Benoa, Bali, Indonesia

Benoa, Bali, Indonesia
I’m not sure what I expected from Bali, but the magic of Bali enveloped all of us. The Balinese are Hindu and there are over 1,000 temples on the island that ascribe to their beliefs. Each temple is an individual work of art. I was aware that there would be a great deal of Asian and Hindu inspired decorative elements and architecture in Bali, but I had no idea how pervasive it would be. Literally every family housing compound, hamlet (multiple family houses) and villages (the group of hamlets) are covered with decorative elements and ornament. The roof peaks, the window surrounds, the gates, the fence posts, etc. are all heavily ornamented. Also, each house has it’s own shrine complete with “offerings”, fringes, statuary and fabrics. These fabrics (poleng), as well as curbs, light posts and other various public items sport alternating black and white patterning, representing the balance between good and evil.
The Balinese believe that every living thing has a spirit and will even pray to a flower as they pick it. Each day an offering is made to the spirits – it is a small leaf plate containing flowers, food, candy, etc. and it is placed at the entrance to the house or place of business.
We visited 2 temples, a traditional, rustic inn at the edge of a rice paddy and a local woman’s house. We wound up our trip at an orchid garden. We all agreed that if all we had done was take the bus trip, we would have been happy even if we didn’t make any stops. It was truly a sensory overload and my head is still whirling with the exotic nature of Bali, especially after the ship hosted a group of Balinese musicians and dancers before we sailed.
The first photo is of the inn along the rice paddy where we had lunch.
We knew that when we left Australia, all bets were off as far as seeing familiar,
Western things. It is an amazing culture shock.
Often before we leave a port, there are local people who come on board and put on a show. They are generally very good and we appreciate the work that goes into their performances.Read more