Blogs from Indonesia, Asia - page 503

Geo: -8.51927, 115.263Today I went to the Ubud market to buy a new blouse and belt/scarf for Temple. I actually did it too, and of course I got a few more things. After the market, I went to a restaurant called the Dirty Duck. I'd been there before for dinner at night, and remember thinking that I had to go again during the day to see the fantastic fountains in the light. I've put some pics of them here, as well as some pictures of the rice fields that lay just behind the restaurant. I got the new Temple clothes because I am going to an important cremation ceremony in Ginyar tomorrow. A high-priest died about 2 months ago, and the town has been preparing his cremation/burial ever since. It's a big deal; people from all ... read more

Ok, Thought i'd write another blog as I havn't had enough time since tuesday to do one. On Tuesday Night we went off to the night safari which actually was amazing. There was either a tram service which took you round the park or you could walk on foot. We decided to do both. The good thing about this zoo is you can get pretty close to the animals and there aren't really any glass walls protecting you from seeing them. We saw animals including lions, giraffes, leopards, elephants .... all very close. On foot we managed to walk thru a cage which had many flying bats in which again was quite fun, also very fun jumping on nathan and scaring him :-) I also had my picture taken with a snake and a leopard. On ... read more

Balin varikas hindukulttuuri naytti taas parastaan! Ogoh-ogoh -hirvioita Balin lapset olivat vasanneet antaumuksella yhteensa jopa 4000 kpl. Niita sitten kanniskeltiin miesvoimin ympari kylia ja lopulta poltettiin pyhan apinametsan hautausmaalla, jossa hautakivien lomitse myos useampi bule (lansi-ihminen) hortoili tulenlieskoja ihailemassa. Ogoh-ogoh -kulkueita seuraava paiva onkin sitten koko saaren erikoisin. Kyseessa on balilainen uusivuosi eli Nyepi, jonka aikana koko saari on kuin "kuollut": ei ole liikennetta eika mitaan muuta julkista toimintaa. Lahinna vain sairaalat ovat toiminnassa. Myos pienten vauvojen kodeissa voidaan hiljaisuuden paivan tiukoista vaatimuksista tinkia. Ja turistipaikoissa hotellivieraille tarjotaan ruokaa, vaikka mm. tulenteko on paivan aikana kiellettya. Vaikka hiljaisuuden paiva sattui nyt perjantaille, joka taas muslimeille olisi tarkea rukouspaiva moskei... read more

Hi all Well the day after I last left you, in the morning we went to the reverse bungee along the Singapore river in Clarke Quay. Somehow Tom decided it didn't look too bad and decided he would give it a go, however once on it took the operator a lot of persausion and the odd bit of emotional blackmail before Tom decided to go through with it. For those of you who don't know what a reverse bungee is, it is where you are at the bottom of two pieces of bungee held between two towers in a seat, then they pull the bungees tight and release the seat. For the first few seconds neither of us screamed, just because we actually couldn't, we got to 200kph ina few seconds, but after that the screaming ... read more

Have you ever heard of Nyepi, the Silence Day in Bali? It's the only island in the world I guessed where the people and local authority decided to 'SILENCE' the whole island which means no work, no traffic, no light, no fire, and no nothing... but silence! This Nyepi Day, is celebrated as the Balinese New Year, that has different Calendar as Western one. It's just like celebrating Chinese New Year, Silvester in Germany, or just the Western New Year but without partying! Instead, Balinese people choose to remain silence in the beginning of the year to purify their body, mind and soul. It's the contemplation day... the day when the Balinese is encouraged to stop all of their activities away from their normal routine, and be in silence for 24 hours. Can you imagine an ... read more