In Bali, Bathing

I'm not really a beach town kind of a girl. Maybe its that I'm from Colorado, where beaches are minimal, oceans are out of sight, and humidity is nonexistent. Anyway, they aren't really my thing, but we started our time Bali at the beach town of Canggu (pronounced Changu) primarily because Shadie's cousin now lives there, but more on that later!

It was a seven hour train, in crowded economy seating, followed by an hour ferry ride, and a three hour drive by the time we made it from Malang to Canggu, so we were ready to sit still for a minute and observe.

We observed that Canggu is virtually exploding with expats, eating establishments, and every kind of high-end exercise imaginable. Having left behind the conservative muslim island of Java to the more easy-going Hindu Island, these expats were wearing mostly matching spandex bathing suits and workout outfits.

I might have jived on these vibes had it not been for the lack of sidewalks on narrow streets and hundreds of zooming scooters. This combination meant that walking almost anywhere in Canggu was a pretty stress inducing experience.

As scooting is the only viable way to get around, I felt quite lucky that Shadie is decent scooter driver, having owned one in California when we lived there. We rented our own Scoot, (a Honda Scoopy was the brand), and joined the fray, Shadie with caution and me hanging on behind with barely contained anxiety.

Most of our days in Canggu went as follows. A work out, Shadie mostly at Crossfit style gyms and I mostly at yoga studios, followed by brunch at restaurants with foods targeted directly at the health-conscious, surfer hippie expat crowd (superfood juices, high end granola, eggs on sour-dough, avocado toast, etc. and mostly all very tasty especially the tropical fruits). The afternoons were hit or miss, but usually hit on getting a rainstorm, and if not rain it was very hot, so we'd lay low before heading out to dinner and a short walk along the beach before bed. We spent five days here, before moving inland to Ubud for a few days, which was a little calmer and a little less beach-bod heavy, making it a bit more up my alley (especially since these alley streets usually had sidewalks!).

We did take time to see a number of Hindu temples while in Bali, which was a definite highlight. Bali is known as the land of a thousand temples. Their brand of Hinduism is quite different than what I was familiar with in India. We learned that there are actually three kinds of temples: family temples, community temples, and public temples. The family temples are, in fact, just for the family, and are adjacent virtually every residence, often behind the home (and on the east side if possible to face the holy Gunung Anung Volcano), in a backyard of sorts surrounded by a rock wall, grand brick or rock gate posts and guarded by stone guardians. The temples themselves were usually a series of stone or brick mini-towers, covered in stone carvings and sometimes topped with rice grass roofs. To the best of my understanding, the temples are to the gods but also the family's ancestors.1 Outside front gates of these temples, families would place offerings, called canang sari, made up banana leaf containers filled with flowers, rice, incense, and sometimes candy and cigarettes, multiple times a day. We were able to go into the temple yard of our guesthouse, and glanced in on hundreds of other beautiful family temples, each unique in style.

Community temples are a bit larger and not attached to residences, but were not usually open to the public, instead serving the clan or community of the area, which we understood are a pretty important part of the social structure in Bali still today. However, the public temples are fully open, and welcoming for visitors to witness and worship as you wish. We visited three public temples in Bali, and each was quite a unique experience. The first Tanah Lot, a temple built on a small rocky island fifty or so meters off shore. You can walk through the ocean water to get there. We decided to cross aided by Hindu priests, just before high tide fully came in. Having waded through the water, and wet up to the thighs, we were blessed with holy water, rice grains stuck to our foreheads, and a flower tucked behind my ear by the priest before quickly crossing back over to the mainland. Shades of sunset along the cliffs overlooking the Tanah Lot were lovely as we boarded our scooter back into town.

The second public temple we visited, the Uluwatu Temple, was further south along the coast, adjacent to its namesake town Uluwatu. This temple is built along the cliff themselves. We found the temple structures less interesting here, but the view of the ocean over the cliffs was nice and the real attraction was the Fire Dance, which performed nightly. This dance is also a version of the Ramayana Hindu epic we talked about in a previous post; but rather than be accompanied by gamelan instruments, is instead danced to the beat of 70 bare chested men shouting and humming in a sort of wild acapella. In the Ramayana story, the monkey Hanuman is set on fire, and in this performance, that fire is very real, with brands of wood and rice grass set ablaze around the hanuman dancer until he kicks the brands dramatically aside and dances barefoot on the ashes! We had a great driver for the day, Boyan, who was introduced to us by Shadie's cousin, spoke English well, shared quite a bit about Balinese culture and life, and safely navigated us through the challenging Bali traffic.

Our final public temple, perhaps the best for last, Pura Tirta Empul, is also probably the most important to Balinese practitioners. Located in more central Bali, the temple is built around a natural spring, which bubbles up mildly in puffs of black sand from the earth into a cool pool of water. The water is then directed down to a second pool via more than a dozen rock fountainheads. The water is considered holy and able to purify sins. Led by a kind and patient assistant, who explained the process and meaning of each step to us, we were able to participate in the ritual done here. We first gave canang sari offerings to the alter and prayed. Then we dressed in green sarongs provided to us by the temple and entered the pools. Then, guided by docent, we prayed at fifteen of the fountains that were appropriate for us to use, each with specific intent or meaning.2 At each fountain you first bowed hands in prayer (and prayed), then washed your face three times before finally dunking your whole head under the flowing water. Shadie and I aren't exactly spiritual people, but we did find the whole ritual quite special.

Footnote:

1) I found this fairly interesting post on the family temples, in case you are interested in learning more about this fascinating aspect of Bali culture.

2) The Pura Tirta fountains each have their own meaning, among them protection for travelers, increasing love with your partner, and purifying you of unkempt promises. This article lists them all. The temple is most important during a single festival held each October and apparently Obama came to visit and did the ritual one year!

A half day cooking class (with three kinds of ginger!) and a cultural park with the supposed largest statue of the world (of Hindu god Visnu riding his eagle Garuda) were also highlights. But the biggest highlight was getting to see Rob, Shadie's oldest cousin on his father's side. Rob did well opening up and running his own club in Vancouver in his 30's and like us decided to take a mid-career retirement break to travel the world. Except his break was for five years! And since Rob was halfway around the world in Asia for most of the time I've known Shadie, I'd never met him but heard many stories about him. In Canggu, I finally got to meet Rob, and spent several memorable meals with him, as well as watching him DJ at beachclub there! Shoutout to Rob for hosting and making us feel welcome.

Would you dunk your head in Hindu holy fountains? Let us know!

We walked right on this ferry for a lark and a song.

Shadie the brave and mighty Scooby pilot gears up

Left side of the road folks! But also, its Bali, make your own rules.

We finished a pretty grueling crossfit class. I'm not excited to get back on the scooter, given it would have been a 15 minute walk home if there were sidewalks.

Shadie loved all the fresh fruit!

An example of canang sari offerings placed in the street.

A family temple from inside and outside. I loved the stone guardians outside each temple. They were all unique images; animals, tigers, monkeys, monsters, you name it

The island temple of Tanah Lot can only be reached by a walk through the waves. Then you can get blessed by a Hindu priest and get rice stuck to your forehead.

The dance performance at the cliffs of Uluwatu was so unique, part acapella, part circus performance, and part ballet. At one point the Hanuman dancer charged through the pews and totally scared us when he sat down right behind us!

It was really special to participate in the purification ritual at Pura Tirta Empul. The rock fountain heads date back to the 700s AD!