Holy Springs we made an offering!

Selamat Malam!

Enjoyed the exotic Gamelan orchestra and Legong dance last night - the dancers told a story about a beautiful maiden taken by a king which then lead to some drama and a battle - lots of darting eyes, finger movements and colourful costumes.

This morning headed off to Tirta Empul the Holy Springs discovered in AD 962 and believed to have magical powers - so we braved the communal change rooms and squat toilets and changed into swimmers and sarongs to have a dip - so beware we now have mystical powers which we will bring back to Kiama.

On returning to Ubud we did a class in making the gorgeous daily offerings which the Balinese make using coconut leaves and flowers. They leave them on shines in their homes, in the paddy fields and outside their businesses as an offering to their Bali Hindu Gods. The Balinese believe that they be created with a spirit of thankfulness and attention to detail - the skill that goes into them is incredible for such disposable pieces of art. We made some simple Canang Sari and Penjor.

Will be riding elephants tomorrow and checking out the nightly return of the white herons to Petulu village.

Selamat tinggal!

The Monkey's attacked!

Wandered down to Monkey Forest and explored the temples surrounded by troups of monkeys - the kids were terrified a few of them jumped on me and Hollander. Then we walked the hot bustling streets of Ubud and had a great lunch at the Lotus cafe next to the Pura Taman Saraswati (the water palace) which is just beautiful with lots of pink lotus flowers and fish swimming around. The clan then ventured into the Ubud craft markets and got harassed for a few trinkets. We all tried our hand at carving a wood turtle and will be venturing out tonight for a dance performance.

Selamat Malam!

We've arrived!

After about 12 hours of travelling - up at 5.30 - we arrived our time about 6.00pm (Bali is 3 hours behind). We are in the dry season but it is hot and humid with storm clouds looming.

We got out of the hustle and bustle of Denpasar and made our way to Ubud though congested narrow streets lined with craft workshops - stone & wood carvings, basket and roof thatching, temples, locals going about there own business, and a car accident which knocked a local and killed a dog which wasn't moved so traffic had to go around. As we approached Ubud the rice paddy fields increased and the lush tropical landscape emerged.

The resort is beautiful 'Komaneka at Monkey Forest' has a discreet entrance off Monkey Forest road one of the main shopping strips in Ubud which goes past its name sake and temples.

The kids love the geckos, fish filled ponds, the infinity pool on the edge of a jungle gorge and the flowers, they are also enjoying the attention from using Indonesian pleasantries with the locals. We woke this morning on our time so about 4am Bali hopefully we will adjust soon. Will venture out today and explore the Monkey Forest and try and see a Balinese dance at Ubud Palace tonight.

Selamat Tinggal!

Packing and trialing the 'blog post'

Selamat Pagi! We are actively packing and trying to downsize almost impossible when you've got kids wanting to take more, at least consuming chocolate helps. We leave tomorrow about 6am for Sydney and hope to arrive in Bali about 2pm (jokes about Garuda were very reassuring - thanks Megan). The Petersen clan is then heading inland to the mountain town of Ubud to take in the rice paddy fields, craft & traditional dancing then we are going to Sanur and Legian both beach side towns. We are away for a two week odyssey, now I going to upload a photo, this blogging thing isn't too hard.
Bye for now,

Susan and the clan