A family praying at the big temple of Sidemen
One of the big events in Bali is Galungan, an important Hindu religious day celebrating victory of good over evil. People in traditional clothes pray and bring lots of offerings to the temples. It looks like a family gathering at the same time. Many households have their own temple or at least a shrine where they put their offerings and burn incense.
The Gunung Agung showing its face at sunrise
We witnessed Galungan while we are in Sidemen, a village about an hour and a half drive from the airport of Denpasar, Bali. In the afternoon of the same important religious day we attended a big cockfight event. This combination of spiritual exercises and the cruelty of the cockfight may puzzle western eyes. The crowd around the arena, all male, gets very excited and makes a lot of noise when the cocks are shown and the bets are made.
A cruel fight with sharp knives
The crowd at the cockfight putting their bets
We stayed in Lihat Sawah – rice field-view. The name of this hotel gives you exactly what it promises. From our bungalow we have a great view on the rice fields in the valley below. In the distance you see hills and villages, swallows are passing by scoring insects in the air and elegant white birds are floating above the rice fields. It is the rainy season and we have half a day of sun and half a day of rain almost all the time during our week’s stay. The advantages during this time of the year are the silence, the range of accommodations you can choose from, and the relatively cool temperatures. After spending a few days in popular places like Sanur and Ubud where it is crowded, it’s nice to cool down. The tourist season for this area is from May till September. Almost every morning when you wake up there is the amazing view on the Gunung Agung, clouds swirling around the top and mist slowly disappearing. The volcano that erupted for the last time in 1963 (1600 people were killed) is the majestic landmark of this area in the northeast. We make long walks around the lush valleys. Let’s say it is a good place to take a rest before travelling further into Indonesia.
Mothers washing clothes and children in the fast running river
