A few final thoughts and photos from Bali. (The Idiots visited Bali, Indonesia, the first week of February, 2017.
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The Idiots like being independent when they travel, but they’ve found a great local guide is indispensible to make the most of a brief visit with a totally different culture. Bali was exotic and bewildering – but Sanny Mandala combines so much knowledge with a true love for his country and culture that bit by bit they were able to gain at least a rudimentary understanding of Bali’s culture and people. If you ever get to Bali, look up Sanny at sannybalitours.com !
People sometimes point out that by taking most of the photos, Idiot He cleverly avoids being in the pictures. Idiot He refers them to a limerick, often attributed to President Woodrow Wilson…
For beauty I am not a star,
There are others more perfect by far,
But my face I don't mind it,
For I am behind it,
It is those in front that I jar.
But under great pressure, he agreed to take a selfie with the group. His selfie technique is inspired by his good friend, Frank.
Living in highly mechanized America, it is easy to forget how work gets done in most of the world. The people of Bali work hard… and many things that would be done with power equipment in the US are done with hand tools.
Women work in the flower fields, picking the blossoms that will be used in the thousands of daily offerings.
Rice is life…
Small shrines are everywhere… even nestled amongst the bananas and rice fields…
Weddings are huge family affairs on Bali. It’s not hard to spot a family compound preparing for a wedding… this gate decoration is actually pretty humble by Balinese standards.
The biggest religious festival on Bali is Galungan – an annual eleven day Hindu celebration of the triumph of dharma (Good) over adharma (Evil.) Much of the country shuts down for religious and family celebrations. Even better – it is “annual” based on the Hindu calendar… and the year is only 210 days… so Galungan comes around pretty often!
Some of the most striking religious decorations are penjor – complicated bamboo structures, often over 30 feet tall, installed along roads outside homes and businesses.. Each part of the penjor is constructed in a particular traditional manner and has symbolic meaning. For example, the curved section at the top represents Mt. Agung, the highest peak on Bali and home of Hyang Giri Pati – the God of the Mountain.
The Idiots visit was more than four months after the last Galungan, so most of the penjor they saw were nearly destroyed by weather… but Sanny kept an eye out and found them an intact one to photograph.
Smaller fabric decorations reminiscent of penjor are popular on Bali. The Idiots had a lovely great meal with friends at Miro’s, a lovely restaurant with multiple “outdoor room” dining areas scattered though a luxurious garden.
The Idiots stayed in a quiet little village away from the hubbub of Ubud. Each day, as they walked out of their hotel compound they were drawn to the shop of Utak Utik, an artist who does amazingly detailed, colorful paintings on canvass, statues, carvings, puppets, wooden eggs… They negotiated on a variety of items over several days. On their last day they went in to finalize their purchases and get a picture with the artist – and he was not there!
The woman managing the shop got the artist on the phone for the final negotiations. When all was settled, she started to wrap the items and Idiot He took one more tour around the shop. Checking out the paintings on the walls, he noticed for the first time that the artist had used the same woman and children for his models… clearly these were paintings of his family. And then he realized the woman working with them was the artist’s wife – and his beautiful model.
All too soon, the Idiots’ week in Bali was over and though they were looking forward to Vietnam and Cambodia, they couldn’t help a bit of melancholy at leaving. The rain on the windshield and the offering on the dashboard presented one last Bali image.
