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| View through a Bali museum window |
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In a Balinese garden
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Bali Daze
I find Ubud a SE Asian Disney World
for adults. Other than the
artistic qualities of the Balinese and Indonesian people, as a whole its
authenticity is based solely on tourism. Ubud has everything, didgeridoos from
Australia, totems from the northwestern United States, Batik from Java;
Japanese clothes designers, spas, yoga, aromatherapy, crystals, tarot cards and
seers. You can be rejuvenated, or
enlightened and enjoy a few full body massages and foot reflexologies on your
path to the new you.
The original attraction to Bali was
of course the climate and the pleasantness of the people.
The Balinese are warm, loving,
peaceful people.
Along side all of
the tourism hype is the strong and very unique Balinese Hindu culture found
throughout the whole island.
This
indigenous culture takes over the community during the full moons, and also the
Kuningan Festival (an ancestral celebration during which the people bring food
and offerings to the temple early in the morning for their gods and ancestors.
There is also individual prayer by each
family member within the temples in their private homes.)
In the evening both locals and tourists
parade through the streets in traditional clothes led by a Gamelan band and a mythical monster.
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| My Bali friends in their family temple |
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My friend Brownie the dog in the family temple
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Relating to their Saka calendar, much of the community gathers for the
Sarong Dance, a beautifully costumed, masked dance that lasts about an hour and
happens every 210 days.
Galungan is another
major religious festival relating to the gods.
While Nyepri is a sacred day of introspection during which everything on the island shuts down for a day of total silence.
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| A Mahayana story |
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| Shadow Puppet show |
One can attend Balinese Gamelan
musical performances, plays depicting stories from the Mahayana, and shadow
puppet shows.
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| Musical preforamce |
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| Bali painting of a old tale |
A recent survey of tourism found that only
11% of tourists took an interest in Bali’s museums. Yet Ubud has two outstanding art museums, which not only
give overviews of the history of Balinese art but also the influence of western
art on its society and artistic traditions
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| musical instrument |
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| old astrological paintin |
Even as I realize how much of a
tourist despot Ubud is, I can’t dismiss the fact that with each visit, the
great climate, nice people, wonderful restaurants, museums and music do get
under my skin. Yet I think I still
prefer the British Virgin Islands to any other warm climate playground I have
as yet visited throughout the world.
Guess it’s time to explore the out islands of Indonesia for another
viewpoint. Am I up to it? I think
yes!
Note: The touristy Kuta Beach area still remains in my eyes one of
the worst tourist destinations I have ever visited, with unpleasant beaches and
shopping areas overcrowded with
packs of weekend tourists.
Although The Besakih Beach in the Sanur Area is nicer and it has a wonderfully long boardwalk along the beach, the beaches do not compare to south Florida's or the Caribbean beaches I have enjoyed.
The Tulamben area along the east
coast is one of Bali’s tourist saviors. It has really nice dive resorts and my
daughter who has dived at many international sites, enjoyed some great
diving. Tulamben is a
definite do!
Views of Bali
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| Pizza sign |
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Petting their fighting cocks in hopes they will later win for their owners
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View looking down on a Balinese temple
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| With my friend Katut |
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| Great food |
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| World Heritage rice fields |
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