Benoa, Bali

We pulled into Bali not really knowing what to expect so we booked a tour of the temples and Orchid gardens. We were glad we did because it was quite the culture shock to see the very busy cities and countryside of this beautiful country. The country is largely (97%) Hindu but is part of Indonesia which is largely Muslim. The people live predominantly in compounds with other family members in a very strict organization. Each group of the extended family in the compound has their own temple and the ritual offering of small amounts of food, etc on a daily basis seems to be similar to the Christian tradition of prayer before meals. They have a large number of public temples for celebrating the frequent festivals. While the conditions would seem fairly spare by our standards the people were not poor and modern conveniences seemed to be plentiful if just not needed as much in the fairly stable weather and warm climate of the area.
Rice is the food staple and there is no prettier site then the terraced rice patties all along the road. We went to two temples that were very old. One was a beautiful one out on a rock in the ocean that unfortunately has developed a fairly thriving tourist enclave around the entrance that detracted from the majesty of the two actual structures. The other was in a smaller community outside the main town and was done much more like a park and was quite nice.
We then went to an orchid garden that benefited from the large amount of rain they get every year and since it is the "rainy season" we of course got to see it in all it's glory. Of course Jeff and I couldn't help but try some of the Lewok coffee that is made from the coffee beans that are gathered from the civit cat's poop. At about $600 per kilo we didn't feel the need to buy any but the little sip we got was pretty good.
Nancy of course couldn't help but try the local dance.Read more