Bali

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After a short hour and a half after leaving Bandung, we touched down in Denpasar airport, Bali on the 18th February and stayed in the nearby resort of Kuta for a week, quite a built up area full of Australian travellers and holiday makers. The contrasts were interesting however, and it seemed as though there was as many shrines and temples as there were houses and tourist shops! Bali has a very different feel to it compared to Java, as it has not been as heavily influenced (if at all) by the Muslim culture as Java, and still retains its own branch of Hinduism, separate from that of India, with different ways of worshipping, dress code and festivals but familiar gods and stone carved temples that you see in other Hindu cultures. A very large majority of Balinese people, old and young adhere to this religion and take it very seriously. They present little brightly coloured squared bamboo and banana leaved offerings full of flowers and food daily, in front of their houses and businesses which is for the gods in exchange for good luck and blessings, which is a dominant feature all over the island. Women and men also wear flowers in their hair which I think is so beautiful. We stayed at a lovely guest house called Gong Corner for the entirety of our stay in Kuta, hosted by a friendly women called Rato and her 4 sons. It was within walking distance to the shops, restaurants and bars which we went to a few times, meeting lots of other travellers and Balinese people and we had lots of fun. Kuta beach, although good to surf on wasn't as clean as it could have been due to the amount of tourism the area has to cope with. We didn't swim on this beach, however we enjoyed a few sunset drinks on it whilst we stayed here. We rented a bike and drove down to the swanky resorts of Nusa Dua on the southern tip of the island, where one of Mj's Australian friends were staying with her boyfriend, so enjoyed a cheeky afternoon soaking up the sun in their hotel pool and the hotels private beach!! Whilst staying in Kuta, we also visited Uluwatu temple, the monkey temple on the south west coast of the island. Here we had to wear yellow sashes as did everyone else, as a sign of respect for their gods. This particular major temple is dedicated to the Hindu monkey god Hanuman and was built purposefully on the cliffs of the southern coast, as to protect the people of Bali from evil spirits that may come from the seas to the south - other major temples were built in relation to the other points of the compass for the same reason. We came to here to watch the Kecak dance, however found it to be extremely crowded with tourists so decided to see it another time and enjoy the temple views to the sea instead. There were plenty of monkeys running around everywhere, managing to steal visitor's food, sunglasses and other shiny items! You really have to be careful as these monkeys really are cheeky!! After a week in Kuta, we decided to head northwards to stay in Ubud, a smaller town in the centre of the island. We'd heard from others that it was a lovely place to visit and we were not disappointed. We stayed at a brilliant guest house called Nyoman Warta ran by an older couple who made you feel at home straight away. We stayed in one of their wooden chalets and had an amazing breakfast served on our porch every morning - a big serving of fruit salad, banana pancakes and strong Indonesian coffee = bliss!! From here we explored Ubud and the areas around it on one of the guest house's motorbikes. We drove around and found by chance Tegallalang village, a village surrounded by lush rice paddies on many different levels which was breathtaking. We went to a few temple complexes also, Gunung Kawi, Yeh Pulu and Goa Garja, which are full of lots of different shrines to different gods, ornate stone carvings and holy pools for people to bath in. Goa Garja was also used to teach students meditation, with lots of carvings being dedicated to Ganesh the god of education. On one of our return journeys back to the guest house, we had to stop for a procession of hundreds of people going from one temple to another, in their traditional outfits - women in beautiful laced tops and long skirts and men in white shirts, headdresses and long cotton skirts. We saw them praying with the flowers they then put in their hair and singing. We were very lucky to witness this as we were quite far from the centre of Ubud and hadn't noticed any other foreigners. A number of times we got rained on - the monsoons were beginning in Bali (I think they're following us, at the time of writing this in Koh Samui they're beginning here too!!) so we're thoroughly used to this pattern of weather now!! Only once did we have to stop the bike due to the sheer weight of the rain though, but it did stop us for about an hour! We had to find shelter underneath a pottery barn, as did quite a few other drivers! Whilst in Ubud we also visited the monkey forest, a sacred forest dedicated to conserving and studying macaque monkeys with another temple dedicated to Hanuman and a lovely pool and waterfall in the centre. Again as this place was popular with visitors, the monkeys had caught on a long time ago, and would climb onto people if anything edible or shiny was being carried. We had to be careful! One women got her sandal stolen and taken to the highest point in a tree! We eventually got to see a Kecak Dance at Danim Pulu temple in Ubud and we're glad we waited. We got tickets in advance and had a very good view of the dance. The Kecak dance is a mixture of chanting and drama and involves about 40 men chanting - which is where the name comes from - and a small group of actors re-enacting the battle between Rama and Ravana in the Hindu epic the Ramayana. As it was dark, the atmosphere was brilliant and it was all lit up by torches of fire around the dance. After spending a very enjoyable 5 days in Ubud, we headed back to Kuta for a last weekend in Bali for some socializing with some of the people we met there the first time, and a very cheap but needed haircut and lovely Balinese massage, before leaving Bali on the 3rd of March. We loved Bali, and would love to go back again!

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