Nestled in Australia's backyard, this little island has charmed world-renowned surfers, furniture designers, architects, and spa aficionados with its unique culture and natural wonders.
Known as "Island of the Gods" a legend spoke of a great paradise for the gods that was formed on the back of the turtle god. Although 90% of Indonesia are Muslim, that 10% happened to be Hindi and reside in Bali. Statues of Hindi gods, goddesses and mythical creatures graced the streets as can be seen in this picture we took at the town square.
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| Desa Adat Penglipuran Bangli |
I was particularly impressed with how nice the bed looked. I've never seen a hanging mosquito net look so elegant before. They don't make them like this back in the States but they should, repelling mosquitos while you sleep can be done with style.
But as you can see, there is really no distinction between outdoors and indoors in typical Balinese and tropical houses in general. The natural sunlight is the key element that ties these designs together bringing about a very cohesive design factor.
These statues and umbrella is symbolic of Balinese culture and mythology and it wouldn't be Bali without this two guys and their trusty umbrellas. One word of advice is to hire a local driver to take you around, you can hire them for the day and it is well worth it.
Balinese art is a thriving industry and it wouldn't be unusual to run into a fellow artist who has taken a life's interest in exploring and dealing Balinese art. We saw many raw materials and furniture during our trip to the outskirts of Bali.
One element of Balinese design that caught our eye were the beautiful Balinese doors that were meticulously carved into a beautiful designs. Note to potential home buyer, forget French doors, a Balinese door will definitely bump up the value of your house.
"Bebek" is the Balinese word for duck, and yes duck is a popular dish here in Bali. We stopped by this spot in hopes of tasting Bali's most prized cuisine. I don't remember if we actually ate here or only stopped for pictures, but I do remember that fried succulent duck melting in my mouth.
Duck is popular here and you can even see ducks resting over the rice fields, mmmm duck over rice anyone? Here I am enjoying the view of our dining terrace overlooking the rice fields. And I don't remember that creepy statue being when I took that picture, just hope it didn't follow me home.
We had a chance to really immerse ourselves into the local culture and visited the temple city on the way to Ubud. It is tradition to wear a traditional sarong provided by the temple upon entering the sacred grounds and that goes for us men as well.
Trying to play off that cool guy look in a sarong doesn't work anywhere but here in this temple. We got a chance to see the daily cleansing ceremony where the locals each bath in the holy waters from the natural spring underneath the temple.
There are roughly twelve spouts flowing with holy water and the locals have to stop at each spout to cleanse. We were able to witness a precession from the locals and get a first hand look at authentic Balinese customs in action.
