After 3 wonderful days strolling around Seminyak, we planned to head up to Ubud, Bali - a region known for its bright green rice terraces, paddy fields and rich culture. It was here that we met Chris’ dad’s long-time friend Paul, who has retired to Bali, and his friend Nyoman, who grew up in Bali and spent 11 years living in the US. Paul graciously invited us to stay in his guest house while we were in Bali!
Paul and Nyoman picked us up at our hotel in Seminyak and we drove about 45 minutes to the small village of Lodsema, located about 10 minutes south of Ubud. This is where Nyoman and his family live, and where Paul built his villa almost 10 years ago. The place was stunning! Paul has a two-story home with an extensive tropical garden (my favorite kind of garden), pool and guesthouse surrounded by jungle. It's a paradise you have to see to believe. Here are a few pictures, which really don't do it justice:
Paul and Nyoman picked us up at our hotel in Seminyak and we drove about 45 minutes to the small village of Lodsema, located about 10 minutes south of Ubud. This is where Nyoman and his family live, and where Paul built his villa almost 10 years ago. The place was stunning! Paul has a two-story home with an extensive tropical garden (my favorite kind of garden), pool and guesthouse surrounded by jungle. It's a paradise you have to see to believe. Here are a few pictures, which really don't do it justice:
Main house
Welcome to the guest house!
Guest house living area
Guesthouse bedroom furniture hand carved by Nyoman's uncle
Guesthouse deck looking over the jungle.
To our delight, we were welcomed by 3 adorable dogs – Jess, a yellow lab and Ren & Kim – both german shepards. Ren would be become our bodyguard for the next 5 nights as he walked us to the guest house and slept outside our door every night. It was so nice to be greeted by Ren first thing every morning!
Ren, walking us home :)
Paul & Nyoman spoiled us rotten and we loved it. They had asked us earlier about the kinds of things we liked to do. Based on our response, they drew up a list of recommended activities and places to go. We didn’t have to do any research, which was a treat after planning daily for the last 5 months! So here is a recap of what we did on our first day in Ubud.
Temple Festival
We timed our visit perfectly, since the village was in the midst of a religious festival celebration that happens once very 50 years. The 4 sub-villages in this area attend the Hindu temple called Pura Dalem Desa Mawang. Religion is extremely important to the local people. They pray several times a day and regularly contribute to the temple with offerings and services.
Everyone who enters the temple must wear traditional attire – a sarong, sash/temple scarf around the waist and a head scarf for men.
Temple Festival
We timed our visit perfectly, since the village was in the midst of a religious festival celebration that happens once very 50 years. The 4 sub-villages in this area attend the Hindu temple called Pura Dalem Desa Mawang. Religion is extremely important to the local people. They pray several times a day and regularly contribute to the temple with offerings and services.
Everyone who enters the temple must wear traditional attire – a sarong, sash/temple scarf around the waist and a head scarf for men.
Chris, me & Paul at the entrance to the temple.
Being pure is very important to the Balinese. For example, before you enter the temple, you are sprinkled with holy water. Then there is a ceremony to rid the temple of evil spirits. First, there is a meditative-like prayer where the lay priests come around and sprinkle holy water on the participants.
Nyoman, sprinkling holy water on Paul before entering the temple.
Peering into the temple to observe the ceremony.
Everyone sits on their sandals.
One of the lay priests sprinkling holy water on the worshipers.
Prayer with plumeria petals.
The marketer in me appreciates this - brands transcend cultures!
Once this part is done, the gamelan players begin to make music and everyone dances, claps, sings and yells in an effort to scare away the evil spirits:
Scaring the evil spirits away!
Paul was keeping an eye on us:)
In this part of the temple are heaps of different types of offerings. Some are beautiful palm leaves, flowers and incense:
Offerings of palm and flowers.
More handmade offerings.
Other offerings are less pleasant to behold. To be specific, they sacrifice animals – usually pigs, chickens and even small dogs. While it was difficult for me to see this (and smell it), I could also see how important these sacrifices were to the people of the temple. These are people who don't have much, and a pig or chicken is one or several meals, so giving one up for this ceremony is a huge sacrifice to their gods.
Sacrificial piglet
A chicken carcass among the offerings. There was also a dog.
They also have daily cockfights outside the temple called Tabuh Rah (spilling of blood). One rooster kills another, and the spilling of the blood is a form of purification that will appease the evil spirits. The men of the village also raise their own roosters to compete, and then bet on the matches. The winner gets to take the loser's bird, which then comprises his family's dinner that evening. Chris attended one of the cockfights, while I stayed back at the villa. Definitely not my cup of tea!
Barong Dance
The Balinese fundamentally belive in the balance of power - dharma which is something like order and adharma which is its opposite - disorder. They have a dance ritual where the Barong - a lion-like or pig-like creature representing dharma - battles Rhangda the witch, who represents adharma. The dance often ends with neither side winning, because the point is to restore balance. The Balinese also believe that the Barong will protect them from things like disease and other impurities. We didn't see the Barong dance at this temple, but we did see one the next morning, which I'll write about in the next post.
Barong Dance
The Balinese fundamentally belive in the balance of power - dharma which is something like order and adharma which is its opposite - disorder. They have a dance ritual where the Barong - a lion-like or pig-like creature representing dharma - battles Rhangda the witch, who represents adharma. The dance often ends with neither side winning, because the point is to restore balance. The Balinese also believe that the Barong will protect them from things like disease and other impurities. We didn't see the Barong dance at this temple, but we did see one the next morning, which I'll write about in the next post.
The Barong
I think this is Rhangda. Nyoman called it Tina Turner. I called it David Bowie:)
Storytelling at the Temple
Balinese Hindu have many religious stories involving their gods. During these festivals, they use various methods to tell these stories including dance, plays and shadow puppets.
Balinese Hindu have many religious stories involving their gods. During these festivals, they use various methods to tell these stories including dance, plays and shadow puppets.
Fastening the mask on one of the actors
Storytelling with shadow puppets
Eating at the Warung
After the temple ceremony, Chris really wanted to sample some local cuisine. Nyoman told us about this little place near the house that sold local Balinese food. A warung is a little family-owned neighborhood cafe or food stall. Being of weak stomach, I decided to pass on lunch here. Chris and Nyoman, on the other hand, enjoyed every last morsel!
After the temple ceremony, Chris really wanted to sample some local cuisine. Nyoman told us about this little place near the house that sold local Balinese food. A warung is a little family-owned neighborhood cafe or food stall. Being of weak stomach, I decided to pass on lunch here. Chris and Nyoman, on the other hand, enjoyed every last morsel!
The local warung's offering of the day - a variety of meats cooked in spicy sauces.
Nyoman prepared a dish for Chris
Toilet paper napkins! Nyoman loves it!
Hand-Painted Kites
Kites are a big part of Balinese culture. When we landed at the airport, we saw an array of kites in the air. On our first afternoon in Ubud, Nyoman brought us next door to his brother's house where his sister-in-law was painting beautiful kites. This was our first glimpse at the artistic talent prevalent throughout this area.
Kites are a big part of Balinese culture. When we landed at the airport, we saw an array of kites in the air. On our first afternoon in Ubud, Nyoman brought us next door to his brother's house where his sister-in-law was painting beautiful kites. This was our first glimpse at the artistic talent prevalent throughout this area.
Painting kites
Welcome Dance
To officially welcome us to the village, Paul and Nyoman arranged for the local girls to perform a traditional Balinese dance for us at the house. They were gorgeous! They performed four dances:
1) Welcome Dance
2) Golden Deer
3) Scarecrow
4) Peacock
All the girls aspire to be the peacocks, but we enjoyed all four dances equally. These girls were beautiful, graceful and really embodied the persona of each dance.
To officially welcome us to the village, Paul and Nyoman arranged for the local girls to perform a traditional Balinese dance for us at the house. They were gorgeous! They performed four dances:
1) Welcome Dance
2) Golden Deer
3) Scarecrow
4) Peacock
All the girls aspire to be the peacocks, but we enjoyed all four dances equally. These girls were beautiful, graceful and really embodied the persona of each dance.
The girls preparing for the dance.
Nyoman's nephews are getting ready for the show!
The first set of girls (~7 years old) perform the Welcome Dance.
The boys are captivated!
End of the Welcome Dance.
Golden Deer dance. She was one of my favorites. Incredible talent!
Golden Deer dance
Scarecrow dance
Scarecrow dance
The finale...the Peacock dance!
Peacock dance
Peacocking
We got to pose with the beautiful dancers!
Trivia Night
We capped off our first day in Ubud at one of Paul's local haunts, the Fly Cafe in Ubud, where we joined his local team for weekly pub trivia night! While we didn't end up winning trivia, we had a great time and a lot of laughs.
It's hard to believe we saw so much in just our first afternoon with Paul and Nyoman. Stay tuned for lots more adventures in our next few posts!
We capped off our first day in Ubud at one of Paul's local haunts, the Fly Cafe in Ubud, where we joined his local team for weekly pub trivia night! While we didn't end up winning trivia, we had a great time and a lot of laughs.
It's hard to believe we saw so much in just our first afternoon with Paul and Nyoman. Stay tuned for lots more adventures in our next few posts!
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