If you looked at the pictures of the busy tourist section of Bali that we posted yesterday, these pictures will look out of place even though they are of the same harbor. We are going to be exploring a very different Bali today. A beautiful day is upon us.
Today our excursion is Balinese Arts & Crafts, a five-hour tour of several villages, each of which houses artists in a particular craft. Bali has a reputation for highly developed arts, and we received an introduction to traditional dance and music last night. Today we will visit sites for painting, furniture making, woodcarving, silver and jewelry making and Batik. We already know in advance that this as much a shopping experience as a cultural experience, but that’s okay.
We board our bus right around 8:30am, and we meet our very unique and interesting guide Gunawan (“you can call me Gon”). The first thing he did was to hand out a map! Yay! We love maps, and it will help us to remember where we went.
The first thing Gon does is apologize for the traffic and how it will slow our progress. Actually, after Manila, the traffic doesn’t seem all that heavy. It moves along, and all the motorbikes remind me of Manila, Vietnam and India. They are everywhere. Gon says that up to five people can ride on one: two parents and three kids.
Got (he is with Cathy in the picture at the beginning of this post) first gives us a bit of information on the indigenous people – he calls them mountain people – from the northeastern part of the island near one of the two active volcanoes on the island. As small as the island is (140 kilometers east-west and 90 kilometers north-south), they are still in an area that is quite remote.
As we travel to our first stop, here is some of the information he gives us:
- The name Bali comes from “wali” which means ceremonies. Balinese Hinduism is full of ceremonies. Our guide will go on to discuss these religious beliefs throughout our tour, which is why I describe him as unique. The religion defines much of the uniqueness of the Bali culture. It has tremendous influence in how the villages are constructed, how the arts are such an important part of the culture, and why the extended family is central to life in the villages.
- The banyan tree flourishes in many equatorial countries, Bali included. It is considered sacred in Hinduism, occupied by a spirit.
- Bali is also known for its production of rice. The large plantations are in the center of the island, but even in the small villages through which we are driving on the southwest coast, there are small – as in often less than an acre – fields of rice growing, right in between stores or behind houses or stores.
- Two types of rice are grown in Bali. “Old” rice yields two crops a year. The “new” rice yields three crops per year. Because of the climate, there is no particular time of year to plant. Rice is a staple in the diet of every Balinese person. The per capita consumption is 140 kilograms; elsewhere it is 50 kilograms.
- There is a rice goddess in Balinese Hinduism and offerings are made to her at temples to insure a good harvest.
- It is becoming difficult to find people who are willing to be rice farmers. It is hot, backbreaking work now mostly done by older people or foreign workers. There are many more “Japanese cows” now – i.e., tractors.
- We arrive at the beginning of the dry season. Monsoons arrive from the west from October through April, although the heaviest rain falls from December through March. The temperature is relatively the same year round; it is the humidity that varies.
- Indonesia has 34 provinces and Gon tells us there are 17,000 islands in the archipelago.Borneo is the largest island and has the most natural resources; Sumatra is second and is where snakes, tigers and elephants can be found; Java is third largest and is the island to the west of Bali. Jakarta the capital is there.
- Indonesia has the fourth largest population of all the countries on earth, behind China, India and the United States. That seems incredible to us, given how little we know about this country.
- Bali’s population is growing rapidly. Twenty-five years ago, only 2 million lived on the island. Now it is over 4 million and increasing steadily.
- As we go along, Gon mentions some of the tenets of his religion. My notes are a bit sketchy but here is what I have: He mentions that there is much concerning maintaining a balance between good and bad, black and white, yin and yang. Two offering are made to the good spirit placed in the temple shrine. Two other offerings are made to the bad spirit, placed on the ground. There are four guardian spirits: north, east, south and west. Karma plays a significant place in everyday life. How you live this life will be a big determinant in what your next life will be.
- The structure of how Bali life is structured revolves around family compounds. These are very much extended families we are talking about; at least three generations will live within this walled compound. It is laid out to very strict rules. For instance, the family temple is located in the northeast corner and the kitchen in the southwest corner. There are many other fascinating rules based on Balinese Hinduism. I won’t go into further detail, but you can go here for a description of this important cultural part of Balinese life: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balinese_traditional_house.
- Formerly there was a strict caste system in Bali, which has since been very much deemphasized – and practically ignored by young people whose education has made them much more skeptical of such things. At the top were religious figures, then warriors, then business people and finally common people. Titles were given to the first three. Gon explained that his full name has four parts, in this order: title, gender, birth order and first name.
Well, we could have listened to this man all day. He has so much to offer on Balinese culture. But we are on a tour to be acquainted with five art forms in five villages, so here is how our tour unfolds:
Painting: In the village of Peliatan, there are many residences where painters set up shop. We stop at the Semar Kunig 1 Artist Cooperative. We browse through hundreds of pieces of art in a large variety of styles and subjects. Steve is struck by one particular piece and, after a bit of negotiation (“This is $250.” Steve stays silent. “Perhaps I can reduce this price because the painting is by my brother. The price will be $200.” Steve: “Deal.” Steve wasn’t exactly Mr. Tough Guy.)
Bamboo Furniture Making: We didn’t get the name of this small factory that we toured, but it was in the village of Bona. All I could think of is “Ah, I feel like I’m in a Pier One Imports store.” Not exactly New England furnishings, but it is fun to learn about bamboo and watch someone making it into furniture.
Wood Carving: This place, located in the village of Kemenuh, is huge. It is actually a whole series of buildings. We wander around looking at the amazing work that the artists produced, watch a couple of artists at work, and then stroll around the beautiful grounds where some of it was displayed. Some of the pieces are enormous and must have taken the artist a lifetime to produce. Very impressive but, again, not our style. Get a chance to sit and talk with Gon while others shop.
Batik cloth and clothing: What this is can best be described by stealing this quote from Wikipedia: “a technique of wax-resist dyeing applied to whole cloth, or cloth made using this technique originated from Indonesia. Batik is made either by drawing dots and lines of the resist with a spouted tool called a canting, or by printing the resist with a copper stamp called a cap. The applied wax resists dyes and therefore allows the artisan to colour selectively by soaking the cloth in one colour, removing the wax with boiling water, and repeating if multiple colours are desired.
A tradition of making batik is found in various countries; the batik of Indonesia, however, may be the best-known. Indonesian batik made in the island of Java has a long history of acculturation, with diverse patterns influenced by a variety of cultures, and is the most developed in terms of pattern, technique, and the quality of workmanship.”
We could spend a fortune in this store (located in the village of Tohpati – along with many others producing the same work). The cloth is beautiful and soft, the artwork is phenomenal, and the variety endless. It takes everything we could muster to purchase just one thing and then find our way out the door before we lost our self-discipline.
We walk outside and watch one of the artisans at work. Another one is drawing small batik designs on some of our fellow guest’s clothing. Never do get the name of the place. Maybe we will eventually find the receipt.
Silver work: The village of Selik is crowded with these small workshops with large retail shops attached. It is a very big industry in Bali. We watch three people working and then make a quick tour of the shop. Not being jewelry people, making a purchase was highly unlikely, so we leave the store while others shop. Another opportunity to sit with our guide Gon and chat. We talk about how we would like to come back to Bali to learn more about this captivating culture. Gon is a free-lance guide, we find out, and does mostly private tours rather than these bus tours. We get his contact information for the future.
An observation from Cathy: Each shop was next to the family compound of the family that did the work/ owned the shop. These compounds were just lovely! Many flowers and peaceful seating areas here and there next to the buildings, which were laid out in a square around a central open area. I guess the weather is so nice there that everything can be open most of the time. Even the dining table and chairs were outside, under a pavilion/pagoda type thing. Also, as a part of their religion, each family makes a small bouquet each day and places it in the entrance to the compound and to each area of the compound. The bouquets get crushed by feet and cars and are replaced the next morning. There are small flower arrangements all over the place in these compounds, as well as gorgeous plantings in every corner. Each place was just beautiful, and so peaceful.
We are done with our shopping and culture tour, and it is time to return to the ship. We make one more stop, to take photographs of this enormous statue. My notes say King’s Rama Statue, but that is all the information I have. The statue is indeed impressive and is based on Indian mythology. Monkeys play an important role. You would think Wikipedia would be a good guide, but I don’t even have enough information for that to be a source. I think we are shopped out.
We return to the ship and get a bite to eat at the Waves Grill. The ship casts off lines at 4:00pm and Steve is up on Deck 10 with others who are doing the same thing: photographing the scenery.
Off in the distance is a ship of some kind – so far away that we can only make out that it’s gray. It is just sort of drifting around, going one way and then turning around. Makes for good conversation with an Australian couple and a German tourist. I take some photos so that I can blow them up later to see more. It turns out to be a French Navy Assault Ship.
Time for a nap and then dinner. Bali was as much fun and as interesting as we anticipated. Cathy and Steve start planning on coming back, including figuring out what other places on this side of the world we want to see again. And how to avoid those sixteen-hour airplane flights that so many people on this segment have endured in order to reach the ship. Without heavy sedation of some sort, we don’t think we could sit that long in a long aluminum tube going 550 miles per hour.
Tomorrow we will be at Komodo Island, Indonesia to view the Komodo dragon in its natural environment. We can’t wait to send photos of these creatures to our grandchildren!
