Bali Day #3 – it’s Ruther’s 50th
Today was an interesting day. We wanted to do the following – meet Clarky & Ranners for some Boxing Day hugging, some sight-seeing, dinner at Jimbaran Bay and then offskie to Steve’s villa for Bali Day #3 – it’s Ruther’s 50th. As always best laid plans. So silly little things like;
Ah we have no room in the villa to store luggage Sir, so we need you to check out midday;
Yeah there is actually a festival on at the moment and it is likely that Jimbaran Bay is all going to be closed; and
Clarky and Ranners ended up in different place for lunch.
So what to do for Bali Day #3 – it’s Ruther’s 50th? We improvised is what we did. We hired two vans to pick us up from the villa, there is our luggage storage sorted. Off for lunch to Potato Head, there’s sustenance and beach done, off to Uluwatu for some culture immersion and the most amazing scenery, we did then drive to Jimbaran Bay – yes all 100% closed. Executive decision was struck – let’s just get going to Ubud and the villa. But the festival did come back and get us again on the way to Ubud Villa. Grrrr!
I am only joking. It is truly amazing to see Bali morph at religious festival times. Apparently something that has been happening since 5th Century BC. So what has been ‘haunting’ Bali Day #3 – it’s Ruther’s 50th? Galungan is the time of year. All the Balinese dress up in stunning religious costumes, and have religious ornaments everywhere. Every street has bamboo poles, called penjor, that are decorated with offerings to the returning ancestors and deities. Incense wafts in the air.
Galungan is a celebration of the triumph of good over evil. On the eve of Galungan AKA Penampahan Galungan, animals are sacrificed as special offerings which are meant to get rid of negativity in both the bhuana agung (the environment of the individual human being) and the bhuana alit (the inner world of the individual human being); the meat is afterwards prepared and cooked for traditional Balinese dishes such as lawar, babi guling, and satay. Now I am liking this festival. I’m off to get a Sarong.
Wifey and I selfie at Potato Head – our first stop today after a lazy morning packing. Looking beautiful gorgeous girl.
1230 midday ish and it is MOBBED already. We were so lucky to be standing right place at right time and a whole gang left and we grabbed to most perfect table – that was until 1400 when the sun came over the building, holy cow – time for our next part of the trip please!!!
Not a bad looking beach folks. Do not be put off by any brown/blackened sand. It’s a volcanic island with coral atolls – so yeap the volcanic rocks and soil turn the white powdery sand a little dark. It is still stunning!
And look left, noice!!!
Two Balinese monkeys came to the beach and got really close to me so I took a picture of them. So cute. I wonder if they bite?
Munchins on Bali tour – living it up in a big way!
You gotta love Potato Head. Three restaurants now. It is MOBBED pretty much 24×7. Warm sea breezes and ambient house music a pumping out. The gorgeous people brigade all showing off far too much flesh (you know who you are people). So clearly lots to look at here. Food was pretty damned good too, and best shirts I have ever bought. Well done Potato Head – you sure do rock!!! Missed you!!!
Sunning and soaking it up. The cool Kennett crew – oh yes. I think we fit it very well. What a great prime seat we managed to secure. Best in the house apart from gazebos which were gone hours ago. Hey I am happy with this in a big way – bucket of beers please garcon.
I knew Oliver was different damn it!!! Ha Ha. Next stop is Uluwatu – one of the many many temples here on Bali. Some Daddy-pedia to follow. Jude hid of course. It is religiously polite to cover your legs, hey presto it is sarong time for everyone, male and female alike (Ollie does look rather comfy though! Ha Ha)
And here you go Uluwatu Temple. It is insane. Built on the edge of steep sided cliffs it runs for seemingly miles. It’s stunning, it’s super impressive – religion and nature together – like that!
The temple is regarded as one of the sad kahyangan and is dedicated to Sang Hyang Widhi Wasa in his manifestation as Rudra. Go figure huh! The temple is built at the edge (ulu) of a 70 meter high cliff or rock (watu) projecting into the sea. In folklore, this rock is said to be part of Dewi Danu’s petrified barque. A small temple was claimed to have existed earlier, the structure was significantly expanded by a Javanese sage, Empu Kuturan in the 11th Century. Yes it is old too. Bloody stunning this place is.
The temple is inhabited by monkeys, who are notorious for snatching tourists’ belongings – you have been warned. They can usually be persuaded into trading the items for fruit, although this only encourages them to steal more. Just like children. Apparently scientists have collected data to show that these monkeys have learnt to barter, and will hand that skill down to new groups. OMG that is quite scary. Bali Day #3 – it’s Ruther’s 50th.
You just can’t stop saying WOW, every time you look at this place. It is just wow on a scale like you can’t imagine.
See I was there – need the occasional reminder for oneself. Few more years and I’ll be forgetting my name let alone where I went on holiday ha ha!!!
Nice! Many beautiful things!!!
This cliff is nuts. Breath in, wow! Amazing breeze at the top here as the wind hits the cliff lower down and channels up. It really is breath-taking. You probably cannot see bamboo seats and small huts on the cliff edge. Madness. But wait a minute…
Looks exactly the same as previous photo right. OK then. Do a zoom on the cliff top edge, on far right edge and what do you see?
You gotta love a bit of; “I need a new Facebook cover photo, please Darling.”
Just incredible. I could have sat and watched this all day long. Mesmerising. Just WOW!!!
Another beautiful girl wants in on the action now, here you go Amy-Boo.
And then in the middle of the forest there is this guy, sort of floating in the canopy. But he is just one part of what lies to the other side of Uluwatu. As I mentioned this temple is IMMENSE.
See what I mean – all the the way to the other cliff ending. WOW. Another small temple there and many tourists wandering there over the incredible cliff edge walkway. Don’t forget this was built in 11th Century. I wonder how many sad engineering folk ended up at the bottom of the cliff…?
Stunning. OK Daddy-Pedia. The three levels represent; top=heaven, middle=body (AKA man), bottom=hell ((where the demons live). Scary to show that hell is about 2x the size of heaven…Be good Hindus!!!
All closed off to tourists for private worship, as it should be, but walk through this archway and you are at cliffs end and the temple. Elephant God protecting the entrance – AKA Ganesha.
As we were talking monkeys earlier, how about we bring in Hanuman as well. Hindu Monkey God. Often described as the “son of Pawan”, the Hindu God for wind (I think Jude is related), Hanuman is known for his extraordinary daring feats, strength and loyalty.
Come on you know me and Dad Jokes. I saw this set up and could not help myself. ATM = Automated Teller Monkey??? Come on, come on – not bad!!!
We leave Seminyak and start our drive to Ubud and Hillside Villa, Ubud for the next exciting chapter of our trip, and Steve’s actual birthday. Sadly the next day for me was not so good – read on in next blog. Two cards in convoy. We hit the jungle roads in pitch black darkness due to our friends on their Galungan Festival procession and WOW, what a journey that was. We went back there a couple of days later during day-light and we could now see the bumps, turns, river crossings etc. Interesting!!!
Here is that Galungan Festival procession that caused us a good hour delay – bless em!!!
But we got there eventually – and then…
Say no more…
So there is it folks Bali Day #3 – it’s Ruther’s 50th. A lovely day seeing amazing things and basically just having fun fun fun. What more could you ask for huh? A wonderful day. We had Jude singing the whole way to Steve’s, yes he had sugar rush from a Fanta drink – too funny. Convoy on way to Steve’s as two vans who kept losing each other – yeah that was fun, not. Pitch bag travers to Steve’s place was interesting to say the least – that was a challenge for sure. And then our mates out for Galungan Festival walks and sit-ins – love you guys. Come December 26th ish yourself next year and you will also – ENJOY!!!
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