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Published: July 10th 2007
Looking over Lake Batur
Buyin postcards from locals. Our driver Wayan in white pants on right The first night in Ubud we took the shuttle downtown and had dinner at a the Lotus Garden next to the palace which was in front of a temple. My food was good but Mark's was a little dried out. The best part of the evening and a nice surprise, was they had the Barong dance across the lotus pond in front of an ancient temple. We didn't bring any cameras since the batteries were being charged. We had taken many photos on the trip up to Ubud. The Barong dance is taken from an episode from Mahabharata, the epic Sanskrit poem. The
costumes were fabulous and set in front of the temple gates. The Barong, like you see in so many of the masks is the good white magic, the king of the jungle, a mythical animal that is not clearly identified. The barong in the dances consists of 2 men in the same costume, half shaggy dog/lion. It looks quite similar to the Chinese dragon costume where one man is at the head & the other half is the back legs. This costume is so elaborate, a large head carved out of wood and brightly colored in red,
Village
One of the many many villages outside Ubud white, gold and black, adorned with a crown extending outwards from the sides. A big necklace which hangs down from the neck. The sides of the body are horse hair and the tail made out of bison leather which is elaborately finished and gilded. Barong is the symbol of virtue and good, subject to the continuous struggle against the evil forces that threaten life and integrity of the forest which is very dear to the Balinese people. The Barong embodies everything that can be beneficial to man and help him to defeat illness, black magic, and any other kind of misfortune. Barong must constantly fight against the evil black magic Rangda, queen of death and devourer of children (the mask with which the red tongue of fire hangs ). This is the most popular dance for the tourists. There are several other characters in the dance. The Rangda strikes her terrible blows, a cloud of characteres surround the Barong and a young servant girl and a boy are sacrificed in order to placate the anger of Rangda. All the while, the gamelan orchestra is playing. The gamelan is essential to underscore the ritual nature of the performance. The instruments are
Mount Batur
You can still see the huge lava flow metal xylophones, drums, flutes and rebab, a type of violin. These instruments are essential in guiding the dance and rhythm of the well coordinated movements.
The Balinese believe that good & evil spirits dwell on the island. You will see many entrances to temples where the stone carved guardian base is wrapped in a black & white checkered flag. Or the base of a 'spirit' tree. A spirit tree is a very old bayon or similar tree. I suppose because of it's age, many spirits have dwelled in them. Offerings are left at the tree and temples daily. The black & white checkered cloth symbolizes evil & good spirits, black & white magic, always in a constant battle. . The even black & white checks help to balance both good & evil, so there won't be too much of either. They are together always in an unresolved conflict. Nothing can change the future. While all people are free to express their positive good attitudes and encourage them to win over evil & negative influences, nonetheless, Balinese accept the fact that there is a presence of both good and evil and it is a law of nature.
After dinner we ended
Lake Batur
Crops by the lake shore up at Murni's for a nightcap and had a lot of fun talking to Peter & the 2 bartenders named Ketut. One was female, the other male, and of course because their name is Ketut, it means they are 4th born. On the walk home we were asked if we wanted a taxi. He gave us a very good price and since we were tired we agreed. He was so jovial and laughed from his heart that I took his card, just in case we needed a driver.
After the mornings activities Mark thought we should check out Lake Batur & the Mt. Batur volcano. This was around 2PM. So Mark called Wayan, our driver from the previous evening to negotiate a price for that afternoon. After agreeing on the price he was quite surprised that we wanted to go immediately since it was an hour & 1/2 drive up there and he thought we meant first thing the next morning. Mark said I thought maybe NOW would be a good time. He was there in 10 minutes. We passed many villages and wood carvers on the way. We found out after he picked us up that he also
Lake Batur
Colorful boats on Lake Batur went to tourist school which is a big plus. Instead of just getting a driver, he knew about everything, pointing things out to us that we would otherwise miss. We went up many winding roads, where rice paddies gave way to small crops of corn, cabbage & rows of fruit trees. When we exited the car we realized we didn't need the air conditioning any more. It was quite cool because of the altitude. We were opposite Mt. Batur, a volcano that blew it's top eons ago. There was an eruption in 1917, 1926 and a big lava flow 1965-1974 where you can still see the huge lava field where everything is still laid to waste. It is still active, the last time in 1994. Occasionally we've been told there have been puffs of smoke from it. Once we exited the car to take photos of Lake Batur & the lava flows, we were inundated with people trying to sell us everything from cheap plastic beaded jewelry, t-shirts, postcards, paintings... Wayan politely told them to 'back off' He also told us how very lucky we were. He was quite surprised that the clouds had cleared and we could actually view
Mature rice
Rice ready to be harvested the surrounding magnificence of the whole landscape in front of us, the entire lake, volcano, sky, blast area. He was awestruck himself to witness the beauty of the scenery. He has taken many people up here dozens of times spending an hour & 1/2 in the car only see clouds covering the mountain and lake. Over the years Mark & I have discovered on numerous occasions that these instantaneous plans frequently result in our good fortune. "Flexible organized flying by the seat of our pants plans", always seems to net the best results.
We got back in the car and went down to Bali's largest lake. It supplies water for a good deal of the islands irrigation system. It is also the source that feeds an underground network of springs throughout the southern-central flanks of the mountain. At the edge of the lake were many farmers that had cabbage, onion & other crops. Colorful boats for fishing and taxiing you across the lake to the "Bali aga" village only accessible by boat. A Bali-aga means an original Balinese that has not intermarried. We didn't have time to take the long boat ride to the village across the lake and Wayan
Snail
Snails are on stone walls, trees & under leafy plants everywhere. Some, like this one are as long as your finger also told us that once the boat taxi gets you in the middle, then the price is suddenly re-negotiated for twice as much or more. Once you get to the village, then everyone there has something to sell you and I can do without hoards of people surrounding you insisting that you buy someone, anything!
We decided to start heading back. Wayan said we could go down this fork in the road to a temple that had many stairs and would take us about an hour to walk to, go through and walk back or.. we could take this fork in the road and pass many villages where the wood carvers, mask makers, other shops, terraced rice paddies etc. He was a driver that didn't have his own agenda where he would take you to a place & get a kickback for himself. We opted to go the scenic route and maybe hit the temples the following day.
The wood carving villages were amazing. One shop after another, some piled high with Buddha faces or carvings, one was all carousel horses, the next, wood puppets, rocking horses, you name it. I suppose most would go to the different shops or
Snail
Another more colorful snail on tree outside our door export. We stopped at a string of shops along the roadside overlooking some hills and paddies. He told us anytime we wanted to stop for anything, photos or a shop, to just let him know. So we stopped to take some photos and I bought some bamboo wind chimes. Mark bought a couple masks. He said he could drive 100 meters down the road and park and we could walk, take photos, stop in shops, perfect!!!!
We got back and had a nice swim in one of the pools at the Tjampuhan and Mark wanted to eat up the hill at a place called Naughty Nuri's. Great food. You sit at picnic style tables with other people. Wayan picked us up and dropped us off saying he could come back to get us whenever we wanted, so we said an hour & 1/2. We sat with 5 guys, 4 were Balinese & one guy an architect from Java. We had the best time. We bought them a pitcher of beer. The gal that served us the margaritas came to the table and shook the tumbler using her whole body in motion. When she poured our glasses, she would SNAP the
Mask shop
Mark deciding which masks to buy tumbler up so as not to lose a drop!! Wayan picked us up and took us down across the river to, of course Murni's for our nightcap and walk home.
Wayan, turned out to be the best driver because of his knowledge & would take us anywhere we wanted to go, also offering suggestions of other places in the area that we might not know about.
For anyone ever traveling to Bali, his contact info is: Wayan Suartana. Address: Br. Tegal Temu Kaja, Kerambitan, Tabanan
Phone: 081-2394-3271 email: wayan_lois@yahoo.com He would also be able to pick you up at Denpasar airport if you were traveling up to Ubud. His rates are quite reasonable and he was just a delight. One area where the mask makers & wood carvers are, he pointed out some signs on some shops. Antiques made to order! he said could you imagine? They do not know the concept of antiques. He laughed so hard that we all were laughing until our sides hurt! He is in the photo of "Looking over Lake Batur", where I am buying postcards. He is in the white pants & tan top looking at the camera.
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