When i arrived back in Ubud, i went to Sudiana House. I knew Ketut did not have a room for me, but his brother has rooms in the same 'complex', WHouse. It is the area where they grew up. I think Ketut was happy to see me ... or maybe just happy to get my luggage out of his room :)
My intention was to take a nap and try to organize my stuff and toss what i absolutely don't need, because i know i will be over my 'kilo' limit at the airport the next day.
But i walked out of my room to get some water and came face to face with an Asian girl wearing this t-shirt:
Some of you may know that Hesperia is a small town in Michigan, north of Muskegon, where Rob (Capt Robin) grew up. i just stood there and stared at her t-shirt. Eventually she became nervous and i pointed to her t-shirt. She proudly said, 'oh it's a town in Michigan, a friend sent it to me'. Whoa ! It IS a small world ! She was very sweet and we visited for awhile .... WoW !
I realized i had not done enough (any) to see some of the 'cultural' side of Bali; which is why i came here. So, for your first lesson:
In general, Balinese people name their children depending on the order they are born, and the names are the same for both males and females. The firstborn child is named Wayan, Putu or Gede, the second is named Made or Kadek, the third child goes by Nyoman or Komang, and the fourth is named Ketut. If a family has more than four children, the cycle repeats itself, and the next ‘Wayan’ may be called Wayan Balik, which loosely translates to ‘another Wayan’. Confusing and Simple
I think Ketut's brother's name was Putu...or was it Nyoman? , i am not sure :( Anyway, he offers different tours. He is only the 'driver' ... if you want a 'tour guide' you need to get one at the location. He said it would not be honest for him to take away someone else's job. The Hindu people are so very kind, understanding, gentle, peaceful, and one with all of nature. So i hired him to be my driver and take me to some Temples.
First stop was at the Tegalalang Rice Terrace.
It would have been fun to walk around down there, but there wasn’t time. You could see the Balinese farmer do their rice field in oblique area complete with its system irrigation.
Second stop was Tampak Siring Temple, or Holy Springs Water Temple. i had to wear a sarong to cover my legs as well as my shoulders. i came prepared with a scarf, but i didn’t know about the legs. But he was prepared and had one for me, he put it around me and then took another piece of fabric and tied it around my waist. None of it matched :) i think i look like a refugee
Although if i felt kind of silly … think of how this guy felt. He was smiling and enjoying himself though !
Now that i am back in Bali, i am reminded about the numerous ‘offerings’ everywhere. i ....was continually amazed at the size of some of the trees here !
This was the first Temple
Then the Holly Spring Temple, where hundreds of people, fully clothed, lined up to cleanse themselves and receive good fortunes
Different fountains are associated with different wishes …. obviously some more popular than other
I thought the beautiful colorful stone flooring was amazing; most people probably didn’t notice :)
There were several areas that were ‘off limits’ unless you were ‘praying’ . And this is how nice you can look while wearing a sarong !
I couldn’t help but wonder how the Hindu people felt about all the tourists flocking to their sacred Temples while they are trying to pray. Personally i felt uncomfortable and rather disrespectful because i don’t understand what is going on and am just kind of ‘ooogling’ :(
This guy did not seem very happy about it.
Although they didn’t miss the opportunity to ‘force' you to walk through a maze of streets lined with tourist shops, all selling the same things, all asking for you to stop and buy. There was no other way out and back to the parking area where Putu was waiting. :(
The next stop was Gunung Kawi Rock Temples. There are 250+ steps down to the Temples. Even though i was on a short time schedule, i wanted to see them. But, on the way, i got side-tracked, as my ears perked up to a tiny baby kitten sound. Looking around i saw this tiny ball of fur running towards me. Most of the cats/kittens run away as soon as they spot you. But this one, this one, wanted to be held, and just snuggled into my lap
wiggling around getting comfortable and staring up at me with those beautiful blue eyes …. my heart MELTED !
i wanted to cry, i wanted to put him in my bag and somehow bring him home. But he had a full tummy, looked healthy, had bright eyes, was soft and clean. i told myself his Momma was nearby watching, and he would be fine. Eventually i found some shady grass and put him down and didn’t look back. My heart still hurts thinking about it :(
So i returned to my steps, finally reaching the Temples. This is an 11th-century temple, that has been cut on cliff rocks. There are 10 rock-cut temples that are carved into 23 ft sheltered niches of the sheer cliff face.
There are five temples on the east side that are dedicated, according to one theory, to King Udayana, his queen Mahendradatta, and their sons Airlanga, Anak Wungsu, and Marakata.
At the bottom is the Pakerisan River
With a nice bridge crossing to get to more steps
and the Temples on the West side, which according to the same theory are dedicated to the king’s minor queens or concubines.
Kind of like Mt. Rushmore ... maybe :)
On the way back up i saw this. Being a Christian, this reminded me of the tomb from Easter Morning
Beautiful sculptures of elephants. It was here that i saw the little kitten, but i did not see him on the way back up. i told myself that was a good sign !
And speaking of elephants, or next stop was the Elephant Cave Temple
and again having to pass the art and souvenir shops lining the path to the ticket office.
Down more steps, this entrance had a beautiful Temple.
And i thought there was of some significance to the way these stones were stacked and positioned in rows. When i asked i was told they were from a temple that had fallen down and they just put them there ??
The Elephant Cave, or more correctly Goa Gajah, is an old temple built in the 9th century. The most impressive thing about the cave is the façade.
Surrounding the entrance to the cave is a relief of various menacing creatures and demons carved into the rock
One theory is that the primary figure was once thought to be an elephant, from which they got the nickname Elephant Cave. The alternative theory is the name came from the statue of the Hindu elephant god inside, which was the only thing resembling an elephant
And more steps through the pretty forest down to a water fall
The last stop was the WaterFalls. There were people above and below the Falls; but i did not see anyone going over them. I was surprised that the water was ‘brown’ :(
I had an ice cream and saw this beautiful hand carved and painted ‘divider’. There were 2 other sections to the set. There was an older gentleman sitting at a table and i asked him if he had made them. He said he had. When i asked him how much he would charge for them; he just shook his head and said they were not for sale, that they had taken him a lot of time and he wanted to keep them. As a ‘creator of art’, I can certainly understand that ! They were beautiful !
And that was the end of my tour ;) i apologize if some of you expected more cultural information… but consider the source :)
I had seen that Alli, the girl that i met at Nusa Penida was in Ubud too. We found each other and had cocktails and a tapas selection at an Italian restaurant. The tapas were free with the drinks :) i like free
And then had dinner at a local Indonesian place for more authentic food. It was fun to see her again.
The next day i organized my bags again, tossing things i didn’t need. This airline only let me buy an additional 15kg instead of 20kg; so i knew i was going to be seriously over the limit. i tried to ‘buy’ additional kgs, but they said i could not :(
And with help from Ketut found a place where i could print my boarding pass.
It was going to be a long day-night-day, so back to the Italian Restaurant. i had pasta and this great Appetizer: tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, basil, with these little toasts ... and what a cool presentation
Then waited for 6pm for my taxi to take me to the airport.
On to Thailand in the next blog.
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