Friday, September 21, 2007

BALI - CLOSING THE CIRCLE

CANDIDASA, KLUNGKUNG, RICE FIELDS AND UBUD - SEPTEMBER 2005



"CANDI BEACH COTTAGE is a nice, quiet and relaxing hotel located amidst palm trees directly on the beach of Candi Dasa at Mendira Bay on the East Coast of Bali with great views of neighbouring islands"



"KUSAMBA - The coastal village of Kusamba, whose inhabitants live mainly by fishing and salt production, is one of the embarkation points to the islands of Nusa Penida, Nusa Lembongan, and Nusa Ceningan. The beach is amazingly covered with the rests of the funerary ceremonies. Don't mention the smell in the nearby fish market..."



"KLUNGKUNG - The Klungkung Palace was built by the Dewa Agung dynasty in 1710. Most of Bali’s royal families came from the old Klungkung dynasty, which ruled Bali from the 17th century through 1908, when a royal mass suicide (puputan) occurred against Dutch invaders. Most of the original palace and grounds were destroyed by those Dutch attacks. The existing palace, called Semara Pura, contains a large square with courtyards, gardens, pavilions and moats. Stone walls with water lilies in the moat surround the beautiful complex"



"KLUNGKUNG KERTHA GOSA - This was the Supreme Court of the Klungkung kingdom. The Hall of Justice, located within the grounds of Semara Pura, is an open sided pavilion with the ceiling completely covered with paintings telling the story of Bhima Swarga. They were originally done on cloth, but had to be replaced in the 1920s as the cloth deteriorated; they were repainted again in the 1960s"



"BACK TO SCHOOL - On our way to the rice fields, we visited a primary school. It was amazing to observe the excitement of the young boys and girls seeing foreign tourists visiting their class"



"RICE FIELDS - Bali has probably some of the most beautiful rice fields in the the world. It's an orgy of green!"


"MAS is a village specializing in woodcarvings of any kind. Most of the prominent wood-carvers of Bali dwell in Mas, producing fine woodcarvings and this is where they teach the young generation to carve"


"BATIK - Having my shorts painted"


"GAMELAN ORCHESTRA - According to Wikipedia «a gamelan is a kind of musical ensemble of Indonesian origin typically featuring a variety of instruments such as metallophones, xylophones, drums, and gongs; bamboo flutes, bowed and plucked strings, and vocalists may also be included. The term refers more to the set of instruments than the players of those instruments. A gamelan as a set of instruments is a distinct entity, built and tuned to stay together — instruments from different gamelan are not interchangeable»"





"UBUD ROYAL PALACE - Ubud, «the global and multicultural» village, is a tranquil town that has been able to preserve its unique and rich natural and cultural legacies, and is considered as Bali's finest example of a culture-based tourist destination. The beginnings of cultural tourism have been linked to the Ubud royal families of Puri Ubud. From the late 19th century to the mid-1940s, the Royal Palace was the seat for the local ruler. It's a series of well-preserved pavilions, many of them decorated with colonial-era European furniture"




"CAFE LOTUS is a landmark in Ubud, the centre of Balinese culture. Located on the main road, is Ubud's most spectacular restaurant, where you may dine the Asian way seated on bamboo mats, overlooking lotus flowers in bloom. The setting is magnificent even by Balinese standards: a large lotus pond framed by ancient flowering trees with one of Ubud's main temple complex, Pura Taman Kemuda Saraswati, serving as a backdrop"


"DRAGON at Cafe Lotus. Twice a week you may dine while watching performances of traditional Balinese dances and gamelan orchestras"

29 comments:

Shionge said...

What a wonderful trip GMG and the locals are very friendly people too. I can see the children are very happy to have you in school with them :D

Thanks for the memory too, I've enjoyed my last trip to Bali too.

Let me know when you visit Singapore I would love to meet you and your wife :D

S-V-H said...

Thank you GMG,

for sharing with us this wonderful trip and to bring so many very nice pictures into our homes to enjoy. It's like a virtual travel with you and your wife!

Emilieee said...

Lovely photos. Seems like you had a greatttt time with your wife in Bali. I can see the smiles of the small kids from the local school in Bali. I've been longing to visit to Bali. But now, at least the photos can keep me from "thirsty" for a while.

Thanks for sharing the photos! =)

Anonymous said...

seeing places, meeting people - I have to say thanks too for sharing with us images and words. have a great weekend!

inspired said...

looks fantastic wish i was there ;]
have a great week-end also my friend

Peter said...

Once more impressed and especially touched by the photos from the school! Do you "study" a lot before going somewhere, or when you are there, or when you are back? ... or maybe all of that? When I make a far away trip, I would hate to learn when I'm back that I missed something essential. On the other hand you can't see "everything".

Jo's-D-Eyes said...

GmG,
Wonderfull information about BALI Thanks!!!!!and the photo's illustrating it very well, You make me wanna go earlier but I think that THE BEST time to go to Bali is our summertime right? ( I mean july august?)What would you advise is the best time to go?

We first go this year to Italy -Taormina /Sicilia ,and later we'll go to France/Paris, so this year wil not be an option.(luxury problem ha!)

(please answer on my blog'comments?)

Thanks also for your comments:)
I posted a cows B&W collage today:)
Have a great weekend !
JoAnn :)

Chica, Cienna, and Cali said...

Fascinating!!!!

Dsole said...

ala.... this is soo awesome!
uit seemes that you have a great and complete trip, not just looking but interacting with people from there!
I love the orgy of green...
man, you and your wife are both really lucky!

Nikon said...

A really great series, I like the shot of you in the classromm :)

isa said...

What a feast for the eyes! Bali seems very lush...Love the lotus pond.
Do you still have your Batik-ed shorts? ;-)

CaBaCuRl said...

Always so much to catch up on when I get back to BlogWorld. I think I remember some very blood-thirsty paintings around the Supreme Court. I find the music of the gamelan to be really hypnotic and meditative...I like it a lot.

lv2scpbk said...

Your trips always sound so wonderful. I can only hope someday to go everywhere you have been.

Aditi said...

fabulous.. u make bali truly come to life with your pictures and descriptions

Anonymous said...

WoW...some really Awesome, candid shots once again as usual and it was also wonderful learning a bit about the cultures and customs there...You have presented Bali excellently to us...Nice job!

Anonymous said...

Thank you for taking also me with your journey to Bali :))
And greetings also to your lovely lifelong companion!

Still waiting for getting with you to Greece!

Pijush said...

Wow nice shots, I liked all of them but special mention to the Lotus pic. Waiting for your Greece pics.

Ming the Merciless said...

The stone carvings are amazing. Were you guys there with a tour group?

Lakshmi said...

Lovely pictures and some great information...I started getting nostalgic about the trip to Bali made 13 years ago ..I dont remember where i stayed but it was on the beach and we did visit the batik factory and the wood carvings -thanks for bringing back the memories- I need to look for the pictures though

Anonymous said...

So pleased to have you visit my blog. Which of course led me to yours and then an hour browsing your incredible blog. Amazing! Thank you for a fabulous experience. ~ Lynn

Neva said...

This looks like a lovely vacation place!

Lynette said...

The lotus photo is exceptional. I also especially like the DRAGON.

Thanks for visiting my blog Portland (OR) Daily Photo.

Anonymous said...

Hi everybody. One question for Blogger experts commenting on this post: I removed some labels from previous posts; the problem is that I was not able to remove such labels that no longer link to any post from the label list. So now when you hit one of those labels it links you nowhere, but still remains there. Any tip on how to get rid of them for good? Thanks in advance.

Hi Shionge,
Balinese people are truly friendly, and the visit to the school was an achievement! My next post will pay a short tribute to Singapore. It was the last time we’re there, on our way back from Bali. I’ll sure let you know, the next time we’ll stop by. But, if by any chance you’re travelling to Europe, don’t miss Lisbon...
Have a great week!

Susanne,
Emily,
Lara,
Inspired,
Thanks. I’m glad that you enjoyed, and that it helped to calm down the Bali “thirst” for a while!

Peter,
You’re right: before, during and after. When I had much more time to travel and prepare travelling, usually the trips became somehow a recognition visit... I remember the first time in NYC I new already where to take the subway, depending on heading north or south…, which is something that usually you don’t need to care with in Europe. Now, I try to read something before, learn much more during and have some disappointments after...

JoAnn,
I always answer your blog comments; sometimes it may take a while… ;)
OK, Bali, Taormina, Paris… luxury problem actually! ;))
You’re right: the right time for Bali is our summertime. However, this period, together with Christmas, is the peak season. Temperatures in Bali are always over the upper 20s to low 30s Celsius. The rainy season lasts from October to April; and the hottest months are February, March, and April!
Taormina is superb, terrific, outstanding, and spectacular!!! I’ve a few pictures in a post named Travelling in Sicilia… (label Taormina).

Moi,
Thanks!

Dsole,
Luck? "Audaces Fortuna Juvat"! ;)

Nikon,
Thanks. Glad to see that Papa’s blog is alive...

Isabella,
You’re right: lush!
I still have those shorts Batik-ed! Careful cleaning... One of these days I’ll take another picture!

Cabacurl,
The paintings at the Supreme Court are absolutely stunning, and the gamelan music superb. Well, at least I enjoyed it very much!

Lv2,
May all your wishes come true!
Some years ago, when I used to travel a lot, some friends would say that the huge difference was that I "had been" everywhere... ;))

Aditi,
Kalyan,
Thanks.

Leena,
Pijush,
Thanks. I’m a bit late on posting; as you see I’m still in September 2005, so Greece will probably still take some time. Anyhow, I’ve already some posts on Greek Islands (label Greece) and also on Greece at the Blogtrotter 70s & 80s.

Ming,
We traveled independent, but joined a small group for the Bali tour; great people, mostly from France and Belgium.

Backpakker,
Glad to bring back good memories.

Lynn,
Thanks. Glad to make something of interest!

Neva,
You’re absolutely right...

Niki-chan,
Puputan, that’s what happened in 1908!
Guida thanks for the compliment!
We are not in the foster parents plan, but our group had some school materials we wanted to give to a village school; that’s how we manage to visit it... Actually, we visited the whole village!
Have a great week Niki!

My Unfinished Life said...

nice pics....!!

Anonymous said...

Shooting star,
Thanks!

Cuckoo said...

Awesome pictures. You have made Bali a different world!!

Anonymous said...

Hi Cuckoo,
glad to see you back here, and thanks for the comment!
Have a great week!

Sigma said...

Lovely, informative post. The palaces ae very beautiful, and the view at the cafe is excellent.
The paintings from the justice hall are so detailed and beautiful. It is indeed a pleasure to see them preserved so well.

Anonymous said...

Sigma,
Thanks.
Klungkung, besides having been a historical place with an incredible importance in the Balinese society, has one of the most beautiful tourist spots in Bali.