Bali

Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2022

 Indonesia is a country of 280,000,000 people, 80% of whom are Muslim.  It has the largest Muslim population of any country, yet the island of Bali is predominantly Hindu.  There are literally hundreds of languages among the many tribes on the many islands; the unifying language is Bahasa.

 We stayed overnight at the Hyatt, and in the morning, we traveled about an hour inland to witness the Barong and Kris Dance.  Along the way we saw many Hindu temples.  I went to an ATM and took our Indonesian Rupiah—only one million.  I’m a millionaire in Rupia:

 

 The program for the dance is complex.  You can read it here:

 

Here’s what the action looked like; I couldn’t often match the action to the program:

 




There was some bawdiness:


I have some wonderful video of the gamelan and the performance, but I don't have the bandwith to upload them.  After the show we traveled to a major Hindu temple complex, Puseh Desa, at which we donned long skirts to go in:



The temple was most impressive, and we had a talk about the style of Indonesian Hinduism, somewhat unique, and the ground on which Indonesian Islam was ultimately built:






Finally, we went to the ship to board, where we had another gamelan and dancers to welcome us, as well as a person who sprinkled us with water.  The significance was not explained, but I’m sure it was for a good voyage:




Our cabin is lovely, and we collapsed, hot, sweaty, and overstimulated.  We sail tonight.


Victor

Comments

  1. Ralph P. LockeDecember 1, 2022 at 3:26 AM

    What an astounding set of experiences in such a short time! I've heard and read about Balinese culture, and enjoyed the performances by American university gamelans, sometimes with Balinese guest singers/dancers. Those of course are mixed-gender. But not, I see, traditional Balinese performances, with the men playing, and women dancing (but men also act and clown, it looks like). There seems to be overt references to sex and procreation not just in the theater performances but in the visual art. I grew up in rather Puritan-influenced Boston, Massachusetts, and would probably feel embarrassed.... I hope you can share some of your audio and video recordings at some point. But, in the meantime, get some rest! Oh, I love the gate in front of the temple. It's the first time I've seen a gate that clearly looks like a single unit (in this case a kind of triangle) that has been split down the middle and opened wide. A truly welcoming architectural gesture.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Rwa442December 1, 2022 at 6:46 AM

    Wonderful photos and what a beautiful place! It's great to see that you and Joyce have gone native! Your cabin looks exquisite and I hope you share more of the ship and shipboard experience.

    ReplyDelete

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