MY TRIP TO BALI

June 3rd at 3:00 am leave Tonga arrive in Auckland 5:00am. The flight out to Singapore is mid morning so I slept in the airport.

I have a night in Singapore, arrived at 7:00 pm hoping to go around the city; I am so tired I am in bed at 8:30.

Have to be up at 6:00am to be picked up to go to airport for my flight to Bali, arriving in Bali June 4th at 1:00pm.




The one of many beaches, the only picture I took 

June 4th spent the day resting on the beach, going for a walk.






Massage in the afternoon outside by the pool. It was one of the best massages I have ever had.




Sand paintings along the hallways of the hotel.




Lotus flower.



Ceiling up close.


June 5th Mom and Dad arrived moved to their hotel at 2:00pm.

Promise myself I won’t cry when I see mom but I do, right in the middle of the lobby.

Then Mom gives me brownies that Nicolle baked for me, that she brought to moms the night before they left, and I cried again.

We go through all the stuff they brought for me from Canada.

By then it is late afternoon and we go for a walk to Bali Collection, which is a little mall to have dinner. We browse the stores and then go back to the hotel.

We all fall into our beds and are asleep by 9:00pm; I can’t believe how tired we all are. 

June 6th we are up early for a massage before we have our first tour of Bali.

Today we see traditional batik painters and weavers. Here we buy several sarongs and shirts for the guys.









It is inspiring to visit a culture that supports and embraces its artists. That artists are nurtured through generations, to hone their craft. 

weaving a sarong.






The entrance over the door.




All hand carved. 

We go to the Pura Taman Ayun temple, built in the middle of the 18th century by Mengwi’s greatest king, Cokorda Munggu.

The temple is surrounded by a large moat; there is a large outer courtyard with a split gate, which leads into a broad central courtyard.

You are not allowed into the inner courtyard, but it is easy to see over the wall.

Temples generally have three courtyards. The jeroan courtyard, which contains shrines for the gods, the jaba tengah courtyard (the middle), which has the priests meeting pavilion, and the last courtyard known as the jaba pura is used for ceremonies to appease the ground spirits.




The moat.




A gaurdian.

The candi bentar or split gate.







Kori agung.




Gates have different styles depending on the region and century. 

Beautifully carved gates will separate the courtyards; most temples will have two types of gates. A candi bentar know as the split gate to the outer court and a kori agung to the inner sanctum.





This is a kori agung.







I love how they put detail into everything including the ceilings. 

Balinese version of Ganesh.





 

These pagoda's are also known as Meru. They always have an uneven number of roofs that are made out of sugar palm. The maximum is 11 roofs, and the number depends on the status of the divinity and the local hierarchy.









Notice the wall, you are not allowed into the inner courtyard.

Mom and me at the closed gate.





 

Me before the hair color!




Mom and Widana are tickling a plant, I kid you not!




Love bamboo.