Visiting A Balinese Village... and other interesting stuff!

One of the days we were in Bali, a tour guide from Escapes Unlimited picked us up at our hotel and took us to some culturally educational places. Our tour guide's name was I Wayan Windra (He was the first born of 8 children. "I" for the first of two Wayans ... "Wayan" because he was born first in line... and "Windra" was what everyone called him.) Windra was our favorite tour guide. We really hit it off with him and he took us to some pretty cool places.

First we went to see a Balinese dance/drama called a Barong. Here is some information on what a Barong dance entails:

The Barong is a mythical, shaggy half-dog, half-lion creature, with a long mane, fantastic fangs, and bulging eyes. It is propelled by two men who maneuver the costume with whimsical and mischievous movements to express its fun-loving nature. The Barong's opponent is Rangda, the evil witch who rules over the spirits of Darkness. The Barong dance epitomizes the eternal struggle between good and evil. The fight of Barong and Rangda is also a topic of traditional narratives performed in temples and takes various forms. The Barong will snap its jaws at the gamelan, prance around a bit, and enjoy the acclaim of its supporters - a group of kris-wielding men. Then ferocious Rangda will then appear lolling her long tongue, baring her threatening fangs, her neck draped with human entrails...not a pretty sight.
The duel begins. Each opponent tries to overcome the other with magical powers but when things do not look too good for the Barong, supporters will lunge at Rangda with krises to weaken or stall her. In retaliation, Rangda would put them all into a trance with her mystical powers and make them stab themselves with their weapons. Fortunately, the Barong possesses magic that is strong enough to cast a spell on the krises from harming the men. This part would be the highlight of the dance; the gamelan rings madly and intensely as the men rush back and forth waving their krises in a frenzy, sometimes even rolling on the ground in a desperate attempt to stab themselves. Often, there seems to be a plot to terrify the audience in the front row! Eventually, Rangda will retire, defeated. And once again, good will reign over evil.

Lee and I had never seen anything like this. I have some video clips at the end of this entry that will give you an idea about what it looked like. Here are some pictures:

The Barong ("Good Guy")

The musicians who helped tell the story through their unique music.

The Rangda (Evil Witch... "Bad Guy")

Next, Windra took us hiking through some rice fields. How cool is that? Such a non-touristy thing to do.

The fields were rolling, lush, and beautiful. You could see mountains in the distance.

On our hike we came across this 4 year old boy. He was out wandering the fields, singing songs, exploring, just being a kid... all by himself! I couldn't help but think about how Krue is the exact same age as him and how I would never let him do this in the States. There is no crime in Bali and the children are taught how to take care of themselves and stay safe at such a young age. It is so different!
Windra leading us on our hike.

Our little Balinese friend following us :)






Next, we walked to Windra's very own village. He showed us what a Balinese village is all about.




Bali is know as "The Island of 1,000 Temples". Each village has several temples... always one village temple and then temples for different careers (Ex: Teachers, Families, Builders, Merchants, etc.) The picture above is of Lee and I standing in front of a temple for builders.

The village temple.

The main street in the village.

A mother and her children from the village... talking with Windra and our driver.

Every 6 months a temple has a celebration and parade. A Barong walks in the parade and the black and white checked skirts you see the men wearing represent good vs. evil. This was very rare for us to get to see a celebration like this!

Windra took us to see his home in the village. It was like an enclosed compound for Windra's extended family... brothers, sisters, and their families. The village is made up of little family compounds like this. There is a temple located inside of each family compound as well.

One family member drying out rice inside of the compound.

Lee and I inside Windra's family compound.

There were pigs being raised inside of the compound. They have longer snouts than pigs in Indiana :)

Windra and Lee enjoying a cup of java sitting on the steps of his family's temple.

Next, Windra took us to see the Balinese art.

Beautiful... there is so much detail in each piece.

Windra took us to a cute little restaurant overlooking the countryside.

Lee ordered duck... and the whole duck was brought out to him! Check out his rice volcano.

The food in Indonesia is always displayed so cool.

Finally, we ended the day at a goldsmith/silver shop and watched them handmake jelwery. It was facinating. I didn't take any pictures... but Lee bought me a really cool bracelet made of prawn shells.

Video of the Barong.

Video of the Rangda.

Video of our tour through the rice fields.

Video of the little 4 year old boy.

Video of the temple ceremony.