# Indonesia - Bali



## merlin (Jul 28, 2015)

Hi all will post some photos from my latest holiday/vacation in Indonesia/Bali. Lisa and I both fell in love with Indonesia the moment we landed there in Jakarta. The people are really friendly and helpful and all smiles.
Jakarta was only a stopover really, as most of our three weeks were spent on the island of Bali.

The first pics are from the plane of one of the two volcano's that almost delayed our return, as it has been erupting for some time now, and the ash closed the airport several time while we there and the day before we returned, but luckily was open on the morning we left..

Our plane the Airbus A380 double deck ready for boarding, its a great plane to travel in, and seats 525 passengers, we flew on one on our previous vacation to Vietnam and enjoyed it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NVItPJAu_Fk video of interior.




The volcano


Our first night in Bali was spent in a beach hotel in Sanur, on the south west coast of the island, its an area of gardens with bungalows, we had a honeymoon suite, only because it was the only one available, as honeymoons have sadly long since left my life ld: though I can still pretend.


The beach, many trees all over Bali are adorned with black and white chequered cloths, symbolising the balance of life, the yin and the yang.


The road leading to the hotel, with bougainvillea growing through the trees


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## Ameriscot (Jul 28, 2015)

Beautiful!  My in-laws in Australia are always trying to get us to go to Bali with them.


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## Shalimar (Jul 28, 2015)

Just beautiful Merlin!


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## merlin (Jul 28, 2015)

Thanks Annie and Shali, its a popular place for weekend trips for Australians as its on their doorstep, didn't think I would ever get there, probably wouldn't but for Lisa's powers of persuasion


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## Pam (Jul 28, 2015)

Beautiful! I love the bougainvillea.


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## merlin (Jul 28, 2015)

*Sila*

I booked a driver I found on the internet last year, he met us at the airport and took us wherever we wanted to go as and when. His name is Sila and is an exceptionally kind and knowledgeable man and contributed a lot to our holiday/vacation.
He took us to meet his family one morning who are delightful, he lives with his wife, mother father and his brother and his child. Its in a small one street village about a 40 minute drive from Sanur.

This is Sila with his youngest daughter


Lisa with his other daughter (right) and his brother's daughter


Sila's son and the girls


His brother's daughter


His wife cooking us a snack


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## merlin (Jul 28, 2015)

The family pig


The family temple


Inside temple


The family with grandmother


On the front porch


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## Ameriscot (Jul 28, 2015)

OMG what adorable kids!!


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## merlin (Jul 28, 2015)

Ameriscot said:


> OMG what adorable kids!!


They really were Annie, they fell into your arms a truly wonderful experience, they were so loving and fun to be with, yet had very little materially, says it all really.


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## Ameriscot (Jul 28, 2015)

merlin said:


> They really were Annie, they fell into your arms a truly wonderful experience, they were so loving and fun to be with, yet had very little materially, says it all really.



Like Thai kids!  I'm guessing the food is similar to Thai food?


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## merlin (Jul 28, 2015)

Ameriscot said:


> Like Thai kids!  I'm guessing the food is similar to Thai food?


I haven't been to Thailand yet, but am not keen on Thai food in the UK because for me its usually either too sweet, or has too much heat (chilli) and not much spiciness, I prefer Indian really. 
Indonesian food has just about the right of spiciness for me and they add a fried egg to their traditional dish nasi goreng. 
Lots of fried rice and fried noodle dishes, with tofu or chicken. I got the impression it was less healthy than Thai food?


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## Shalimar (Jul 28, 2015)

Now I am hungry!


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## hollydolly (Jul 28, 2015)

Great Pictures Merlin...I agree with Annie, the children are adorable. I love the picture with the wife cooking, that's fantabulous, thanks for showing us those... :clap:


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## Ameriscot (Jul 28, 2015)

Thai food in Thailand is nothing like you get outside of Thailand.  Soooooo much better in Thailand.  They do quite a lot of fried rice dishes, but also a huge variety that are not.


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## merlin (Jul 28, 2015)

Ameriscot said:


> Thai food in Thailand is nothing like you get outside of Thailand.  Soooooo much better in Thailand.  They do quite a lot of fried rice dishes, but also a huge variety that are not.


Yes I am sure it is Annie like most countries cuisine its always better in its original form.


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## merlin (Jul 28, 2015)

hollydolly said:


> Great Pictures Merlin...I agree with Annie, the children are adorable. I love the picture with the wife cooking, that's fantabulous, thanks for showing us those... :clap:



Thanks Holly it was a very photogenic household really, the children were naturals of course.


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## merlin (Jul 28, 2015)

Shalimar said:


> Now I am hungry!


Yes Shali it makes me hungry, just thinking back to the many dishes like that, that we had while there.


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## Shirley (Jul 28, 2015)

*​Great pictures! *


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## Bee (Jul 28, 2015)

Lovely photos.


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## SeaBreeze (Jul 28, 2015)

Lovely photos Merlin, I really like the one of the volcano, and the children are so sweet!


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## Warrigal (Jul 28, 2015)

Keep them coming Merlin. They are very interesting, especially so with your commentary.


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## Glinda (Jul 28, 2015)

Great shots, Merlin!  Thanks for posting - so where do you go next?!


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## Lara (Jul 28, 2015)

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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## merlin (Jul 28, 2015)

SeaBreeze said:


> Lovely photos Merlin, I really like the one of the volcano, and the children are so sweet!



Thanks SeaBreeze, the many children we came across during our time in Bali, were all delightful and seemingly angelic, but I guess their mothers might have a different experience of them at times  :bigwink:


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## merlin (Jul 28, 2015)

Dame Warrigal said:


> Keep them coming Merlin. They are very interesting, especially so with your commentary.


Thanks DW I will post more, but in this digital age,  I take so many, its difficult to choose from the hundreds I have nthego:


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## merlin (Jul 28, 2015)

Glinda said:


> Great shots, Merlin!  Thanks for posting - so where do you go next?!



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:.........


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## merlin (Jul 28, 2015)

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!



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


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## Ameriscot (Jul 29, 2015)

Merlin, I take so many photos as well. And often hardly any photos with me in them!

Enjoy following your trip.


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## merlin (Jul 29, 2015)

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


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## Ameriscot (Jul 29, 2015)

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



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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## merlin (Jul 29, 2015)

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.


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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## Ameriscot (Jul 29, 2015)

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



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.


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## merlin (Jul 29, 2015)

*Offerings*

.
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

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.



If you didn't have time to make your own offering, you could purchase ready made ones on the street corner.


Flowers to make your own


More offerings in a temple


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## Ameriscot (Jul 29, 2015)

Very interesting, Merlin. I would have guessed Bali was Buddhist.


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## merlin (Jul 29, 2015)

Ameriscot said:


> Very interesting, Merlin. I would have guessed Bali was Buddhist.


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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## Shalimar (Jul 29, 2015)

Loved the pics and commentary.


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## merlin (Jul 29, 2015)

Shalimar said:


> Loved the pics and commentary.



Thanks Shali nearby the temple above with offerings, there was a woodcarving workshop with some lovely craft work, and came across a mermaid no less, will post it with the other pics shortly.


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## Shalimar (Jul 29, 2015)

Mermaids!


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## merlin (Jul 29, 2015)

*Woodcarving workshop*

.
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.





All the work is made here, some take over a month to carve


One of the many display rooms



A mermaid


A couple coupling


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## Ameriscot (Jul 29, 2015)

Love the carvings!


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## Shalimar (Jul 29, 2015)

Beautiful carvings, Merlin. Surprised to see a Balinese man with wavy hair?


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