Holy water

I think it really says something about a place when it feels tranquil despite oppressive heat and even more oppressive hordes of selfie-stick-toting tourists. Looking out over the ocean on one side and surrounded by mountains covered with lush forestry on the others, it's easy to see why this former royal residence is a site of spiritual significance to the local Hindu population. The water that feeds the pools of the Tirta Gangga water palace comes from a natural spring which also provides water for the nearby village and surrounding rice fields. This was the most picturesque of the multitudes of temples we stopped over at on our way out to the east coast of Bali from Ubud. Despite how cripplingly hot the day was, we resisted the temptation of jumping into the water out of fear of offending the populous local catfish community.

 

Photos taken at Tirta Gangga, Bali in March 2015. Credits to Jeremy for taking some of these.

Make some noise

Due to my inability to check important dates on a calendar, our recent trip to Bali coincided with the one day in a year where nothing is open and you are literally not allowed to set foot on the street. This is how the Balinese usher in the first day of the new year on Nyepi Day. Fortunately for us, what happens on new year's eve is a lot more interesting for observers. People in the surrounding community gather on a main street for prayers, and ladies arrive with absurdly large baskets of offerings balanced on their heads, many featuring items like an entire roast chicken perched on a mountain of fruit. Meanwhile, a gamelan ensemble plays for literally hours non-stop as the growing crowd find seats on any available road surface. A nice shopkeeper lets us take refuge on the front steps of his convenience store and we gratefully huddle in front of a drinks fridge, trying not to pass out from the heat and thankful for the easy access to drinks and snacks.

The sky begins to darken while the collection of gathering people and roast chickens swells, and dancing and prayers soon follow. A man in white sprays us with holy (?) water on a brush, which evaporates before it hit us because by this point we have pretty much melted.

I cheer internally as the sun finally comes down and the crowd rearranges itself at an intersection in the road. We nab ourselves a good spot near the front of the crowd and try not to fall onto the people behind us as the cops (?) come around to shove the crowd back. It soon becomes clear why they were so intent on clearing more space in the road. A crowd of screaming youths race into the cleared intersection from down the road, carrying the first of many Ogoh-ogoh, huge lurid statues in the shape of demons mounted on a bamboo platform. These statues are built by the local youths and represent the evil in living beings. After they are paraded cacophonously through the streets, they are burnt as an act of purification.

The parade we saw was in a small village on the east coast, and thus probably less extravagant than in the main tourist areas like Ubud. However, there was a real home-grown feel to it as lots of kids participated and it didn't seem like a show put on just for tourists. Turns out my lack of foresight when planning worked in my favour for once!

Photos taken in Culik, Bali, March 2015.

That time we got up at 1 am to climb a volcano

Things learnt:

• I am way less fit that I thought I was
• Taking photos before sunrise is hard
• Clouds are cool

Photos taken at Mt Batur, Bali in March 2015.

Sacred Monkey Forest Sanctuary - Ubud, Bali

I'm a big fan of monkeys. They're like tiny furry people, with more cheek and less spite than the average human. The Padangtegal Mandala Wisata Wanara Wana Sacred Monkey Forest Sanctuary in Ubud is home to over 600 crab-eating macaques (Macaca fascicularis), which unlike what their name suggests, seem to subsist on a diet of kumara and cucumbers,  as well as bananas viciously wrestled from unwary tourists. This place is definitely worth a visit, as it's pretty cool watching monkeys have free reign over their surroundings without the constraints of a zoo enclosure. And much like any other primate, this generally results in pillaging and hoarding food, putting lesser monkeys in their place (with us tourists being on the bottom of the ladder, of course), with a healthy (?) dose of sudden surprise monkey sex on the side. We watched a particularly determined one try to crack open a coconut in vain for ages, while another macaque sat to the side, judging him and making what were no doubt patronisingly sarcastic quips about his fruit-handling technique. We left him alone after a while, in case he was failing due to performance anxiety. I hope he got to eat his sweet sweet coconut in the end.

Pictures taken March 2015.