues I have experienced (nothing serious) at some point, right now all I'll say is that the natural remedies are sometimes the best, especially where digestion is concerned. Anyway, with all that in mind... sunsets, enjoy!

Oh and the place is Balangan, a beautiful beach and an OK surf break. Almost every wave closes down on you so you have about 50 meters of fun till you're looking for a way out. In the end it's not the best surf spot but you're falling asleep to the sound of surf and waking throughout the night to the same. A mixed blessing.