Bali is almost a pilgrimage for many Australians. Besides the main tourist areas around Kuta, Legian and Seminyak which we explored on foot, we did venture a bit further by car to the Ubut and Mt Batur area: Pura Taman Ayun & Gunung Kawi temples, Monkey Park, Rice terraces, Mt Batur volcano and a Luwak coffee place.
Around the Beach areas there are ‘Aussies’ everywhere. Most go and enjoy a relaxing holiday with family and friends, others are going to get drunk and behave in a way you would not at home… the beaches were not too busy, but although some efforts are made, not that clean either.
There is more to Bali than just the beach. Shops trying to get some tourist dollars (but the staff or touts are not aggressive), lavish resorts, restaurants and food stall. Standing out were massage places and tattoo parlours which were everywhere.
There are so many temples, hundreds. Most are ‘family temples’, closed to the general public. Then there are the community temples and finally the public temples. Temples are rather bare and do not house religious effigies or other valuables. They are kept in a safe place and are only moved to the temples for religious ceremonies.
Here a few more pics from around town:
Our visit, my first time here, coincided with the Balinese New Year Nyepi. There are 5 days of celebration, some with celebrations and pilgrimages, others with silence and darkness.
Melasti Pilgrimages Date: 14 March 2018
The Melasti processions take place around three days prior to the Saka New Year, when pilgrims take heirlooms in long walks from temples towards the coastlines where purification rites take place. Parades along the horizon are stunning to witness while you’re in Bali.
Not being
aware of this particular procession passing just outside our hotel, we notice that police were stopping traffic, then singing and music…and the procession of several hundred people passed our hotel.
Later on the beach we cam along the groups again where they participated in the purification rites. Offerings were released into the water. Life ducks and other birds were released into the air whilst other smaller birds were sacrificed..
Pengrupukan, New Year’s Eve of the Saka Calendar Date: 16 March 2018
The eve of the Saka New Year is loud and festive, before the day of silence. All the celebrative commotion takes place in the afternoon, and grotesque ogoh-ogoh papier-mâché effigies are paraded throughout the streets. The evening features fire torches and firecrackers, meant to rid the land of malevolent forces.
There was a celebration in the afternoon by one of the larger local temples. Offerings were made and a procession to another temple. The ogoh-ogohs were along the street, but did not form part of the procession.
The evening processions were loader and the ogoh-ogohs came into full use and were busy scarring bad spirits away…and enlightening onlookers.
Nyepi Day of Silence and Seclusion, Saka New Year 1940 Date: 17 March 2018
Nyepi is ultimately the quietest day in Bali. This day marks Bali’s lunar new year based on the Saka calendar which is 77-78 years behind the Gregorian calendar.
On the actual New Year, the Nyepi day, no one is allowed on the streets and that includes tourists. So all businesses are closed. Hotel guests are contained to their accommodation (although pool etc. can be used). We had been informed of this when we booked our accommodation and reminded in the days leading up to it, so we could organise some movies to watch, food, snacks and drinks. TV stations did not broadcast and the telephone system was switched off, but the internet was on..!
No lights are to be turned on that could be seen from the outside. The religious police is patrolling the streets to ensure adherence. The streets are deserted, Bali looks surreal. Where normal traffic chaos is the norm, not one car or motorbike. Where normally shop keepers and touts dealing with customers, just empty streets… The stars are much clearer to see during that night without all the commercial glare from the tourist hubs and local villages.
Ngembak Geni, Day after Nyepi Date: 18 March 2018
The silence of the Saka New Year celebration ‘breaks’ as the morning does at 06:00 sharp. The day is a local holiday in Bali and families visit each other as it is a time for gatherings and short travels.
For tourists, Bali is back to normal. Shops, restaurants and bars are open again.
Pagerwesi Date: 21 March 2018
Pagerwesi is the concluding day for the ‘wealth’ series of celebrations. It signifies spiritual ‘reinforcement’. Its name, combining the words pager and wesi, suggests ‘iron fence’ in English. Anything of high importance, the soul and spirit in this sense, should be protected from negative influences. The day is the final significant highlight in this series of holy days in Bali. It aims to protect the blessed subjects of spiritual assets celebrated in the previous days.
Offerings and Prayers
Having breakfast on the front veranda, we asked our waiter about the
meaning of the green flowers he had behind his ears. He told us, it is after the prayer. So we goggled it a bit…After the ceremony, you put rice grains on your forehead to signify that you have prayed. Astrid has the green blossom of the sacred Sekar Sandat flower behind her ear. You pray holding flowers between your fingers, and at the end of each prayer, you put the flower behind your ear, or in your hair.
There are daily offerings almost everywhere in the streets. Little banana leave baskets with flowers, cracker, rice, incent… Even though they are left everywhere, the streets are clean and there are no cockroaches or mice epidemics. We did not see many birds, flies or mosquitos either.
Pura Taman Ayun
This temple, listed in the UNESCO world heritage list, is a truly beautiful and tranquil place to visit. A walkway inside the moat around the main temple area, which is closed to the general public, allows for a great view of the buildings with the tall multi-tired roofs.
Monkey Forest
“Padangtegal Mandala Wisata Wanara Wana Sacred Monkey Forest Sanctuary”, as it is called officially is a nice place to spend a couple of hours. There are a couple of temples, boardwalks, waterfalls and bridges which make for a great scenery for some pics with some of the over 600 macaque monkeys which call this place home. There are 5 different groups of monkeys, each occupying their separate territory in the park.
You can buy bananas to feed them, but be warned, the cheeky monkeys will jump on you and take what they please. So make sure there is nothing loose for them to grab, zips are closed and secure. We did not have any food, but 3 different monkeys still found it necessary to check and jumped on me, trying to open the backpack and having a bit of a climb around my limbs. It can be a bit scary when they show their teeth trying to intimidate you…
Rice Terraces
Rice fields can be found almost everywhere in Bali, but one of the most scenic ones in central Bali are the Tegallalang Rice Terraces in Ubud, which are famous for its beautiful scenes of traditional rice paddies involving the traditional Balinese cooperative irrigation system. It will take a good hour of you want to take the marked walk along them.
Mt Batur volcano
Mount Batur is an active volcano that draws tourists with its beauty. Batur is a truly fabulous volcano, consisting of a ‘double caldera’ – one crater inside another. In the background is lake Batur (Danau Batur). The weather was not perfect and the food in the place our driver brought us for lunch was just ridiculous in what they charge. I guess you pay for the view…
Luwak coffee
Kopi luwak, or civet coffee, is coffee that includes part-digested coffee beans eaten and defecated by the Asian palm civet, a member of the cat family. Fermentation occurs as the beans pass through a civet’s intestines, and after being defecated with other fecal matter, they are collected, cleaned and roasted. Our driver referred to the Luwak coffee as “cat-poo-chino”, get it…? Luwak coffee is the most expensive coffee in the world. The taste is different, but more a novelty that superior taste. Today most civets are kept in cages for intensive production which raises concerns about the wellbeing of these cute, but feral animals.
Gunung Kawi Temple
Gunung Kawi is an 11th-century temple complex north east of Ubud that is spread across either side of the Pakerisan river. There is a bit of a walk down to the river (lots of staires), and back up afterwards. It comprises 10 rock-cut candi (shrines) that are carved into 7-metre-high sheltered niches of the sheer cliff face. These funeral monuments are thought to be dedicated to King Anak Wungsu of the Udayana dynasty and his favourite queens. On the east side there are five temples that are dedicated, according to one theory, to King Udayana, his queen Mahendradatta, and their sons Airlanga, Anak Wungsu, and Marakata. The temples on the west side are dedicated, according to the same theory, to the king’s minor queens or concubines.
Tick: so we did the almost compulsory pilgrimage to Bali.
Goodbye Bali – Selamat tinggal.
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