 LONG flights in business class on Cathay Pacific Dulles to Hong Kong; HK to Bali. Here's part of HK from plane window |
 Denpasar airport; nice. Take medication list, expect long wait for luggage,TONS of drivers waiting,luggage x-rayed before leave. |
 Met driver/guide for 3 days, Dewa Gede. He turned out to be awesome. Hire him - SO worth it! Contact info is above. |
 What other driver/guide would take you to his family's compound to meet his family? |
 And let you watch/photograph his mom blessing metal objects on Tumpek Landep day? |
 For newly married couples |
 I would love doors like this in my home |
 Extended families live together with private & shared areas. |
 Dewa drove us to Sanur, where we found Santa late afternoon, Dec. 18. Hindus don't celebrate Christmas but Santa comes anyway! |
 Stayed at Segara Village Hotel near beach for 1 night; very nice for our 1st night in Bali. |
 One perfect boat & 2 distant, humble, not-counted lighthouses |
 Beach, boat, lights |
 Sunrise Dec. 19 |
 Morning on the beach |
 Fishing went on by boat and foot, day and night |
 View south to Sindhu Beach |
 One fisherman with net |
 Cleaning the beach in the morning |
 Loved these boats |
 Such a colorful place |
 Had breakfast at hotel facing beach |
 Left Segara Village, went for walk up to lighthouses. Boats left there for nearby small islands. |
 Birds of paradise are everywhere |
 Passed this god with offering, maybe a cigarette, & incense |
 Llifeguard boat & others |
 Loved the boats everywhere |
 Alaska=faraway;men to left because women always RIGHT |
 Dewa picked us up at 9 & took us to Batubulan village |
 Attended Barong & Kris drama/dance; village gamelon began to play |
 Mighty Barong emerges (mythical beast representing good) |
 Barong & his friend the monkey |
 Women dancers - perhaps doing Legong dance? |
 Rangda, demon queen, represents evil. Note the nails. |
 Things got a little long & complicated. A written summary was provided but it was hard to read and take pictures at same time. |
 Things got violent |
 Death by kris (sword) |
 After the show we visited beautiful Batuan Pura (temple). Puri is palace; pura is temple. |
 Pura Puseh Batuan detail |
 After drama/dance, visited Pura Batubulan (Howard's picture of a beautiful painting there) |
 Batubulan temple detail |
 Daily offerings are everywhere |
 Went to Tegenungan Waterfall overview. Note swing & heart for photos. Seem to be very popular. |
 70 cents for shower; looks like price for last service was changed |
 Had lunch at Semar Kuning in beautiful setting |
 Went to Setia Darma House of Masks & Puppets |
 My kind of place: not on tourist circuit, but oh so awesome! |
 Feast for my eyes |
 Dewa & Howard sat for a while so I could check out every building. |
 President meets president: Obama puppet with Setia Darma president puppet. |
 Puppets from around the world |
 Back in the car: We passed more workers & Dewa slowed down so I could take a picture. |
 Goa Gajah outside Ubud is known as Elephant Cave |
 Fountains at Goa Gajah |
 Ruth at Goa Gajah; photo by Dewa Dg |
 Goa Gajah |
 Note to self: Haircut, bra and SMILE would have been nice! |
 Slept well at Runik, but at 5 AM, was jetlagged & couldn't sleep. Walked & walked. This was on Monkey Forest Road |
 Split gate is typical at Balinese temples |
 Think this frog was at the Puri Lukisan Museum in Ubud, early AM |
 Look up to see hidden treasures |
 Stopped in village of Mas to see woodcarvers at work & to browse showroom of beautiful wood objects (photo by Howard) |
 It's intricate work. Many villages near Ubud specialize in one art or another. (Photo by Howard) |
 Heart & swing at Tegenungan; photo by Howard |
 Mask at Setia Darma by Howard |
 Room 3, Runik Ubud |
 Stayed 2 nights at Runik Ubud @ $50 plus tax. Loved the location - very convenient but back in the rice fields, so quiet |
 Ruth's reminder to not drink tap water in Bali |
 Only negative about Runik was that this new construction now stands where rice fields stood before. (H's photo) |
 Building hotel block by block; photo by Howard |
 Thatching a roof, photo by Howard |
 What would Bali do without scooters? (by Howard) |
 Ubud statue |
 Part of Puri Lukisan early AM |
 Loved my 5 AM walks around Ubud - so quiet! In another hour or 2 this street (Raya Ubud) would be crowded with scooters & cars |
 Path from Runik to construction site. Women pushed wheelbarrows of concrete every morning down this lane. |
 Early AM near Runik from Sunset Lane |
 Runik statue |
 Runik had only 4 rooms. Be quiet...Kadek is sleeping beneath stairs! He was very good to us. |
 Runik view from 2nd floor. In AM Kadek made us breakfast - banana pancake or eggs/sausage, fruit, coffee. |
 Runik pool |
 Hotel or palace behind Runik, maybe Honeymoon Palace? |
 Path to Runik along irrigation ditch |
 There's a whole other world behind the Runik; sun coming soon |
 Sun still wasn't up when I came across this temple |
 It's a small temple behind the Runik |
 Saw offerings on walk early AM |
 By the time we left Ubud, tarp was down, progress made. Bamboo poles used for support. |
 Area around Runik |
 Walked UP Sunset Lane out to main road |
 Taman Ayun Royal Palace, Mengwi. Dewa suggested standing here. He knows all the good vantage points! |
 Royal Palace |
 Taman Ayun detail |
 So many statues, big and small, in Bali |
 Set out to visit Taman Ayun Royal Palace; stopped 1st to buy a towel (so hot/humid!). Howard shared his towel with Dewa |
 Taman Ayun - Royal Family's Palace |
 It's a water temple - surrounded by water! |
 Taman Ayun |
 While going to Jutiluwih Rice Fields we saw cleanup after a celebration (wedding?) |
 This was just a preview of things to come. |
 Right off the bat I loved the Jatiluwih Rice Fields - awesome! |
 I wanted to visit Jatiluwih instead of the more accessible Tegalalang fields closer to Ubud. Think I made the right choice. |
 Beautiful! |
 Fields are planted in stages |
 Scooters belonging to workers |
 Howard & Dewa waited while I walked the red route. |
 We call these cattle egrets but think here they're called Java pond herons. |
 Woman working the fields |
 The more I walked the more I saw |
 Couldn't stop taking pictures |
 For short time followed a worker up the path |
 Bali is big on places made for selfie shots |
 Howard saw me walking part of the way & he was waiting for me at the top |
 Had lunch at Gong Jatiuwih - food was OK, view was awesome! |
 Between Jatiluwih & next stop we saw women working & they waved to us |
 Men were thrashing rice |
 Saw rice fields everywhere |
 Then we stopped at the wonderful Sangeh Monkey Forest, which is not the same as the one in Ubud. |
 Sangeh is reported to have better behaved monkeys! |
 They played with coconuts, jumped from the temple into a pool, and tended to their young. |
 Monkeys everywhere! |
 Temple & monkey |
 One monkey |
 Monkey with baby on back |
 Loved the babies - looked quite young! |
 Going for a ride |
 Climbing/sitting at the temple |
 One of my favorite photos |
 Another favorite |
 Wanted to know how old the babies were but this isn't a zoo - nobody to ask! |
 2 parents 2 babies |
 Baby with mouth open |
 Party goers, one with a prized possession (coconut) |
 Babies by Howard |
 Pool party by Howard. These guys were VERY amusing! |
 Howard's best monkey sleeping picture! |
 Burning the fields |
 Ubud taxis don't want competition |
 This was on Jl Bisma - every AM 2 women would fill their wheelbarrows & walk the path to construction site |
 View of construction site at night, first night |
 On the last morning I walked up Kajeng - interesting street |
 Did part of Juwuk Manis Walk. Passed only a few people while up there. |
 Worker in field - heard music coming from a nearby tent |
 Offering in field |
 Coconuts! |
 I was too early to buy a coconut from the Coconut Man but saw his shed |
 Scary! |
 Saw ducks |
 And more beautiful Bali sights |
 Shared the walk with this beauty. Think it's a lizard. |
 Jalan Kajeng is lined with bricks like this. Of course I liked the lighthouse! |
 Saraswati is a water temple in the center of Ubud next to Starbucks |
 Saraswati detail |
 Pura Saraswati fountain |
 The lilies were blooming |
 So it begins - sun's coming up, scooters are out! |
 Kids going to school. Forgot what Dewa told us about the colored uniforms - hmm..must email him! |
 Bajra Sandhi monument with one gate |
 Way up top was wedding photography going on |
 Before going to the cruise port, we stopped at McD's for a snack - with rice or fries? 40K is maybe 3 USD, photo by Howard |
 Hooray! My first real, countable lighthouse on trip - 522nd I've seen (Benoa Harbor, taken from ship). |
 At 5 PM, the ship left Benoa, Bali & sailed toward Australia. I think I left my heart in Bali, though...... |