It would take me too long to tell you the story of our trip (because it was basically me sick interspersed with vacation) so I'll just post some photos and caption them as necessary. Hope you like them!
This is the entrance to a family compound. Beautiful, yes?
Every family lives in a compound together with all their aunts, uncles, siblings and granparents--and the ancestors. Pictured here is a family temple located inside the family compound.
This is the inside of a family compound with many houses for each family. The nicest house belongs to the grandparents and is closest to the temple (for long life and protection of the spirits). It is also loaned out to any newly weds in the family for the first three months of their marriage so that the spirits can help them conceive and so the two can get to know each other in privacy.
This is a 500 year old sacred mangrove tree, denoted by the scarves wrapped around it's trunk (not pictured).
Some crazy biking I did through the jungle one day.
Beautiful jungle paths at a temple complex outside of Ubud.
This is the elephant cave which is a Hindu temple with a lingam carved into the wall deep inside. It sorta freaked me out. I don't like the scary face!
A cool farmer who wanted his photo taken while we were out for a walk in the countryside.
I still find it hard to believe this man could drive like this and yet he managed. There are definitely a few drawbacks to not having a car...
A beautiful, misty bridge crossing a river into Ubud on the outskirts of the village. I think this is my favorite photo from the entire trip. :)
These little plates made of palms and banana leaves are offerings to the spirits in Bali. There are many, many temples and alters all around the island, everywhere you look dedicated to the good spirits and are often piled high with these offerings. There are also bad spirits that roam the streets and so the Balinese leave these offerings on the street too, usually in front of their homes or shops, to placate them and hopefully ward off any bad spirit vengeance.
A beautiful carving of Komodo Dragons into the hillside which drips water into a river below. It's lovely and certainly looks old but was actually added in 2004 which is one of the problems I have with Balinese temples: you never know what is original and what is not. But, then again, you can feel a certain amount of pride that these temples are still in use and that the people care enough about them to keep them in good repair.
From the Monkey Forest Temple in Ubud.
Gorgeous waters and sandy, deserted beaches along Gili Air Island. Side note: Gili means Island and Air means Water. So the island is called Island Water. It's beautiful.
Where I ate my lunch everyday (or rather, where I tried to. Lactose intolerance was killing me about this time but the view helped).
There was a road that surrounded the whole island just like this. Incredible. I was so sunburned after that...
Offerings for sale at the market in Ubud.
The market had it's own temple where women would go and pray for good luck in their day's sales.
Almost all the street sellers I saw were very skilled at carrying things on their heads. I was quite impressed.
Some of the rice terraces in the deep ravines surrounding Ubud.
Rice terraces bathed in morning sunlight.
This is the Holy Water Temple where bathers line up, make an offering and dip themselves beneath each fountain for purification, health and good luck.
It was so festive! Jeremy and I really wanted to get in and take part but we didn't have a change of clothes and the line was really, really long. I regret not doing it anyway but oh well.
My second favorite photo of them all. :)
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