Entry Point 4: Bali

A typical scene in Bali, all you have to do is open your window

I went exploring in a small ravine with Patrica (Left) and Rick (Right). The story goes is that they both got caught in traffic one day and were forced to take a detour. Upon driving through roads they've never been through before, they discovered this place. 

A lady which worked close to the Ashram thought we were father and son. What do you think?

I guess it was all about finding your "way" through this place (maybe even in Bali huh..)

A walking stick I borrowed from nearby, looks like its been through a lot. I still wonder what those notches are for though?

A close up picture on small offerings created & given to the gods as part of the daily ritual every  morning. This is common place all throught Ubud.

More here. . 

When we were leaving the ravine we caught this little guy here, fairly big and the design is pretty intricate. I caught him just before he took off.

When I heard you can get these bad boys for $2+ I knew I had to try it. It had about a quarter of a liter of coconut juice in there wasn't overly sweet. I was fat & happy the rest of the day >: )

I forgot the name of these flowers here, but they smell really good and are really fragrant. Apparently the Hawaiians use these for their leis when they greet guests. I've seen vairous people, both men & women - put it behind their ear. I thought about doing this for a day ( I of course forgot though).

Coconuts past their prime (green is good. Yellow or brown not so much)

Another atypical scenario in Bali. . I wished I lived here man o man.

 

Full fledged temple gear here: ceremonial hat, sarong, sachet(spelling?) and the shirt I paid too much for. When asked to make a funny pose this is what I came up with, came w/ small jig too ; }

 

 

Temple Entrance

 

                                     

 

"Dont climb on any buildings"

 

   So this is the place where the king went to go when he died, didn't get his name unfortunately.

Legend has it that this place was built in one day by a guy using only his fingernails. 

Gotta Love the English here

 

                                      A sharp pose before.  .

I finally caved and just had to go in, absolute blast (minus the jagged rocks below, ouch!).

Really hard to convey the size and enormity of this wall here, it can't be done in a picture. .

So just someways beyond the waterfall was this small, "out the way" altar and shrine. "Defiantly no bules down here" commented by Rick.

I think he was right, as I bent down and picked up what I later discovered were 100 to 130 year old Chinese coins as told by the people at the Ashram. They also said that some people still use them in the markets today, but I don't know about that. . 

Again the grandness in scope of this place is hard to capture, but I remember looking back at our ascension out of this place and took this.






When we reached the top, we not only spotted an old man coming out of his bathroom at the time. But he kindly and happily pointed us to another path leading us upwards to yet another altar given in this picture here. Though honestly this one had a different feel too it, not sure how to describe it.


Upon exiting the place we ran into a couple of kids riding their bikes and playing soccer. Being polite and just saying hello, I asked if they wanted their photo taken. Then the smiles came. The cool thing about this day was that it was all unplanned and we honestly had no idea where we going, it all just seemed to flow and happen.

This reminded me of that bird in Taman Safari Zoo, same colors and everything.

Unlike Jakarta where you have 5 different religions reigning supreme. In Bali its mostly Hindu, so you'll see a lot of depictions of Hindu Gods here. It not only shows the true color of the Balinese people, but gives the area a certain depth and character as well.

Could he be the same depiction of the painted saint shown down below? I am not sure, if you have any details on this guy I would like to know please.

 

Monkey deities wrecking havoc amongst the animals in Bali

                         Some sort of cultural museum; Bule central 

                 I thought this was a really nice lotus design

A typical market for vendors and the like, I bought some $2 (20,000RP) sandals here. If you don't know how to barter your in trouble. .

One thing Rick and I defiantly liked and agreed upon was the amount of artistry and talent in Ubud. Its absolutely everywhere. The level of talent is sometimes greater than others, but that's beside the point and almost irrelevant.. I was really impressed and taken aback by some of the stuff I've seen, I think the guy above is probably calling me a pushover but oh well ; }.

Rick and I stopped by and talked to a local farmer selling fresh coconuts, vanilla beans, vanilla oil (which I thought about buying) and all sorts of fresh stuff. Nice guy, very knowledgeable.

                                          Butterfly or Moth?

Sometimes you'll stop and see either houses or resorts being built like this one. Another testament to Bali's tourism.

Another farmers (see below) fresh tomatoes being grown here, made Rick a little homesick I think ; }

I've done this before, the expression is right

This was a greeting poster(?) for an Art School in Ubud. Need I say more...

                                    "The Old Hipster"

So what they actually do for motorist's here in Ubud is store gasoline in old alcohol bottles and sell you what they pour. Rick and I both got a kick out of this. You defiantly don't see this back home. Gas is also fairly cheap as well.

                                 Roosters for Cock Fighting

                                 "_______________"

A bit lost in where we're heading, Rick pulled over to ask one of the clerks-men where to go. My response, "Why don't you ask Buddha?". He of course didn't think I was serious. . :( 

Believe it or not this view actually "belonged" to a restaurant serving really good vegetarian meals. Can't get more Bali than that that's for damn sure haha

Its a pretty awesome experience walking home or waking up to critters using "your" bedroom as they're own. This guy stayed with us for some time and we were more than happy to have him.

 

               Some Ex-Pats come to Indonesia to do just that

My bed was off to the right there and this was my view for the next 7-days at the Ashram. I absolutely loved it and never experienced anything quite like it too be honest. I'd even seen monkeys climb our rails looking for food. Though that's a bit rare and probably just smelled his one of his"own" on us after returning from the monkey woods.

 

Steps leading off too either: The Pool, Communal Breakfast Area or "The Temple" 

Birds would help themselves to the offerings given here and would often flick anything they they don't want.

                                     Communal Breakfast

Now this exotic looking thing over here, is chocolate grown locally by farmers or the local themselves. You basically take the seeds found inside and mash them up & "add a little bit of this n that" and there you go.

I wonder if shes jealous of the voluptuous woman down below ehh, drooling like she is. .

"Must Be Her Smile"