At Elephant’s Cave – Goa Gajah

One interesting place to visit in Bali was Goa Gajah, the 11th century tiny little cave listed on the UNESCO World Heritage sites. As the word of Goa Gajah is anticipated coming from the word of Lwa Gajah, the name of Buddhist Temple or hermitage for Buddhist monk, it was a surprise finding that it was rather a Hindu temple. It was surrounded by the nearby villages and enormous rice paddies.
Once entering in the dark cave narrow passage, it suddenly ends in an intersection. The left passage contains a statue of Ganesh, the Hindu god reminiscent of an elephant. The right passage holds a small worship area with 3 stones (lingam and yoni, symbols of divine procreative energy) in honor of Shiva. So if couples were having reproductions problems that was the place to bring their offerings and pray. But entering in the dark misty cave was not as impressive as looking at it’s demon’s mouth surrounded by old archaeological ruins. While the Patirthaan holy pool centered in the cave courtyard serves as a place to take the holy Tirtha water for Hindu ceremony, and walking further there were signs of entering in the jungle. I was told that many old men, once they reach their retirement age, go to live in the jungle for reaching eternal peace with the natural habitat until they die. Very mystical setting and stories in the Elephant cave.

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At Painter’s Heaven in Ubud

Without even knowing that I was about to visit the only official art school in Ubud, I find myself in front of Semar Kuning Art gallery. A visit to the Balinese art collection sounded thrilling, so here I was at the exact same place where Julia Roberts stayed while shooting the movie “Eat, Pray, Love”. I was excited although I couldn’t meet Ketut (the famous fortune teller that is real and not just a fiction production on “Eat, Pray, Love”), I got to enjoy the authenticity and pleasantness of this place. A cooperative of 100 painters, some working in this temple-looking gallery and others just bringing their work here for sale.

At the entrance hall, the painters were busy working on their masterpieces. That did not impede us on looking closely to their work, a wide collection from traditional to modern and contemporary paintings. These amazingly professional paintings were placed in various exhibitions rooms. As the service was very pleasant, I took my time to go through with an inexplicable desire of buying something to bring back home. Such a tough choice! Finally after one hour hanging out there I made up my mind and got the traditional Balinese girls’ painting. Since no fixed price was set, I could even bargain it, and feel happy to make a small contribution to the painters’ cooperative.

Here’s a photo collection of creative souls who have crossed Bali’s paths  – enjoy the view slideshow!

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Breezy People of Lembongan, Bali

At heart of Bali stay its people. Very friendly, repeatedly wearing a smile, genuinely pleasant, and always curious where you come from. I never came across to such relaxed, casual mannered, breezy folks in my life. I found that pretty striking.

Taking one of this island cruises by a speed boat that lasted 30 mins, we reached the dream beach in Nusa Lembongan island. Less crowded then Bali, a car here and there, crystal blue waters with coral undertone, buttery white sand, all summed by the magic tropical summer that never ends all year. It felt as simple as that – a heaven on earth. A cozy grass-roof hut should do it, at least for three nights…

A walk by the seaside after a stop over at a welcoming Coconut beach bar which soothed our souls with live reggae and fruit explosion juices is the next obvious thing to do. Taking a small turn into the nearby village opens a new door all of the sudden. It’s the entering gate to the local lives of Lembongan. Some little boys selling souvenirs, a man sleeping in the temple, fishermen cleaning their nets, while other farmers are busy drying seaweed as every family owns approximately 3-5 acres of seaweed farming ‘bed’ and earns their living in this non industrial island. The lifestyle of a Hindu which lives in peace and adheres to custom and religious values is the cornerstone of the islanders’ mindset. No wonder why there’s zero crime rate and people are so free spirited in here.

Lets have the photos take the stage and do the talking further. A snapshot on how the life of a villager in Lembongan looks like.  (View Slideshow)

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Mystical and Flavored – Bali’s Incredible Nature (1)

Are you someone who’s easily caught by the mystic flavor and uniqueness of a culture? Then Bali is the place to be. It fits for everyone; lonely souls who want to escape the everyday madness in search of a natural and peaceful habitat, newly weds looking for their dream honeymoon spot, curious minds who want to explore more of planet earth, or neighboring Aussies who throw themselves into those spring break-like Miami parties. And if you’re like me looking for a little bit of everything, Bali is the ideal island with so much to offer.

The very first encounter is the incredible tropical nature. The various kinds of tropical fruits, bananas, palm trees, rice fields, jungle habitat, little animals surfing around are a distinct part of Balinese tropical scenery. What is most interesting are the endless tales or local beliefs circling around. Everything has its own particular story, you name them, trees, plants, houses, temples, animals, and local people. Therefore, I’m tempted to share some of striking stories or moments with you, so lets glance at few highlights:

The Paradise tree or Banyan tree. The myth believed by the locals is that the roots of the Banyan tree represent the demons, the twigs personify the angels, the fruits embody the ancestors and the flowers are offerings to gods.

The Monkey Business @ Monkey Forest. The visit at the Monkey forest was simply mind-blowing not only for it’s spiritual setting, but also for the monkey ruling which makes the monkey business quite unique. There were two groups of monkeys in two different forest territories. The two groups were not allowed to cross check each others territories, otherwise the “monkey war” will set the stage. In addition, the migration law @ the monkey forest were quite severe. If a monkey leaves the forest, its fellow monkeys will not allow a come back at the forest. Once a monkey is out, it’s out forever.

The rice paddies or terraces. What an effort!! Every single rice seed is planted in the field ensuring that it has significant space in between. As the fields need to be absolutely flat in order to conserve water, the rice growing requires continuous flooded field. In some villages I visited in Ubud area I was told that the farmers had to agree on a fixed rice planting period in between 2 months in order to share the irrigation costs. Besides the effort, it was really mind-blowing to see the green rice paddies throughout the country side. Often the Balinese hindu temples were build in those rice paddies to worship Gods and give offerings to Gods.