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Published: March 10th 2014
Hello again from Bali!
After a few weeks of hanging out at Kuta Beach, we find ourselves into a daily routine. It's funny how even on a holiday a routine seems to develop for us! We spend the morning enjoying our patio and pool while we do our social media and phone calls to family and friends. Next, we make the 20 minute walk to our place at the beach where we enjoy people watching, reading, talking with the local people and vendors and enjoying a few beverages. I had my eyebrows plucked the other day. You can get absolutely any service on the beach. Warren even had his ears plucked!! We have a late lunch on the beach at a local stand (noodle soup, rice & veggies etc). Some days I walk across the street to Starbucks and enjoy a cafe Americano in the air/con which is quite a treat in the heat of the day! We pack up around 4 and head home stopping at the big shopping mall for fruit, snacks and supplies if need be. Then it's massage time many of the days. At $5 you can't go wrong. Back in the pool for awhile, shower,
cocktail hour and then out for supper. We often end the evening at "Bamboo" where they have live music and good wine!! Once or twice a week we visit other beaches and do island tours.
We headed over to Sanur Beach one day about an hours drive from here. The beach was nice and more swimmable but rather quiet and only had big fancy hotels along the beach which really isn't our style so we're happy we picked Kuta Beach.
Something that has intrigued us is the Hindu religion that is very evident in Bali. Every home, building, restaurant, hotel has small shrines consisting of offerings to their many gods. The offerings are placed in several square trays made from palm leaves which include flowers,greenery, candies, cigarettes and often a cup of coffee. Sometimes incense burns as well. These little trays are replaced everyday with new ones. They are even on the beach and in the middle of the sidewalk or side of the street. Many buildings and homes have statues that are wrapped in cloth to keep the evil spirits from getting out. We learned this from our tour guide. He also told us that every child
Cremation Bed
Kind of creepy in the middle of the beach(according to their birth order) is called the same name. For example, the first born child is named "Wayan" in every family. They are also given a second name to help differentiate. Families are expected to not have more than two children unless they are both girls. If the first one is a boy they will often stop there.
Another interesting religious custom here is cremation. When someone dies they are cremated out in the public with an elaborate ceremony. We witnessed one of these on the beach one day where they had two beds made out of bamboo for the bodies that would be cremated that evening. There were flowers, decorations, chanting, singing and food. The next morning, we saw the remains of the burned bamboo beds piled up on the beach. We've also seen this kind of a set up in the middle of a street that is blocked off for the ritual.
We took our first island tour the other day with Wayan. He was an excellent tour guide and speaks very good english. The ten hour tour which included the guide, an air conditioned new vehicle and a driver was only $60 total. To
us that's a good deal. Wayan arrived a 8:30 all decked out in his traditional Balinese costume. We started out at a traditional Balinese dance presentation which told a story through the dancing and live Balinese music that consisted of drums and xylophone like instruments. The costumes were very colourful and striking.
Next we were taken to a traditional Balinese home that dates back to the 11th century and is still home to a family today of which we met some of the family members. Incredible! Our next stop was "Elephant Cave Temple" which is an ancient hindu temple built in a beautiful rain forest and cave. Again dating back to the 11th century. I got to touch the holy water which is suppose to make you look younger! We also had to wrap ourselves in a long skirt in order to enter the temple. Warren looked lovely!!
We continued on north to the mountains where we had lunch overlooking the Kintamani Volcano (which was active last active in 2000 and can see the dried lava from the eruption). We also over looked a scenic lake while we enjoyed our Indonesian lunch. After lunch we viewed some rice
terraces that were such a beautiful lush green color. It was absolutely stunning and we could hardly believe it was real and not a picture. Also, amazing that these working rice fields are hundreds of years old.
Next we found ourselves at a lush coffee plantation with incredible scenery. We were given a tray of about 8 different kinds of coffee to sample. But the coolest thing was ordering a cup of their special "pee coffee" which is the coffee bean that has been eaten, partly digested and then excreted by a weasel like animal called a civet. Apparently it makes the most delicious coffee and we definitely agree! It is very expensive and exclusive to the area. It was worth the $5 a cup.
Our next visit was "The Monkey Forest". The forest is like a beautiful jungle with monkeys living in the wild. The reason they can keep them there is they are fed sweet potatoes on a regular basis. They're so cute and funny. The little babies are adorable.
We ended the day in the town of Ubud which is known as the handicraft village of Bali. It's kind of a little hippie place
with every kind of festival, artisan and craft you can imagine such as wood work, glass blowing, marble cutting and the like. The place gets some of its fame from movie and book settings such as "Eat, Pray, Love". All in all, a great tour day.
Thanks for reading.
Mallory and Warren
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Sheila
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Man what a fascinating place! But I am getting worried about you, Warren now that you are wearing a skirt and getting your ears plucked...