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Published: November 14th 2008
Ah, back in Bali. We went to Ubud and rode our rented motorbike to a couple of temples which we missed on our previous trip. One of them was by a lake high up in the chilly mists of a slumbering volcano. I had been looking forward to some cool weather for a change but after a couple of hours I was looking forward to getting back to a little warmth in Ubud and the green stone pool at our hotel.
We were about to leave Ubud one morning when someone told us that a member of the royal family died and there was going to be a big cremation ceremony. Are we the kiss of death to royal families or what? This ceremony, being in popular Ubud, resulted in tourists outnumbering locals by about 5 to 1. Much different than the Fijian chief's funeral with only 4 tourists and thousands of locals.
They put the body in a 30' high litter decorated with a giant bird on the side and snakes and gods around the base. Then hundreds of men carried it many blocks down the street to a temple where they moved the body and offerings into
Lakeside temple Pura Ulun Danu
The fog adds a nice ephemeral quality, no?a huge cow with gold horns. Very "golden calf" for those of you who went to Sunday school. Then they put big metal plates on each side of the cow, filled the area beneath with kindling, and torched the thing with the aid of lighter fluid and a tank of some sort of fuel being pumped into it. All of this took quite some time and people walked around selling cold drinks, beer and pizza slices like we were at a ball game. Strange, huh? Toby took a couple of videos of the procession and the actual cremation which you can watch.
Back in Kuta we went to a gay bar. We're the only Republicans you'll likely find in a gay bar, well excluding an occasional governor or congressman on the down low. The crowd was well mixed between gay and straight. A transvestite unbuttoned the shirt of an Aussie guy and I was so wishing that it was Toby because it was so funny to see the guy blush. Next thing I knew, she turned to Toby and pulled off his shirt, pushed him to the ground and leaned over him to give him a big smoochie. I
Funeral litter
The body was moved up into this huge decorative litter and dozens of men carried it down the street many blocks to a temple. was dying of laughter and you would have too if you'd been there.
We met up with some of our shipmates with whom we traveled to Komodo. We went out for Halloween and I am so not into the club scene. All the people trying to look cool and the guys on the verge of either molesting females or starting fights with other males. I'll take a gay bar any day where everyone is smiling, calling each other darling, having a happy time, and you get a show to boot. Whoever coined the term "gay" was a genius.
OMG, I was drinking a lemonade when something felt strange and I spit out a little chunk of my right front tooth. Just two weeks before my front left tooth had a small chip in the back of it so here I sit, Snaggletoothed for weeks until we get to Bangkok. I'll have to exit stage left to a dentist there whom someone referred to me.
We took our friends to Ulu Watu, our favorite surf break and sunset viewing point. You can sit with a beer several stories above the surf and watch long waves curl and crash
around the peninsula. We emcee the surfers like announcers at a boxing match, "Wipeout!," "ooh, good tunnel action," "Nice!" The sun sets and the sky and sea turn pink and orange. The cliffs to the left go from white to soft yellow. It's absolutely magical.
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Paul Zikmanis
non-member comment
What a way to go
I think I want a public cremation like that. I heard some where that some peoples in that area think that the soul is a bird and when the cremation platform collapses, it jars the bird loose to fly to heaven. I think you two have been to more gay bars than I have! Glad you're having fun. Paul