Weekend in Bali...

David was heading to the US so my friend Sheila suggested a long weekend in Bali! I couldn’t resist so off we went. Bali is beach plus an amazing culture – you could see it in the airport architecture when we got off the plane. Indonesian’s small Hindu population is concentrated in Bali – a whopping 93% of the people. While the Hinduism practiced in Bali no longer resembles practices in India, I was amazed at the way it was woven into every day life. We saw people making tiny offerings (sesajen) of flowers, glutinous rice and salt in little bamboo leaf trays, in restaurants, souvenir stall and on the beach. They are apparently set out and sprinkled with holy water no less then three times a day, before every meal. When we visited the market, a lot of the stalls were selling the flowers and bamboo to make the leaf trays.

We stayed in Sanur, a popular beach location, at the aptly named Sanur Beach Hotel. Upon arrival we were welcomed with men playing traditional Balinese music. Statues everywhere adorned with black checked skirts and flowers to the back drop of the rolling waves and wind in the trees. The hotel was not full, probably fallout from the recent terrorist attacks. The first morning we took a long walk on the beautiful beach and entrepreneurship was thriving; every 10 feet someone approached us to come see their, stall, go in a glass bottom boat, get a massage, a manicure…. They were very friendly and the usual line of questioning was “Where are you from, how long you stay, what is your name, what can I do for you?...” On the way back we did do some shopping but because we didn’t bring enough money – the women followed us back to the hotel en masse! We took full advantage of the cheap wonderful deep tissue massages ($5/hour!) and I got a mani/pedi with little flowers on all my fingers! The food was yummy with lots of spices and fresh fruit juice.

For our main adventure outside luxuriating on the beach we took a bicycle tour with Han at 6:30 AM to the market, village and rice fields. It was early but worth seeing people getting their offering wares and food for the day and the fields were lush and green. We saw a whole pack of ducks waddling around the fields and Han told us a farmer will walk the rice fields from 6 AM – 6 PM yelling to scare away the birds that will eat the rice grains and young rice plants. In that heat – that is a long day! That same night we were treated to the traditional dance and music. Watching the contortions of the eyes and delicate fingers was amazing. Folks got up to try it and then everyone got up and danced in the cool night air. Next time maybe I’ll get more ambitious with scuba and touring some more of the cultural sites, but it was wonderful to luxuriate! I would highly recommend it to everyone.