dispatches from here » Bali

Eastern Bali, and such

ano — Mon, 29 Nov 2010 16:00:06 +0000

Eastern Bali is a mountainous playground with lush green fields terraced into the hillsides. Near the coast, it flattens out and rice paddies grow into the horizon, interrupted only by small villages. I rented a scooter and drove drove drove. Pretty hard to get lost when there’s only one main highway connecting the island.

Short on petrol for your scooter? The only places to re-fuel in this town are roadside stands, selling 1 liter at a time.

Meandering down the street market (is there any other kind?) in Padangbai, East Bali.

Small offerings play an important role in Balinese religion. Too busy to make your own? Swing by the market to pick some up!

This must be a popular shrine, as everyone has jockeyed for a spot to place their offering.

Playground in Padangbai, Bali. I think thats a Mickey Mouse of sorts.

A little pagoda poking out in this quiet little bay, Eastern Bali

Despite the worst drought in 20 years, the Balinese landscape remains lush and green, carefully terraced for farming.

An inactive volcano oversees this fertile valley.

A small plot of farmland has been carved out of the forest, and carefully terraced and tended.

The rice fields of Eastern Bali

The terraced rice fields are tended to by hand and plow, using centuries-old farming methods

Derelict shelter in the middle of Balinese rice fields

Wading into the warm ocean at sunrise for an early morning scuba dive to catch the fish by surprise!

Enjoying the Balinese sunset as slow warm waves lap the beach.

The quiet and chaos of Ubud, Bali

ano — Sun, 14 Nov 2010 00:04:49 +0000

Bali is quiet and relaxing place. And even by those lofty standards, Ubud, the religious and cultural capital of Bali situated in the center of the island, is incredibly mellow. So what better way to take a break from vacation than to spend a few days lounging in Ubud.

But of course, nothing is that simple, not the way I travel. I somehow managed to stumble into the middle of preparations for the annual Spring Full Moon festival. I didn’t exactly understand all of the details of the festival when they were being explained to me, Or course, but at some point hundreds of years of ago some Balinese thieves were trying to steal something of value, which the Gods did not want stolen. So the full moon fell out of the sky and into a nearby tree, illuminating the landscape and revealing their crime. To protect themselves, one of the thieves urinated on the moon (I’m not clever enough to make this up), and extinguished it. Alas, he was too late and they were caught, but in the place of the full moon there was a GIANT drum. Since then, this drum has been enshrined in the temple and every year thousands of people gather to celebrate that event, and the full moon.

At first seeing monkeys run around the temples in Bali is quite exciting. Who doesn't love monkeys? But it quickly becomes routine, and they get bored of protecting their temples from us.

Verdant fields of Ubud, Central Bali, that nearly go on forever.

Balinese religion, a form of Hinduism, which combines theology, animism and ancestor worship, plays an integral role in daily life. Temples are in particularly high density in Ubud, the reilgious center of Bali.

Balinese temples, eerily empty in the mid-afternoon, before the Full Moon Festival

Offerings made to the God and Goddess of fertility in a Balinese Temple in Ubud

Balinese men gather and prepare offerings for the Full Moon Festival, Ubud, Bali

Preparing offerings for the thousands of expected festival participants.

All of the skewers for the satay are lovingly hand carved, one by one. Makes me feel guilty for the 15 pieces of satay I polished off.

Meat preparion on the ground. Oh well, its all gonna be cooked anyway, right?

Making that much satay takes a team, sitting around for hours and telling stories

Thousands gather for the annual Full Moon Festival in Ubud, Bali. Im not sure how, but somehow I stumbled into the middle of the celebration.

After requisite dancing and drumming, the thousands of Balinese men and women parade around the Sacred Drum and Full Moon shrine.

The full moon, making its requisite appearance for the annual spring Full Moon Festival. After all the drumming and parading, everyone sits and stares at the moon.

Off to Nusa Lembongan, Bali

ano — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 20:04:26 +0000

It comes in bunches, I suppose. Its somewhat rare to have even a free weekend during internship, and when they arrive they’re called “golden weekends”. But then comes that one elusive month of vacation, randomly assigned, eagerly awaited, and given in one straight chunk. With no idea when my next trip would be after this one, I made sure to maximize it.

I had no real plans in place except for my flights there and back. I took my packed bag with me to work on the day of departure. It had been an unusually busy week at work but at 7pm I was done and on my way out. I changed into street clothes, dumped my scrubs locker room hamper, left the hospital and headed straight to the airport.

The final itinerary? SFO to Las Vegas (for the weekend), then straight to Bali, then Java, Borneo, Singapore, and back to Vegas for another weekend before heading home to SF the night before I had to go back to work. Pictures and stories to come, as I get to them. Thirty two days of non-stop travel with a camera in hand has left with me way too many pictures to sort through.

Arrived in Bali after a day and half of planes and airports and hopped on a boat for the 45 minute trip to Nusa Lembongan, a small island off the southeast coast. Its relatively under-developed and doesn't have a dock. So we had to jump off the boat and wade ashore, with my camera bag held high over my head hoping for a dry trip. From there I walked a hundred meters up the beach to a little spot called Pondok Baruna and was treated to a room just off the water.

A little bit of afternoon rain, which broke just in time for an excellent sunset. I waded into warm waist deep water for this shot, which was well worth it.

I spent a lot of time scuba diving (lots of underwater photos to come), and with water this warm and clear, visibility was consistently amazing (>30 meters)

Seaweed farming is one of the main sources of income in Lembongan. The seaweed is very sensitive and requires relatively calm waters and consistent temperature and salinity, which are provided by protective reefs.

The seaweed is relatively plentiful, and sells for about 20 cents per pound once dried.

Its easy to walk around the shallows and tide pools, but the smell can be a bit overpowering.

Rising early in the morning to harvest seaweed to avoid the harsh afternoon sun.

Tiny boats meander slowly along the coastline.

Sunrise from Lembongan watching rain drench the Bali mainland ahead.

Sunrise over Dream Beach, Lembongan

A bit of rest on Dream Beach after a long day of scuba diving

The stark contrast between simple dirt streets and elaborate temples all throughout Lembongan

Sunset Beach, Nusa Lembongan, Bali