Bali – Two Festivals and an Underwater Adventure

8th March, 2019

Yesterday was Nyepi Day (as well as my sister, Lala’s, birthday – Happy Birthday!!!!!). Now I am sure you all understand what a birthday is, but you might be unfamiliar with Nyepi Day, which is pretty much unique to Bali, as far as I am aware. It is the Balinese New Year, a different day each year, as it is based on the lunar calendar and so may I wish you a happy 1941 as the Balinese Saka calendar originates in South India and is 78 years behind the Gregorian calendar. The next Nyepi is on 25th March, 2020. Now, I will tell you more about this rather unusual day soon, but I can fill you in on what else we have been up to between our day at the Taman Nusa Cultural Park and now. We have ‘days off’ every now and then, which effectively mean lounging by the pool, swimming, playing Scrabble and cards, reading, eating and having a massage or two.

However, there was a bit of an event last Sunday, when some of the local villagers gathered on the beach to make offerings to the gods. Now that makes it sound like a few Balinese maybe scattering a few flowers, but no. This ceremony only happens once every 10 years and ‘a few’ meant thousands, all dressed up in their very best costumes bringing huge amounts of offerings from cooked pigs to flowers and fruit. It was pretty warm, but everyone (other than Val and me) looked cool and beautiful and waited patiently for the ceremony to start. Lots of music and chanting and colour and, unexpectedly, gambling on games of chance. We had chats with a few of the families who were very friendly and inclusive – and delightedly surprised when Val used her Bahasa to chat with them. In case you are not aware, Malaysia and Indonesia share the same language, Bahasa Malayu and Bahasa Indonesia and can therefore understand each other. Lots of photo opportunities, as you can imagine. I have tried to be selective (there are over 100 photos you are not seeing!)

We also had a fun day at one of the local attractions. We were picked up from the hotel at about 9.15 and driven to where we were to board a submarine that takes you out for about an hour of underwater fun. We expected there to be quite a crowd (it can take 36 passengers, I believe), but as it turned out, there were only the two of us and a few staff members (and the guy driving the sub), so we had plenty of room and excellent views out of the windows.

There was not a huge amount of coral where we went, but plenty of fish, helped by sort of feeders by some of the windows that gave out bubbles and fish food, which made things a bit easier. Unfortunately it was not a particularly sunny day, so visibility could have been better, but it was still good enough and better than the photos tend to show. No idea what the names of the fishes are, but we did see a turtle (you may have to trust me on that as it doesn’t show up very well in the photo), a wreck and some scuba divers. The sub submerges to a depth of about 100 feet and the experience is rather unusual, not claustrophobic and we would happily have stayed longer, but sadly we had to head back to shore for lunch (included in the price). This turned out to be enough to feed at least 8 people, but we did our best before heading back to the hotel. All in all, a good day out.

OK I promised that I would fill you in on Nyepi Day and I am delighted to do so now. Of course, before New Year’s Day, you have New Year’s Eve and the same is true here in Bali. It is a bit different to the drinking and fireworks we are used to in the West (no Auld Lang Syne!) and preparations for it start quite a few weeks earlier when each village will make two or more Ogoh-Ogoh, which are giant papier-mache dolls, symbolizing greedy demons, with bulging eyes, huge fangs, big bellies and long sharp nails. The eve before Nyepi, around sunset, each village parades in the streets, carrying their creations on bamboo platforms with lots of music (the bing, bang, bong variety largely) and dancing, with each village sort of sporting their own ‘colours’. We have a village (more of a compound) across the lane leading to the hotel and they sort of competed with the one on the other side of the main road with dancing and music. The whole road is closed for quite some time (a problem if you want to go anywhere, not least as, probably, villages were doing the same thing all the way along it).

 

Everyone really enjoyed themselves and seemed to be having a great time, from the youngest to the oldest with each village either dressed up to the nines, especially the dancers or wearing the same T shirt. Again, I could have uploaded another 100 photos, but here is the select few.

Now, as mentioned earlier, this was merely the eve of Nyepi, which is also known as the day of silence, which runs from 6.00 am yesterday to 6.00 am today. This is a big deal on Bali and they do not take it lightly. The whole 24 hours is spent at home, no work, cooking, electricity or fire, TV or internet or going out. There are even people out and about to ensure no one else is out and about and you can get heavily fined if you are – even tourists. Even the airport is closed! So we were all confined to the hotel, where they were at least running a limited staff as a concession to the tourist trade, though our supper was a buffet that had to be eaten by candlelight and finished by 8.00pm. No internet, though, which is why I am posting this today, our last full day in Bali. Off the Kuala Lumpur on tomorrow.