Hello! The night before last was the big celebration of the Balinese New Year, which is a little difficult to describe. Each temple built a huge puppet, symbolizing various things that we didn't understand, and carried it in a parade full of drums and xylophones and singing, I think to scare away evil spirits. It was an amazing thing to see. The next day for 24 hours, all of Bali was silent, and no lights on at night, which was amazing. some tourists (!) next door to us had thier porch light on, which was super annoying to us, and then some men came along with flashlights and politely told them to turn it off. The whole place was dark dark! This morning we left early to see the elephant caves, following our guidebook map. we walked and walked looking for what was on the map a trail through the fields, and is no a resort. :( We hailed a cab and were rewarded by visiting this holy Hindu site and old Buddhist hermitage with carvings and fountains and a lotus pond before the rush. amazing.
Tomorrow morning we are headed off to Lombok for 2 weeks of surfing and (hopefully) reduced stimulation. we need a vacation from our vacation before we can take in any more art or culture.
Hey Meg and Emily! This is Keely. Sounds absolutely thrilling so far. The night of silence must have been positively awesome. How were the stars?
ReplyDeleteI hope you get some good quiet rest time at your next stop...NYC ticks on like always. Your updates remind me that there are other things in the world (thank goodness!)
Hey Guys!
ReplyDeleteSounds just amazing. Silence and darkness...beautiful! The whole trip is so inspiring. Thanks for keeping us updated!
Nicole
Jeez, I don't know. The Balinese New Year can't really compare with sanding drywall while wearing a full-face respirator, which is what I was doing that day. What's a vacation without toxic dust and repetitive stress injuries? - Jen
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