From Culture to Cheesiness

The alarm blares from Richy's Nokia at 5:45am sharp. I peered out the window and found I could only see 30ft in front of me. At this point, the sunrise will have to wait for another day and my bed beckons me to stay. I wake again only two hours later to find our breakfast of pancakes, toast, jam and tea are waiting for us on our porch. After this quick meal, Richy heads into town to find an ATM (which was an adventure in it self) and I went down to the famous floating temple complex on the Danau Bratan.

When I arrived, I was greeted by the festival police. These are a special branch of officers that work in and around the temples during the festivals. I don't know any other responsibilities they serve other than that but they also have different uniforms. Instead of the all black or green and red uniforms, they bare a saran with a black, white and red plaid, along with a red or black vest and a small plaid hat.

They ushered me into the temple and I made my way around the grounds. The temple had several sections spread allover the grounds which were laid out beautifully with small shrines, large Pagoda's, and Stupa's. Upon entering the complex I immediately noticed that their was a hint of excitement in the air and it seemed everyone was waiting for something. When I thought I'd had my fill, I made my way out the inner complex to find a huge crowd of people flooding into the front gate. Along with that several bands began to play traditional ceremonial music. At this point I got to witness the beginning of one of the biggest processions I have seen yet. It took half an hour to get everyone into the inner complex as they all funneled in through a small gateway where I had been standing. The people were singing, some marching in while other's danced in, and they carried offerings in both small baskets and on large stretcher-like-things, (sorry for the lack of description). I stayed until everyone was inside an tourists began to show up so that was my que to leave. I didn't want to be one of the many tourists standing around clueless and taking photo's.

So I returned to the bungalow to meet up with Richy and pack to head back to Kuta for our final evening in Bali. We got to Bali very quickly, returned the bikes, and finally got to do some nice beach lounging. Before we knew it, dinner time was looming over us and we we're scheduled to meet Wawan for what would no doubt be an eventful dinner.

After ordering our food the lights went out and Wawan seized the moment to start singing Happy Birthday. As soon as he began everyone slowly chimed in thinking it was actually someones birthday. The power went out three more times and without fail, everyone would sing Happy Birthday. The three of us got a really kick out of what Wawan started.

So Aside from Wawan and the beach, I have to say that I felt Kuta was the more disappointing and culture-less city in Bali. It's over saturated with tourists and every shop sell the same tasteless and cheesy beach junk as the other. What I quickly learned is that you don't go to Kuta to get a true sense of Balinese culture, but you go there to surf and party with the transcontinental buffet of tattooed meatheads. Now if thats what your looking for then this is the place for you, but if not I would suggest staying away.

So with that I leave both you and Bali and head back to Bangkok to prepare for my trip to Cambodia.