Indonesia - Bali

Glinda said:
Great shots, Merlin! Thanks for posting - so where do you go next?!
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Thanks Glinda, I am back in Russia again from the middle of September for a month or so, and have booked a week in Cyprus for Lisa's birthday in October, flying from Russia.

The next big holiday/vacation booked is Sri Lanka in January/February 2016 for 3 weeks.................on the future list is Malaysia, Southern India, Tbilisi (Georgia) and Thailand, plus several ex Soviet countries........

I am at the age now though where I need to periodically check I haven't passed over, as I will then be limited to astral travel, where posting on SF is a tad more difficult :saturn: :angel:.........
 

Lara said:
Thank you for this delightful entertainment of photos. Next time let someone else hold the camera so you can get in some of the pics with Lisa. Both your wife and Sila's wife are smiling in one picture and look so relaxed and genuine as if they've been friends a long time…pretty ladies. It's interesting to see where Sila's family lives and a tiny bit of their culture. Good photography!
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Thanks Lara, it was somehow very easy to make friends in Bali, the stallholders, shopkeepers..... anyone would talk to you, and you never felt pressured into buying anything in markets. The driver Sila was a friend from the start, very warm and tactile, simply a lovely man, his family were very open and approachable as well.

I do have a few photos of Lisa and myself together, but I am not photogenic so tend to spoil the photo lol
 
Merlin, I take so many photos as well. And often hardly any photos with me in them!

Enjoy following your trip.
 

Yes Annie but you are photogenic so no excuse, :) I see so many people taking selfies everywhere these days, with these sticks, I can't imagine what I would look like in one, as they usually distort the features, I look bad enough at the back of a landscape scene :D
 
merlin said:
Yes Annie but you are photogenic so no excuse, :) I see so many people taking selfies everywhere these days, with these sticks, I can't imagine what I would look like in one, as they usually distort the features, I look bad enough at the back of a landscape scene :D
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Thanks Merlin but I hate most photos of myself. Best if I'm wearing sunglasses because my DH has a knack of capturing me with eyes shut. We saw many people with selfie sticks in Thailand.
 
Ameriscot said:
Thanks Merlin but I hate most photos of myself. Best if I'm wearing sunglasses because my DH has a knack of capturing me with eyes shut. We saw many people with selfie sticks in Thailand.
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I usually have my mouth open or my eyes shut or simply a weird expression :stupid: selfie sticks are everywhere I go these days
 
merlin said:
I usually have my mouth open or my eyes shut or simply a weird expression :stupid: selfie sticks are everywhere I go these days
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My dh is not great at taking photos of people. And he doesn't do what I do which is take at least 3 with rapid shooting.
 
Offerings

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Bali is an island of temples and Hindu is the dominant religion 85% its their own form of Hinduism, and is an important part of daily life.
It seemed to me a case of where religion actually worked for the common good, and gave a focus a structure to life.
A part of it is the daily ritual of presenting gifts to the gods, these gifts are everywhere you look, in the streets, outside shops, banks, houses even on motorcycles, and of course in every temple or sacred place. In the main each house, hotel and Homestay etc., has its own temple, and there are village temples as well for communal gatherings. They have festivals every 210 days, we were there during one and found it very interesting. Their calender is different to ours, and unofficially its 1929 there, so still chance to miss WWII :)

Its a complex religion but here is a summary:

Birth and life

There are a total of thirteen ceremonies concerned with life from conception until, but not including, death, each of which have four elements: placation of evil spirits, purification with holy water, wafting of essence and prayer. These ceremonies mark major events in a person's life, including birth, puberty, tooth filing and marriage. A new-born baby is believed to represent the soul of an ancestor, and is regarded as a god for the first 42 days of its life; however the mother is regarded as impure, and it not allowed to participate in any religious activities during this period. A baby must not touch the impure ground until it is 105 days old, half way to the celebration of its first birthday according to the 210-day Balinese pawukon calender. Once the child reaches puberty. the six upper canine teeth are filed until they are even.
Marriage is seen as obligatory for Balinese Hindus, both for the establishment of a family and for the enhanced position in the village social structure accorded to the husband. Giving birth to children guarantees the patrilineal line, as well as ensuring there is somebody to perform the appropriate rituals essential for reincarnation. It marks the attainment of adulthood.

Death and reincarnation

The most important ceremonies take place after death, and result in the soul being freed to be eventually reincarnated. Unlike the death rites of other religions, the physical body is not the focus, as it is seen as nothing more than a temporary container of the soul and fit only for expedient disposal. In fact, the body must be burned before the soul can leave it completely. The cremation ceremony to bring this about can be extremely expensive because an elaborate ceremony is a way of showing respect for a soul destined to become a god with considerable powers over those left behind. Therefore, bodies are sometimes temporarily buried until the family is able to accumulate enough funds for a cremation, although the bodies of priests or high class families are preserved above ground.


Some Offerings
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Our driver said to us one day, that he had noticed the gods had never ever taken any food from the daily offerings he made, I found this a charming innocence. There was a fresh offering on the dashboard of his car every day.

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If you didn't have time to make your own offering, you could purchase ready made ones on the street corner.
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Flowers to make your own
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More offerings in a temple
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Ameriscot said:
Very interesting, Merlin. I would have guessed Bali was Buddhist.
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No Annie Indonesia as a whole is Islamic 87% the Hindu minority fled to Bali sometime in history not sure of dates, though there are early traces of them there anyway I would have assumed the same as you before going there, the breakdown of religions here:

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Woodcarving workshop

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Villages we went through often specialised in one craft such as stonemasonry, basketwork, silverware, jewellery etc., This village had lots of wood carving workshops, we stopped at this one, Lisa bought a couple of small carvings, there were a lot of Gods, Angels and dragons, and some erotic stuff as well.



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All the work is made here, some take over a month to carve
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One of the many display rooms
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A mermaid
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A couple coupling
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