Rotary social event

The management team of couchsurfing.org were renting this villa for work and opened up the home to Rotary for the evening. We met ex-pats that moved here from Santa Cruz and Palo Alto; and, by sheer coincidence meeting Chaz, the former co-owner of Frito Misto in Santa Monica where Albert used to frequent.

An International Poi Workshop had been held in Ubud the past two weeks and they provided the evening's entertainment.

Legong and Barong Dances, Ibud Palace

Barong is a battle between good and evil. The Barong is a good but mischievous and fun-loving shaggy dog-lion, while the widow-witch Rangda is bad through and through.

Legong dancing is characterized by flashing eyes and quivery hands, this most graceful of Balinese dances is performed by young girls.

Our Driver, Putu

Our driver, Putu, took us to his family compound where seventeen extended family members live in tiny houses. We saw a traditional Balinese kitchen (shown with firewood), not to be confused with a Western kitchen. He is a very successful tour guide/driver and had a large home built for his family that has a Western kitchen with a Balinese wood stove. He informed us that food tastes much better prepared over a fire.

Tirta Empul, holy springs

The holy springs at Tirta Empul were discovered in AD 962 and are believed to have magical powers. The springs bubble up into a large, crystal-clear pool within the temple and gush out through waterspouts into a bathing pool.

Gugung Agung, volcano and lunch

The most disastrous volcanic eruption in Bali in 100 years took place on March 17, 1963, when Gunung Agung blew its top. The catastrophic eruption killed more than 1000 people and destroyed entire villages - 100,000 people lost their homes. Streams of lava and hot volcanic mud poured right down to the sea at several places, completely covering roads and isolating the eastern end of Bali for some time. The entire island was covered in ash.

We enjoyed a traditional Balinese lunch at the Grand Puncak Sari restaurant, amidst tourists from all over the world.

Pura Besakih, Bali's most important temple

Perched 3,000 ft. up the side of the volcano Gunung Agung is Bali's most important temple, Pura Besakih. It is an extensive complex of 23 separate-but-related temples. The stone bases resemble megalithic stepped pyramids, which date back at least 2000 years. It was used as a Hindu place of worship from 1284, when the first Javanese conquerors settled in Bali.

klungkung, "Island Garden," Balinese Palace 3

Most of the original palace and grounds were destroyed by Dutch attacks in 1908. The Balinese royalty went out with color and flair. Wearing their best dress and armed with 'show' daggers, they marched headlong into Dutch gunfire in a suicidal puputan or 'warrior's death.' The nine-year-old Royal Prince, slain in battle, is seen in a photograph and the painting depicts the tragedy.

klungkung, "Island Garden," Balinese Palace 2

The ceiling of the Floating Pavilion is painted also in Klungkung style. The different rows of paintings deal with various subjects. 1st row astrological calendar, 2nd the folk tale of Pan and Men Brayut and their 18 children, the upper rows on the adventures of the hero Sutasona.

Klungkung, "Island Garden," Balinese Palace

The Dewa Agung dynasty were the first Hindu monarchs that came over in 1710 from Java because Muslim religion was spreading. There are courtyards, gardens, pavilions and moats. The "Hall of Justice" was their supreme court. Justice was meted out by pointing to a specific ceiling panel that showed the appropriate punishment for the crime.

Sacred Monkey Forest Sanctuary 3

The holy Monkey Temples were built during the mid-14th century.

Sacred Monkey Forest Sanctuary 2

There are 35 adult males, 95 adult females and 170 young. The males weigh 8-10 kilos and have facial hair that resembles a moustache. The females weigh 4-8 kilos and have long facial hair resembling beards.

Sacred Monkey Forest Sanctuary I

The 300 monkeys that live in this sanctuary are Balinese macaques. One scampered up on Rhonda and toyed with her Chanel sunglasses while Albert was an attraction as he fed them bananas.

Beautiful Faces

Motorcycles

Taking art to a new level.

Bali Botanical Gardens

The 12-acre gardens are 50 years old and similar in setting to Golden Gate Park in San Francisco. Highlights were the cacti, orchids, begonias and families picnicking. This was the end of the Galungan holiday and everyone seemed to be returning home at the same time. After leaving the park at one point our driver shut off the engine and we sat without moving for 1-1/2 hours. The one-hour return-trip eventually took five hours. We thought we’d never get home. The next day we had massages followed by a Balinese spice bath and pedicures to relax our frazzled nerves.