Jan 31 – Bali and Ubud

It’s a lovely day again to day.  It rained last night but is clear and sunny this morning.  What a serene looking morning.

We have a long day of driving and sightseeing today.  On our way to Ubud we drove past the Vihara Satya Dharma temple…a modern Chinese temple devoted to the “Three Teachings” of Chinese folk religion. Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism.  It was a quick shot through the window but turned out remarkably well.

In the far distance we could see a gigantic statue, the Garuda Wisnu Kencana.  It is 400 feet tall and is the tallest statue of a Hindu deity and the tallest statue in Indonesia and weighs 4000 tons.  It was made in pieces and was assembled using cranes.  It can be seen for miles around.  We never had a chance to actually see it up close during our stay in Bali.

Our first stop was the Bajra Sandhi Monument.  It is new (1987) and is a monument to the struggles of the Balinese people throughout history. 

Views from the back of the monument.

Beautiful gardens surrounded the monument.

 

And there were lots of interesting details.

The drive was filled with interesting sights...lots of temples (or temple/shrine like buildings)

statues,

this interesting "art piece" made of traffic lights.

lots of flags (they are entering their elections and the political parties are planting their flags as campaigns),

lots of motorcycles,

and general stuff.

Most memorable were the vast number of small shops lining the roads.  Some are geared to tourists but our guide indicated that stretches of the shops are for business tourism…where businesses come looking to buy items in large quantities. 

There were a lot of shops with woven grass goods,

furniture manufacturers,

pottery and mosaic pieces,

wooden carvings and decorative pieces,

lots of vegetable and fruit stands

and just a wide variety of stuff.

We visited a painters gallery.  The co-op supports many artists and the variety of art styles was vast.  We loved many of the pieces.  We watched an artist apply heavy paint with a small pointed "trowel" to a painting.  The application gave the look of clumps of ripened rice.  We especially loved these pictures.

Alas, we have no room for any art on our walls at home so we just wandered the galleries

and took lots of pictures of the beautiful artwork.

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More Bali Art
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Next stop was a wood carvers cooperative.  Again, many wood carvers are supported by the gallery.  The main types of wood used are ebony, mahogany, hibiscus, and crocodile (a wood with a creamy interior and a spiky bark).  No photos allowed in the shop so minimal pictures.  But there was lots to see and admire. 

We saw rice fields in several places during our drive.

One of the highlights of the day was a visit to the rice terraces of Ubud.  They have become a big tourist attaction (thanks to many travel “influencers”).  The area and concessions are all owned by the local village so the tourists are a major source of income.  

Besides paying for parking you can pay to zipline across the small valley, swing on large swings, 

or bike across on cables.  

We did none of the above.  Too bad it was so touristy but the valley is still very beautiful.

Next stop was the Sacred Monkey Forest (Mandala Suci Wenara Wana).  The entrance was guarded by two very formidable demons?/gods?. 

The wooded area had lovely walkways,

lots of moss covered statues,

a small temple,

and lots of monkeys.  

There were feeding stations around the park where monkeys had access to sweet potatoes. 

One monkey was even drinking from/playing in a water fountain.

And a very young, adorable baby.

From there we went to the Ubud Royal Palace. Most of the buildings date from after 1917 as an earthquake demolished most of the original buildings.  The royal family still lives in the compound but as the country is now a democracy the royal family has no official function.

Across from the palace was a large market selling mostly tourist goods.

We also stopped at the Tegenungan Waterfall.  It is a lovely waterfall but we weren’t interested in the large number of steps going down to the falls.  So we just viewed it from the view points. 

Several times during the drive we could see Mount Agung in the distance. 

It was rather hot and humid today but it was a really good day of sightseeing.