I just sat to write about my visit to Dubai and Europe and saw that I had a draft about our Bali trip ( Indonesia. ) So decided to write them . Better late than Never!!!
This trip we had done in August 2010 from 28th to 31st. A guided tour for two of us , stay in a Beach Resort Hotel. The tours have become affordable after the Budget Airlines Air Asia has come into the horizon.
We stayed in the hotel Inna Grand Bali in a place called Sanur. We were met by the guide in the airport which is in the capital of Bali Denpasar. The hotel was excellent, with a magnificent statue of Draupadi in a scene from Mahabharata where Lord Krishna is helping her with the Vastra in the Concourse. There were many beautiful wooden carvings in and around the Lounge, all for sale but the price was such that we could just see them and admire and take pictures. Almost all of them were depicting scenes from Mahabharata and Ramayana.
The day we arrived in Bali, we went to the Southern Coast of Bali in the late afternoon. This place drops vertically into the Ocean. There is a temple on the edge of the cliff which is called Holy Temple of Uluwatu. We could see the Ocean down from the edge where the temple is built. I was surprised to hear that Bali has 90 % Hindu population who are practicing Hinduism like people of India and Nepal. This Temple is dedicated to Varuna (they pronounce as Baruna) the God of Sea. Lots of monkeys are there around this temple and we have to walk up the cliff to reach the temple. My husband was warned before to remove his spectacles as monkeys are used to snatching them. I could see monkeys snatching, Sun Glasses, Specs, Colourful Hawaii Chappals and also bright big earrings from tourists. They did not touch handbags and cameras. I could see that there were locals who had bags with chocolates and other eats which they threw at the monkeys and the monkeys threw back what ever they had snatched!! It looked as if the monkeys were trained to do this so that the locals can get some baksheesh for retrieving the belongings from the tourists.
We were not allowed to go inside the temple as we had not worn the traditional dress of 'Sarong' ( a kind of Lungi or Dhothi) a boutique printed cloth which has to be tied around the waist. The temple is a open structure looking very old , not painted but not dilapidated also and there were no doors to the temple. We could see locals carrying their offerings to God on their heads and praying amidst tourists gaping at them from outside the gate. It was a lovely sight to see the Sea all around the hillock.
We were taken for dinner to a cultural centre. There was a dance performance also. There I saw a huge Vishnu Statue with a Mustache and no hands which was built a few years ago. ( I have heard that in Chennai in Tiruvallikeni the Parthasarathy temple the Deity Vishnu has a Mustache.)
The Dance was a scene from Ramayana where Sita is abducted by Ravana. Lot of local flair is added in between. A character called Borong which has a lion like face is a good spirit.
Devil Rangda is a mythological monster who has a trunk like tongue represents the Evil. The fight between the good and the evil is shown and they dance with mask and two people representing the Borong This is very similar to Lion dance of China which is very popular in Malaysia which is performed during the Chinese New year here. I was amazed to know that many of the performers in the group dance were deaf and dumb and the they dance looking at the teacher to catch up with the steps.
Second day we were taken to another dance show, which was about Kunti and Sahadeva. Again here also the story ended with good spirit Borong winning the evil Spirit Rangda.
I noticed that in Bali minor characters like Kunti , Sahadeva etc are known to people along with the main characters like Bheema and Arjuna. There are huge stone statues in Major Road Circles . I could see Bheema with a Naga which they call Vasuki the dragon and also Arjuna with a Bow and Arrow. I could even see a statue of Gatothgaja (the son of Bheema) near the airport.
Our guide for second day was one Mr. Komang Sedana. He was very enterprising and knew quite a lot about Hinduism and he is also a practicing Hindu. He said that he recites Gayathri Mantra whenever he is distressed and recited the 'om burvuvatsava..... entirely. I was speechless.
How on earth a Culture which is thousands of miles away separated by huge ocean, spread in a far off place like Bali and that too in days when transportation was not at all easy . How it has been maintained for so long I wondered.
Even though the religion practiced is very different , which is combined with Animism, to hear some body reciting Gayathri Mantra without any mistake in Sanskrit was kind of high point of my trip.
After the dance we proceeded to Tampak Spring a Holy spring Temple. All temples are similar with open courtyards and the Sanctum Sanctorum is closed and is opened only on one or two days in a year on special occasion. The people offer flowers, toffee , even Cigarates in a small cup made of coconut leaf and keep it outside the courtyard. This offering of flowers we could see every where in every shop and even inside the car. The flower used is called Firangipani. (called as 'mara arali' in tamil)which is also famous in Hawaii ( I have seen in pictures). The flower blooms in various colors and our guide told us that the white/red/yellow is offered to the Trinity Brahma/Vishnu/Siva. The water in the holy spring is compared with Ganges and the guide told me that if he is lucky, God willing one day he will see the Real Ganges in India. I was moved....he said they also believe in karma theory and that Good deed begets Good....
We proceeded to a place called Kintamani which is a hilly place overlooking an extinct volcano which last erupted in 1963.The soil around here is very fertile due to volcanic ash. They use this ash for making brick to build houses also. We were taken to a spice garden where we saw vanilla plant (I was seeing it for the first time and the dry vanilla seed or twiggish thing did smell like icecream!) . This was a coffee plantation also and the coffee plant had flowered. I had seen the red coffee bean but had not seen the coffee flower. It was white in color and smelt like jasmine!! We saw some civets (a small smelly animal) put in cages. It seems that the civets have a taste for the coffee berry and they eat the best ones in the coffee plantations. The seeds come out in their waste in tact. since the seeds undergoes some chemical treatment in the animal's stomach it has a very good taste. (I was told so) The people pick the coffee seeds from the waste as the civets which are nocturnal animals roam about freely in the garden. The seeds are cleaned and processed and the coffee is considered as best and is very expensive. We were treated with coffee, cocoa, ginger tea for tasting but not this special coffee. ( I don't think I would have tasted it even if it was offered)
We proceeded after lunch to a place called 'Ubud' where the whole village surrounded by paddy fields , is full of artists who paint (water colors) different scenes from the epics and also some sceneries. Each house is like a painting work shop and each house has a small temple in the front yard. They have beautiful wooden carved frames. we have to do lot of bargain. So all I did was chose a 'Saraswathi' and Rama Seetha Hanuman ( both paintings Bali style) and left it to hubby dear to do the bargain in which he is so good.
We visited another big temple. we had to wear the sarong which we bought in a boutique shop where they are hand made. This was a big temple with lots of 'Sannidhis' for different Gods and with intricate workmanship but again it was looking very old with no white washing or colour washing but the building is in tact. I think they like to maintain their temples with an old look.
There are so many temples in Bali no wonder, it is called the 'Place of Thousand Temples'
Next day we were taken to the beach where water sports are available, hubby dear did the para sailing. I just gaped at him wishing I was bold enough. We were taken to a mountain resort for lunch over looking the valley full of rice fields and vegetable patches. I was thinking how nice it would be if Ooty had such restaurants overlooking the tea estates on the edge of the hills. Even though the food was not that great the ambiance was lovely. We went to local market to buy some fruits and we bought some jack fruits paying 10,000 ++ Rupiah . In Indonesian currency you have to add just zeroes to buy anything.
After visiting another lake temple, with very well maintained gardens called Ulun Danu temple, we went to the best place of our tour the in north west coast of the island called the Tanah Lot. Carved out of the tides, there are huge off shore Sentinal rocks and three sea temples built around 16th Century. It was an excellent view with Sea all around and the Temples just jetting out of the Sea. One of the temple can be reached only at the time of low tide and when we went it was surrounded by water. This was the high point of my tour , with Nature and the Temple almost becoming one.
This is a wood carving. am not able to turn it around.
This is the huge statue of vishnu. it has to be turned around.
This is the Borong........there are two people inside this and they dance together....
The offerings of flowers.
A Huge Door in one of the temples this picture is also has to be turned...
The Coffee Flower smelling like Jasmine...
The Tanah Lot Temple. see the sea underneath the rock..
The next day we had extended our stay so that we could go and see on our own some good wood carvings in Bali. We went to some shops and the carvings were superb and they carve it out of different type of wood. The pieces are very expensive and we bought one Apsara in a hibiscus wood (which is different from the common hibiscus) and another Siva on Rishabha (I don't know which wood). We bought one small stone carved Ganesha also and was thinking of Mahabalipuram stone carvings.
Bali trip came to an end and it is one of the wonderful places we have visited which has lovely Temples, Great Natural Beauty, Beautiful arts and artifacts.
This trip we had done in August 2010 from 28th to 31st. A guided tour for two of us , stay in a Beach Resort Hotel. The tours have become affordable after the Budget Airlines Air Asia has come into the horizon.
We stayed in the hotel Inna Grand Bali in a place called Sanur. We were met by the guide in the airport which is in the capital of Bali Denpasar. The hotel was excellent, with a magnificent statue of Draupadi in a scene from Mahabharata where Lord Krishna is helping her with the Vastra in the Concourse. There were many beautiful wooden carvings in and around the Lounge, all for sale but the price was such that we could just see them and admire and take pictures. Almost all of them were depicting scenes from Mahabharata and Ramayana.
The day we arrived in Bali, we went to the Southern Coast of Bali in the late afternoon. This place drops vertically into the Ocean. There is a temple on the edge of the cliff which is called Holy Temple of Uluwatu. We could see the Ocean down from the edge where the temple is built. I was surprised to hear that Bali has 90 % Hindu population who are practicing Hinduism like people of India and Nepal. This Temple is dedicated to Varuna (they pronounce as Baruna) the God of Sea. Lots of monkeys are there around this temple and we have to walk up the cliff to reach the temple. My husband was warned before to remove his spectacles as monkeys are used to snatching them. I could see monkeys snatching, Sun Glasses, Specs, Colourful Hawaii Chappals and also bright big earrings from tourists. They did not touch handbags and cameras. I could see that there were locals who had bags with chocolates and other eats which they threw at the monkeys and the monkeys threw back what ever they had snatched!! It looked as if the monkeys were trained to do this so that the locals can get some baksheesh for retrieving the belongings from the tourists.
We were not allowed to go inside the temple as we had not worn the traditional dress of 'Sarong' ( a kind of Lungi or Dhothi) a boutique printed cloth which has to be tied around the waist. The temple is a open structure looking very old , not painted but not dilapidated also and there were no doors to the temple. We could see locals carrying their offerings to God on their heads and praying amidst tourists gaping at them from outside the gate. It was a lovely sight to see the Sea all around the hillock.
We were taken for dinner to a cultural centre. There was a dance performance also. There I saw a huge Vishnu Statue with a Mustache and no hands which was built a few years ago. ( I have heard that in Chennai in Tiruvallikeni the Parthasarathy temple the Deity Vishnu has a Mustache.)
The Dance was a scene from Ramayana where Sita is abducted by Ravana. Lot of local flair is added in between. A character called Borong which has a lion like face is a good spirit.
Devil Rangda is a mythological monster who has a trunk like tongue represents the Evil. The fight between the good and the evil is shown and they dance with mask and two people representing the Borong This is very similar to Lion dance of China which is very popular in Malaysia which is performed during the Chinese New year here. I was amazed to know that many of the performers in the group dance were deaf and dumb and the they dance looking at the teacher to catch up with the steps.
Second day we were taken to another dance show, which was about Kunti and Sahadeva. Again here also the story ended with good spirit Borong winning the evil Spirit Rangda.
I noticed that in Bali minor characters like Kunti , Sahadeva etc are known to people along with the main characters like Bheema and Arjuna. There are huge stone statues in Major Road Circles . I could see Bheema with a Naga which they call Vasuki the dragon and also Arjuna with a Bow and Arrow. I could even see a statue of Gatothgaja (the son of Bheema) near the airport.
Our guide for second day was one Mr. Komang Sedana. He was very enterprising and knew quite a lot about Hinduism and he is also a practicing Hindu. He said that he recites Gayathri Mantra whenever he is distressed and recited the 'om burvuvatsava..... entirely. I was speechless.
How on earth a Culture which is thousands of miles away separated by huge ocean, spread in a far off place like Bali and that too in days when transportation was not at all easy . How it has been maintained for so long I wondered.
Even though the religion practiced is very different , which is combined with Animism, to hear some body reciting Gayathri Mantra without any mistake in Sanskrit was kind of high point of my trip.
After the dance we proceeded to Tampak Spring a Holy spring Temple. All temples are similar with open courtyards and the Sanctum Sanctorum is closed and is opened only on one or two days in a year on special occasion. The people offer flowers, toffee , even Cigarates in a small cup made of coconut leaf and keep it outside the courtyard. This offering of flowers we could see every where in every shop and even inside the car. The flower used is called Firangipani. (called as 'mara arali' in tamil)which is also famous in Hawaii ( I have seen in pictures). The flower blooms in various colors and our guide told us that the white/red/yellow is offered to the Trinity Brahma/Vishnu/Siva. The water in the holy spring is compared with Ganges and the guide told me that if he is lucky, God willing one day he will see the Real Ganges in India. I was moved....he said they also believe in karma theory and that Good deed begets Good....
We proceeded to a place called Kintamani which is a hilly place overlooking an extinct volcano which last erupted in 1963.The soil around here is very fertile due to volcanic ash. They use this ash for making brick to build houses also. We were taken to a spice garden where we saw vanilla plant (I was seeing it for the first time and the dry vanilla seed or twiggish thing did smell like icecream!) . This was a coffee plantation also and the coffee plant had flowered. I had seen the red coffee bean but had not seen the coffee flower. It was white in color and smelt like jasmine!! We saw some civets (a small smelly animal) put in cages. It seems that the civets have a taste for the coffee berry and they eat the best ones in the coffee plantations. The seeds come out in their waste in tact. since the seeds undergoes some chemical treatment in the animal's stomach it has a very good taste. (I was told so) The people pick the coffee seeds from the waste as the civets which are nocturnal animals roam about freely in the garden. The seeds are cleaned and processed and the coffee is considered as best and is very expensive. We were treated with coffee, cocoa, ginger tea for tasting but not this special coffee. ( I don't think I would have tasted it even if it was offered)
We proceeded after lunch to a place called 'Ubud' where the whole village surrounded by paddy fields , is full of artists who paint (water colors) different scenes from the epics and also some sceneries. Each house is like a painting work shop and each house has a small temple in the front yard. They have beautiful wooden carved frames. we have to do lot of bargain. So all I did was chose a 'Saraswathi' and Rama Seetha Hanuman ( both paintings Bali style) and left it to hubby dear to do the bargain in which he is so good.
We visited another big temple. we had to wear the sarong which we bought in a boutique shop where they are hand made. This was a big temple with lots of 'Sannidhis' for different Gods and with intricate workmanship but again it was looking very old with no white washing or colour washing but the building is in tact. I think they like to maintain their temples with an old look.
There are so many temples in Bali no wonder, it is called the 'Place of Thousand Temples'
Next day we were taken to the beach where water sports are available, hubby dear did the para sailing. I just gaped at him wishing I was bold enough. We were taken to a mountain resort for lunch over looking the valley full of rice fields and vegetable patches. I was thinking how nice it would be if Ooty had such restaurants overlooking the tea estates on the edge of the hills. Even though the food was not that great the ambiance was lovely. We went to local market to buy some fruits and we bought some jack fruits paying 10,000 ++ Rupiah . In Indonesian currency you have to add just zeroes to buy anything.
After visiting another lake temple, with very well maintained gardens called Ulun Danu temple, we went to the best place of our tour the in north west coast of the island called the Tanah Lot. Carved out of the tides, there are huge off shore Sentinal rocks and three sea temples built around 16th Century. It was an excellent view with Sea all around and the Temples just jetting out of the Sea. One of the temple can be reached only at the time of low tide and when we went it was surrounded by water. This was the high point of my tour , with Nature and the Temple almost becoming one.
This is a wood carving. am not able to turn it around.
This is the huge statue of vishnu. it has to be turned around.
This is the Borong........there are two people inside this and they dance together....
Our guide with the paintings. The extreme left is the Saraswathi and the extreme right of the four pictures is the Rama, Sita , Hanuman......
The offerings of flowers.
A Huge Door in one of the temples this picture is also has to be turned...
The Coffee Flower smelling like Jasmine...
The Tanah Lot Temple. see the sea underneath the rock..
This is the another temple in the same place which is in accessible during high tide.
The Gatotgaja statue near the airport.......
Bali trip came to an end and it is one of the wonderful places we have visited which has lovely Temples, Great Natural Beauty, Beautiful arts and artifacts.
