Back To Bali 2008

3 fotos of one of Bali's more controversial sights, the Garuda Wishnu Kencana park. Somebody got the idea to build a statue taller than the Statue of Liberty on Bali. Lots of people opposed the project, especially some ex-pats, but we actually like it quite well. Not yet complete, possibly never.


Our gang at The Pondok, a farm upcountry we visit almost every Sunday. We walk 1/2 a kilometer down to the house, take hikes in the ricefields, have a real farmer's lunch, go home relaxed.


Wayan and Kadek dressed for a ceremony next door to our house.


The view from our artist friend Mariasta's studio. One of the best in Bali. I've photographed these "sawah" a hundred times. This is one of my favorite shots.


Mariasta's dad preparing the field for new rice plantings.


Mr.Obama is very popular here, having lived in Indonesia as a young boy.


Baby rice plants will be moved to the big fields soon.


The famous rice terraces of Jatiluwih


Jatiluwih 2


Wayan's Dad in his workshop and our friend and driver Ketut Penjor



Wayan's grandpa as a young lad carving stone.


A shrine in Wayan's family temple.


Close-up of a shrine. Grandpa carved the doors and side panel.


Our gang: Ducati, her mom Kadek, Wayan and Wayan's brother Kadek


Bali Truck Art.


Ducati, Kadek and Ayu. Kadek and Ayu live at The Pondok, a farm in the mountains.

Bali Street Art & Other Funky Stuff

One of my favorite activities is collecting fotos of surprising signs, including menus, usually with strange English or unintended ambiguity. Bali Trucks are another of my favorite subjects: a few samples:



Bali's latest food craze...just kidding



A public bus, known here as a bemo. Words across the bumper mean "Broken Generation"





Self-explanatory



Best Looking bus around Ubud.



Great example of hype from the USA. Valentines is big in Bali but the Balinese really haven't got a clue why.



Vegetarian anyone? One of my faves:



First sign leaving the airport:



Self-Explanatory



These men are headed off on a ceremony called "melasti", a pilgrimage to the beach where the whole village will pray for balance & peace. Lots of irony in Bali!

more pix from Bali

Wayan, Kadek & Ducati at the famed rice terraces of Jatiluwih.



RN with friends on "Imlek" or Chinese New Years Day. We went to our friends'Pieter & Lisa's house in the village of Belong. Lisa is a world-class cook & their house is high up on a hill overlooking the jungle.



Close up of the Canteen.



Our cousin Pipit, oldest daughter of Ibu Supri who came to America two years ago. Pipit is now attending university in Yogyakarta, Java.



Onion fields up in the highlands where our friends farm we call "The Pondok" is located.



First person we meet every morning is Kadek the Fruit & Balinese Goodie seller. She, who is about 4'8" & about 14-16 yrs old, is brought with a group of other girls and boys from East Bali to work the streets of the tourist areas. She spends 7 days a week carrying a heavy tray (30lbs) of miscellaneous stuff(boiled corn, boiled bananas, boiled sweet potatoes, balinese cakes, fruits) to sell, walking perhaps 10 miles a day. Her boss houses all the kids in a room in Denpasar, brings them up to Ubud in a truck, collects them at the end of the day. He keeps all the proceeds, paying them a flat salary of about $1.50 a day. On a good day she might sell 10-15 dollars worth of stuff. She gets up at 4am to prepare the food, they arrive in Ubud by 7 and she gets picked up around 4pm. Never mind what you've read about Bali in the guidebooks and silly books like "Eat, Pray, Love": this is the way most people in Bali really live.



Wayan's brother Kadek and Grandpa carving wood for someone's temple. This is the family business though Kadek doubles as a chef at the Grand Mirage in Nusa Dua, Bali's equivalent of Disneyworld, where the Global Warming Conference took place. Speaking of which an interesting note probably not reported in the New York Times: all the speeches and meetings took place not only in air-conditioned 5-star hotels but they even used air-conditioned tents for the overflow...hmmmm



One of the better T-Shirts we've seen



One of the bright lights of Bali, Kadek, a basket weaver from way up in the highland area of Bali where tourists never go. We found Kadek and some other weavers there 3 years ago while researching for Hancock Baskets. The girls, all around 16 then, claimed I was the first "bulay" (white man) they'd ever seen. There are still areas of Bali untouched by the outside world. We've stayed friends with them ever since.



We live next door to the public elementary school. Every morning around 7:30 the kids gather in the courtyard next to school and chant a mantra. We love this sound.

Family, Friends & Other Stuff

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Made Mariasta & Son. Our favorite artist of the Keliki style. See example below. Also a very funny guy and his studio has one of the best views in Bali.







Ducati at Candidasa. Ni Luh Ducati, daughter of our dear friends Kadek Astiti and Gde Sudarma.



Wayan's Dad holding the base for the family "penjor", Bali's equivalent of a Christmas tree, made for Galungan, the most important ceremony of the year. We made it just in time for Galungan this trip.



Wayan and Auntie Nyoman making offerings for Galungan.



Floral Offerings



Round Trays made from "ata" a vine found in Bali and all over Indonesia.



Kitty Tote ...also good for an iguana, turtle, or small turkey



Bali Handy's Tally Board for the latest Hancock Baskets order.



The Three Komangs...sweet and smart. These ladies make the beautiful baskets from "ata".



Laptop's New Button, designed by one of the 3 Komangs at Bali Handy's workshop.



Tenganan friend Nengah (black T-shirt on right) & new baby boy. Nengah is a weaver of double-ikat and lives in the village of Tenganan in East Bali. She, her husband Nyoman and his Dad take friends on amazing hikes through Bali countryside that tourism hasn't reached...yet.



Gunung Agung, the biggest volcano on Bali, home of Besakih the Mother Temple. Very near Tenganan. 10,000 feet high. Last erupted in 1963.



Wayan standing watch with a Bali Policeman



We buy a lot of textile items on a street called Jalan Sulawesi. Most of the shops are owned by minority Muslims and Chinese. Always an adventure shopping here...polite people, hot and crowded, great prices, very different from the popular image of Bali...





On our way to kindergarten