Once again the beauty in the stonework, the carving and painting just enthralled me. And to think that this place is a thousand years old!!!!
An Adventure in Beautiful Bali
Here is the actual cave, and many people praying. No one is allowed inside the cave except the priests, and no one knows how large it really is, but the mythology is that it goes over 30 km to the Mother Temple. Here again one is struck by how joyfully these people are praying. Crying children, wandering tourists, and squeaking, stinking bats don't seem to bother them in the slightest. They smile as we walk by, chat with the devotee to their right or left, bounce a child to giggles. No solemnity, but an amazing dignity within their joy.
This cave is home to not just a few, but thousands of fruit bats. Unfortunately we didn't have a chance to get a really clear picture, because of the prayers going on....
If this many were hanging around just on the edge, your imagination should be able to conjour up an idea of what the inside must be like!
Okay! Enough of the serious stuff! They called this place the Sacred Monkey Forest Sanctuary - but it was 100% FUN to Jb, Gede and I. We took Gede's 8 year old son Wahju with us, and he was more scared than having fun, but we tried to turn that around as soon as possible.
They took to us right away. Especially since we had little bananas to feed them, ha ha.
This little guy kept playing with my necklace. When I stopped him, he actually was patting my neck and throat as if he was trying to tickle me! And I just hated it, can't you tell?
This sanctuary is home to some 140 mischievious but photogenic long-tailed macaques. We fed at least 400, so I don't know why they say there are so few. You don't think some came back a few times do you?
Oops...I keep doing that! Here's the pic:
We watched them playing in this pool to help Wahju get over his fear of them. Even Gede wouldn't feed them at first. Then when they started jumping on us, Wahju got really scared. Finally he realized that they weren't hurting us, and he calmed down enough to actually toss some bananas at the smaller ones.
They were everywhere: on the walkways
Up in the trees:
and on the walls:
They were remarkably soft, and even the big ones, like this guy, weren't terribly heavy. In fact, the bigger ones were generally better behaved than the adolescents. But...isn't that the general way of the world?
We even finallly convinced Gede to let one get on his lap. The rule was, they could touch you, but you couldn't touch them. And they would bite if provoked. One guy got quite angry at me for not giving him my water bottle, and when I said "No" very forcefully, he bit my arm. I didn't want to scare Wahju, so made little of it, but I had quite a bruise for 3 or 4 days.
And here is your's truly with a different type of monkey...my darlin boy Wahju. As you can see we are sitting on another dragon bridge. The sanctuary isn't really a place of any special artistry, or landscaping, after all, the attraction here is the monkeys themselves, but I don't think there can be anyplace on Bali that doesn't have something carved, painted, or adorned in some way.
Okay, last one for today. This was where we stayed in Sanur - The Bali Emerald Villas. For anyone planning a romantic getaway, or honeymoon, this is the place. Whereas the Bali Beach Club in Candidasa was a great social gathering place, this one is perfect for folks who just want to be alone. There was a decent restaurant attached to the resort, but we were usually the only ones there. There was no charge for room service, so most folks ate in their villas if they didn't go out. It was a very large resort, but you really never knew that. The villas were small enclaves surrounding individual pools, and even though there were 3 or 4 villas in each enclave, we were generally the only ones in ours - so we pretty much had the pool to ourselves. (Which Wahju just LOVED!!) High, vine covered walls, and lots of plants and trees kept the sounds of the city away, and all we really heard were birds and the wind in the trees. As I said - an idyllic honeymoon spot.
Rachel, you are so kind to let me know you are enjoying the pics. Apparently lot's of folks are looking at them, but not too many are posting anything. I'm glad you like them. If you like wood sculpture, be sure to check in tomorrow...I am getting ready to knock your socks off!
Yokwe,
Shari
I thank you again too Shari! I am thoroughly enjoying your pics!!
Still enjoying the show~^_^
Salamat pegi! Today's excursion is up to Ubud to visit some wood carvers. At least that is what THEY call themselves, to me they are master sculptors and incredible artists! Anyway, on the way we stopped to watch this soccer game in the mud. These kids were having waaaay too much fun. Some even peeled down to their birthday suits, so as not to get their clothes dirty - or to make it harder to catch them maybe.
The pleasure we got from watching these kids was only exceeded by their own joy in completely unrestricted fun! The sound of their laughter stayed with us all day.
When Gede pulled the car up in front of this place, my jaw dropped. I have been collecting wooden sculpture from all over the world for years, and I felt like I had just found Nirvana!
The remarkable detail on these pieces was stunning.
Many of the pieces are carved from tree roots and drift wood. In some places these irregularly shaped wood pieces have encouraged a plethora of otherworldy monsters and strange elongated creatures. I preferred the pieces seen here, where the shapes of the roots are used to create sea scapes, pillars of horses, wild cats, dogs, monkeys or gamboling spirits chasing each other around their static playground.
Just enjoy:
For centuries the wood carvers art was used to decorate the pillars, doors, panels and lintels of the temples and palaces. With the influx of tourism in the early 20th century, the idea of carving for purely ornamental uses started to take off, and more and more of these artists began carving animals, sea creatures and beautiful women to sell to the tourists.
However, by the mid 30's it was noticed by some collectors and influential artists that the quality of the carvings were declining drastically. Competitions and Arts Movements and museums were established to revive the artistic quality of these carvers, and now some are "shown" in galleries all over the world.
There are now shops all over Bali, some of the best in Mas and Nyuhkuning, many found in the home compounds of families of wood-carvers.
One exceptionally fine Gallery that we visited was this one in Mas. The Ngurah Gallery. This family had been carving wood for generations, and the Uncle had been invited to shows in Sydney, London and the United States. The work was exquisite! The detail on this dragon took my breath away!
They work with many different types of wood. The soft white timber known as crocodile wood, the tan colored wood from the poinciana, the lemony yellow of the Jackfruit tree, a darker tan and sweet smelling sandalwood, the dark woods of the hibiscus tree, mahogany and the darkest, hardest timber of ebony, all graced this beautiful gallery. Here as well we saw pieces carved from the knarled roots of the frangipani, or plumeria trees.
Here one of the nephews is working on a carving of Saraswati, my favorite Hindu goddess. They said it would take months to finish the piece.
After leaving Mas, we encountered another of the ubiquitous temple ceremonies. Gede thought that this might have been a wedding, but we couldn't be sure. You can see the women carrying offerings coming from and going to the temple, all dressed in the traditional sarong and lace blouse. I was very pleased to find out that it is the act of creating the offering that is important to the gods. Once it is complete, it is finished as an offering, so then becomes "leftovers" which they take back to their homes and share with family and friends. None of this food is left at the temple to rot.
As you can see in this picture, the streets are narrow, so encountering a celebration is always a traffic snarler. But you pretty much can't travel in Bali without finding them, and there is a respect for the celebration that eases any frustration caused by the delay. There are no road-rage incidents, no honking, no angry ephithets. It's so pleasant!!! Note the man playing the flute like instrument to the enjoyment of the children. The gay chatter of the people on their pilgrimage, the laughter of the children, gamelan music from the temple and this flute on the street all made for a happy cacophany that merged with the laughter still ringing in my head from the soccer game. It was one of those days that made my cheeks ache from smiling, but what a pleasant ache!
Another of the fantastic statues in a round-about. I'd love to be able to take the traffic light out of the picture, but that skill is beyond my meager talents, so you can use it as contrast...art vs. technology.
Before the rice can be planted in the prepared terraces and paddies, it has to sit in water for a while. This paddy has been invaded by a large herd (?) of ducks. I was aghast that all their work would be for nought, but then Gede explained that the ducks eat the bugs and such that would hurt the rice, so they are actually beneficial. We were on our way to a restaurant called The Dirty Duck, so the timing for this little encounter couldn't have been better.
Well, I can't find the pictures we took at the Dirty Duck, so I will show you these instead. I can't remember the name of this restaurant, but it was amazing. This pic is just to prove that this WAS a restaurant!
This was the view! The ridge you can see across the valley from the restaurant was used by trekkers (hikers). We saw a few during our meal. I don't know how they got up there, but apparently people start walking at dawn in order to watch the sunset from up here on the ridge.
