After we enjoyed our morning ritual shower in the fresh air (the showers were outdoors) we sat down to a hearty Indonesian breakfast of Nasi Goreng with pickled veggies, hot sauce, and cappuccino (substitute Indonesian banana crepe pancakes, fresh fruit, and papaya juice for those under 30 years of age). We were easily entertained by all the exotic butterflies, dragonflies, bees, frogs, and salamanders flying, jumping, and crawling in every direction.
This morning's itinerary: attend a Barong dance - a cultural Balinese dance narrating the fight between good and evil.
The orchestra - Chris thought the sounds to be beautiful and soothing. I, on the other hand, feel that the music is best described as a group of kids with wind-chimes, pot and pans, and whistles - all trying to play at the same time. It did, however, lend itself to the atmosphere and within that context, I did enjoy it. I will, however, think twice before purchasing it as my ringtone for my phone.
Rangda, the evil queen - ha, ha, ha
Here comes Lion Barong: protector spirit
As you can probably guess, the Barong brings the smack down on Rangda; the evil queen is smoten. Good and justice prevails - hooray.
After the performance, off for some more temple sight-seeing.
Pura Goa Lowah (Bat Cave Temple):
Here is the temple alter - wait a minute, let's take a closer look at the back wall of that cave...
Bats - of course, hence the name (Bat Cave Temple)!
Strike a pose! Most woman do not carry bags and instead choose to balance everything on their head. We saw woman 3 stacks high and others carrying massive bags of rice - all with no hands!
All that food reminds us that it is lunch time. Today we were in for a real treat, Norman took us to a favorite local's hangout. Norman schooled us when we asked him what the restaurant was called, he told us restaurants are for tourists, locals eat at warungs. This warung was called "Warung Lesehan". Dirty plastic table clothes and massive swarm of flies around the tables. I can do this, I can do this...
Norman ordered for us. Minutes later, the plastic tablecloth was adorned with plates of goodies. Norman walked us through everything, sprinkle the coconut oil and chili sauce over rice, add the garlic fried peanuts, and enjoy with the different fish satays.
Here is the look of a satisfying meal. The 4 of us were stuffed full and the total bill came to $11.00 US dollars!
Norman with dessert - the sweetest most aromatic green mangos
Random street shot - the standard stray dogs, roosters, debris, and garbage
Goa Gajah Temple (the elephant cave temple) - built where two rivers meet:
At the bathing pools
Cleansing from the holy water
Entrance to the Elephant Cave
Inside, the cave was once used by Yogis - Jay strikes his best ninja-yoga pose
At these temples, there are 3 waterfalls used for showering:
Like our sarongs? These are required while visiting temples.
Norman and JJ
J trying out Mother Nature's shower
Banyan Tree Roots
Chris wanted to purchase a traditional wood carving - off to our last stop of the day, the city of Mas.
The men perform the carving and the woman sand and polish
This man is putting on the finish coats on the mask - to protect and bring out the color of the wood
Barong Mask sitting on our mantel
This looks like an absolutely amazing vacation.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for sharing. Love to all.