Postcards from Bali - Art and Monkeys
I'm sitting out on my patio listening to the sounds of Bali (after a 90-minute massage that cost $23). It's 4:00 pm.
The sounds include the resort staff sweeping the grounds, people splashing in the pool (vaguely) and a random motor bike going by.
The clouds have come in (which apparently they do every afternoon) and there is a wonderful breeze. The humidity has gone down also.
I woke up feeling calm. Took some pictures around the resort before I started my day.
Afterward, I met with the tour group I traveled to meet here. We headed out to 2 places.
Bali Art Museum
Monkey Forest (Jungle)
I had a light breakfast with a couple of the people I had met and then the group headed out.
The art museum was less than 2 miles away but again.... traffic. It took about 20 minutes. I was quite impressed with the bus driver who managed to maneuver a huge bus through these tiny roads with all of the traffic.
We started our tour outside, looking at all the statues and learning about traditions and rituals. After, we moved inside to view paintings.
The entire experience was quite eye opening.
Once we had completed our tour there, we headed to the monkey forest. This is a natural jungle environment (nothing man-made). The monkeys were all the same species but they had formed three groups within the jungle and they didn't often stray from their area.
There were strict instructions going in:
Take no food or drink
Do not make direct eye contact with the monkeys
Do not touch the monkeys even if they jump on you
No shiny sparkling things that would attract them
Well, guess what. Not everyone abided by the rules. There were a couple of "incidents".
A monkey jumped on a woman who had a water bottle sticking out of her backpack. The monkey grabbed the water and ran. He sat down right by us as we all watched him unscrew the lid and drink the water. I was shocked at how easy this was for him.
Another monkey came up to a young couple that were sitting on a concrete bench. The monkey jumped on her and actually unhooked a "Miss Kitty" keychain where it was attached to her purse and ran off. He started to run up a tree with it but once of the staff saw him, threw food at him and luckily the monkey dropped the keychain. There were no keys on it but still. The staff member took it and washed it off and then brought it back to her.
After the Monkey Forest, everyone went their separate ways. Some of the group stopped to have lunch in the Downtown area. I had my massage appointment so I came back to the resort. I had a fruit plate and a glass of wine. My phone had died so I sat outside at one of the tables just "being". Appreciating life.
People in Bali are in no hurry to rush to anything so I had plenty of time to sit and enjoy the resort grounds while I was waiting for my fruit plate. There were very few people out and it was very quiet.
Time in Bali seems to already be going too fast.
So, while I was out bouncing around today, I learned a few things:
Maja fruit - it looks like a huge green grapefruit but it's not. It is not edible to most. The Bali people believe it brings good "MoJo" though so I made sure to touch a couple of the trees. We saw these all over at the art museum.
Black and White Magic are very real here. Black magic seems to be more tied to revenge, conflict, greed. An example would be someone caused an illness. In Bali, it seems best to be a good person all the time and bring balance to the good/evil.
Most men wear traditional clothing. Our guide was in traditional dress including his hat, called an udeng. The udeng also symbolizes focus, balance, and respect. The hats are worn as a way to stay more focused because our brains are "crazy".
There are 667 villages in Bali.
When you see a black and white checkered skirt on a statue in Bali, it means this is a sacred space.
Cows are also sacred in Bali.
There are soooo many temples. I asked why. They start and proceed as follows
Married couple.
Extended Family
Clan
Village
Regional
Business
The list goes on. So they are about a gabazillion temples. They rotate where they hold ceremonies. Depending on what type of ceremony it is, decides who makes the decision as to where it is held. It could be a family ceremomy, clan, or village.
80% of Bali is Hindu. To make things even more unusual, the Balinese Hindu use two calendars at the same tim. Our guide mentioned that in the Hindu calendasr it is actually 1948. Their year is different I don't quite understand all of this but there are so many spiritual days tied to the Balinese calendar, there are spiritual days almost every day that they celebrate.
Bali considers itself more happy than the whole of Indonesia. We were told that Balinese people just accept things and treat everyone with respect and honor which makes them happier people.
Offerings are often done twice a day. Each morning, they take out offerings and light incense. Same in the afternoon. However, they can often be done multiple times a day. They can be placed at the family temple, the kitchen, or entrances.
Most Balinese pray three times a day. However, those who work at jobs that won't allow that, can pray twice a day and then the afternoon prayer is just in their heart.
There is no way for me to describe all I heard today about Bali religion and tradition. The Balinese do take it very seriously though and it was an honor to learn so much about it.
Tonight was uneventful. Social happy hour. Then back to my room. I sat outside for a while but it was humid again so I came back in to finish this.
Tomorrow is yet another fun-filled day!
Thanks for listening!
Love to all,
Ruthie🩶
Comments