Independence Day

I admire my last sunrise here before going back to bed for a few hours. I fall into a light sleep drifting in and out of dreams. Today in Indonesia independence Day and is a celebration of Indonesian independence from the Dutch in 1949 changing it from the Dutch East Indies to the United States of Indonesia. There is a boat race every year to commemorate this and this year there are 35 boats taking part. They all line up on jemilook beach right outside where I'm staying it really is a sight to see. The race starts just after 11am and within minutes one of the boats comes back to the beach out of the race. A traditional steel band are playing the boats the locals outnumber the tourists on the beach it's good to see them enjoying their day of freedom. In-between I decide to take advantage of a final massage off Made's mum. And before she's finished the race is finishing and I jump up to see Sumade one of the guys who plays in the band has won with Bar Ameds boat. There are many celebrations on the shore as the rest of the boats come in one by one. After a shower and packing my bag I get dressed for the afternoon ceremony at the temple. Today is the final day so is extra special the men were at the temple early this morning preparing the pigs and getting the final arrangements done. We arrive just after 4 and have cakes delivered to the temple as an offering.Nico buys the kids the equivalent of a kinder egg which comes as a ball with various toys inside an the all play with them in the forecourt until just after 530 a guy comes in with a huge enterage and a suitcase and I guess this must be the 'holy man'. This afternoon there are many more people here today every one is really dressed up and wearing gold, even the children have full make up on. Sadly it starts to rain and everyone huddles together under the roof of the shelter. The women are called into the temple to give the offerings for blessings and I stand in astonishment as the 'holy man' looks like a king. The ceremony is very controlled by the ringing of a little bell and after all the items have been blessed we all make our way back to the forecourt where the children perform they're Balinese dance. After this the older women perform and invite me to join even though I haven't got a scooby what I'm doing. Then everyone is called to pray with huge bamboo brooms being dipped in water and splashed across the crowds. Then the holy water is given in the palm of our hands 3 times to drink 3 times again to wash and the rice which I remember to put on my face this time rather than eat. The flower ceremony then takes place where flowers are offered up in prayer numerous times and eac time a small flower placed behind the ear or for the men I side they're headwear. As the evening comes to an end I bid my goodbyes as I have a taxi to catch at 8pm I couldn't have picked a nicer day to finished my time in Amed and really wish I could stay for tonights party but the jungle is calling. My taxi is on time and after saying my final goodbyes we head for Kuta. Forty minutes into the journey he asks is it ok to stop and wait for his friend. A tourist has rented a motorbike and forgotten to leave the key. So we pull over into a petrol station and wait for the guy to come on his motorbike to join our taxi to go to the airport and collect it. We arrive in Kuta just after 11 and I'm greeted by the nicest guy at de dukah guest house, we sit and chat for nearly an hour putting the world to rights and I'm quite sad I have to go to bed but Im heading for the jungle tomorrow.Baca lagi