Praying

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Wayan and Ketut the couple I'm staying with offered to take me to their family temple. Wayan's daughter, Kedek, and her young family also came. We took offering baskets with food and flowers and I was given a kebaya and sarong to wear. I was the only foreign person there. It was an honour being allowed in and to participate in the prayers. We had to sit on the ground. Kedek who is heavily pregnant had to be lowered down and pulled up to stand. Not what you want to be doing in the heat. I felt as though I was going to pass out. There's insence everywhere. You use flowers to pray with. After each prayer you place the flower in your hair. Then after 4 prayers - four flowers - there's holy water which you drink and then pour on your head. Then you stick rice on your head. Lol. It's very busy with people trying to pray or get into the prayer area or place their baskets in the right places. You leave your large basket full of food by the holy statue and then take it on your way out to eat later.

We went again just the other day but this time to the monkey sanctuary and to their 3 temples. This was in the evening so it was dark. The monkeys where squealing from tree to tree clearly over excited by the abundance of food. There were sanctuary gaurds walking around the temples with sling shots to scare them off. It felt nicer in the evening. Cooler, the jungle trees rustling in the evening breeze, birds and monkey noises everywhere. dim lighting. I truely rare experience. On our way out the tourists behinf the temple gates had gathered and where frantically taking photos of us. I was trying to help Kadek out of the temple and this woman a meter off started flashing her camera in my face. I nearly decked her. It made me realised how we can be intrusive as tourists. It's important to take pictuires but appropriately. Esp. not a meter from someones face after they've just prayed. I was on the other side watching myself. I didn't take a single photo during the prayers. Wayan had said it was okay but I chose not too. Some experiences need to be experienced in the present. A photo sometimes gets in the way of the experience.

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