A LEISURELY KIND OF DAY!

This sweet young Balinese lady made her rounds this morning with offerings.  She placed them EVERYWHERE around our little boutique hotel!  Like we’ve said before, Balinese Hinduism is all about superstitions, ceremonies, traditions, spirits, and is TOTALLY BAFFLING!  Read about it here: BALI TRADITIONS and here:  BALINESE RELIGION. 

We enjoyed a leisurely breakfast, alone in the dining area, looking out at the nearly empty streets.

After breakfast, we took a leisurely stroll to The Sacred Monkey Forest Sanctuary.  WOW!  It was a beautiful park, filled with moss covered statues, magnificent trees, babbling brooks, temples, and MONKEYS!  Lots of Balinese long-tailed monkeys called Macaques!  They were so much fun to watch in their natural environment!

After our leisurely morning in Ubud, we booked our driver from yesterday’s tour, Wayan, to take us back to Seminyak.  For the entire one and a half hour trip, he talked about the Balinese Hindu culture, traditions, karma, spirits, demons, etc. etc. etc.!!!  You would NOT believe the stories he told!

For example, when Balinese people die they are buried in the ground.  The village where Wayan lives holds a mass cremation every five years.  When the cremation is held, all the people that died in the previous years are dug up and all the bodies are cremated in a huge ceremony!  He had pictures.  Pictures don’t lie!  Read about it here:  BALINESE CREMATIONS

Another example he talked about is how male children will remain in the family home for their entire life.  Family homes are never sold because they have the family temple in the courtyard and temples cannot be moved.  In addition, there is significance to where everything is positioned in the family compound.  BALINESE FAMILY HOMES

First born sons are all given the name “Wayan” and the second sons are called “Made,” for example.  Balinese give their children birth order names.  Read all about it here:  BALINESE NAMES

Of course, John and I can’t remember everything he told us, but believe us when we tell you that living in Bali as a practicing Hindu is COMPLICATED!  We would venture to guess, that no where else in the world is there a culture so steeped in superstitions and rituals!

We walked to another great restaurant called Kin Seminyak for dinner.  It was delicious and the staff was super friendly!  It was easy to abide by the new social distancing norm that is now in place worldwide, as the place was nearly empty.

Evening rituals and offerings were underway when we arrived.

We had a leisurely morning in Ubud, followed by a leisurely evening in Seminyak!  Although both villages have totally different personalities, they share one thing in common right now...their streets are bare, their restaurants are empty, and their shops are vacant.  The Coronavirus has hit the island and the only ones that ARE NOT participating in social distancing are the monkeys!