Cremation Ceremony in Ubud
Cremation Ceremony in Ubud
Dreamland. No waves...but it's still quite dreamy, eh?
07.12.08: The selection of places to stay in Bali seems quite diverse, especially in the mid-range level. For budget, I’m sure you get a cheap dive. And at the high-end level, there seem to be many large chain luxury mega-resorts that charge several hundred dollars per night. For our stay in this area, I chose to look for something that had a kitchen since it’s been several months since I’ve had one. This led me to several individually-owned vacation rentals. We didn’t plan very well. So the day before we left Ubud, I took the first place that replied back to me. We ended up at Latitude 8, a complex of 4 villas, owned by Jon and Susan, a very friendly couple who also own a B&B where they live in Maui. We got the pleasure of meeting them since they happened to be staying in Bali while we were there. For a fraction of what you’d pay for a luxury resort or even something comparable, we have a brand new, 6 month old, 1 bedroom villa, outdoor kitchenette and OUR OWN private SALT water pool (very rare to find here) with solar heated water. This place is AMAZING! I feel like I’ve died and gone to heaven….and I wonder what I did to deserve this! Yes, it’s more than what we should be paying. But, is it worth it? YES!!!!! We were pretty sad to find that we could only get 5 nights there.
So with that said, our first half and full day there, we hung out at the villa, took dips in the pool, and rented a scooter to stock up on food and check out the beach and area. The only thing that made it less than stellar was that the weather was unusually cool for that time of the year. Don’t get me wrong. It was very pleasant, probably in the high 70’s. But just not so hot that you are forced to cool off in the pool. I was worried that Seminyak might be a little too crowded for our taste. But it’s just far enough away from the tourist-centric area of Kuta. You still have restaurants and shops around, but not too many crowds. However, we enjoyed dinner right at the villa, at Warung Riola, consisting of vegetable stir fry, brown rice and snapper.
The next day, we got a driver to take us about 45 minutes away to the south tip of Bali. Originally, we were going to hit surfer mecca, Uluwatu, but the driver recommended we check out Dreamland first on the way, because it had a good sandy beach for Kailani to play on. As it turned out, we could see both Uluwatu and another break, Padang Padang, down the coast from Dreamland and there were no waves. So, Dreamland it was. Sean rented a board and mucked-it-up in the water while Kai and I played in the sand, getting attacked by ladies wanting to sell clothes and give me a massage. It seemed like a good excuse to tell them “maybe later”, that I couldn’t get a massage while watching the kid and then it was my time to go surfing. But when Sean got out of the water, I was forced to escape them by going out, even though the waves died even worse. Sean was ready to leave by the time I got out of the water and that seemed like another good excuse for the ladies. But, he still had a beer to finish. So, I thought I was compromising when I agreed to a half hour instead of an hour. They got my money anyway. Instead, two ladies massaged me at once….not that it was torture or anything. As a matter of fact, I technically had a SIX hand massage, as Kailani joined in on the action. But, one bummer about being on the beach is that the sand gets in the way, so you technically get an exfoliation scrub too. Lesson learned: You might as well just expect to get a massage while on Bali’s beaches…unless you can handle the pressure! Again, we had another delightful dinner of spelt pasta putanesca and salad at Warung Riola.
The day after that, we had the same driver take us back to Ubud so we could see the big cremation ceremony that we saw the town preparing for the week before. It was definitely a big event. Parking was nearly impossible and there were crowds lining up and down the main street hours before anything even happened. Of course, sitting there waiting for the action, it seemed like the sun decided to come out full strength and every Balinese standing around you was smoking. After a couple hours, Kai and I couldn’t take it any longer. So we ducked into my favorite Ubud café, Bali Buddha, for some lunch and a Balinese health tonic. (They also had a little market where they sold homemade kombucha!) Sean came in too, but then went back down to the street when he heard drum beats coming toward us. Finally, the procession was coming down the main street from the Ubud Palace toward the cemetery. The cremation was for the former King and Queen of Ubud, who ruled one of several provinces of Bali. One of the two had died a few years ago, followed by a recent death of the other. In Bali, they bury recently deceased and then wait until the right day on the lunar calendar for a cremation ceremony where they usually cremate several people at once. This time, they waited for both spouses to pass before having the ceremony. Usually, it’s not such a big ordeal, but this was for a very well-respected King and Queen. It felt like the entire island was there that day. The first to come down the street, one after another, were two big paper mache bulls, each carried by a large crowd of men accompanied by drummers and musicians. After that came two very elaborately decorated, very tall towers. There was also a man standing at the top of the tower waving to the crowd. I believe that he was the Prince. We don’t quite remember all the specifics, but the ceremony has something to do with bodies going into bulls because bulls are considered sacred, and the tall towers are to get closer to the heavens. Somehow, a cremation happens between all of this. It was quite a sight to see, and we were honored to be there for it, although it all seems very tough to explain yet very amazing to see in person. As Sean was down in the crowds, taking pictures of it all, he said it was so packed that it was like he was in the front row of a big rock concert. Luckily, Kailani and I still got to see what was going on from afar, from the balcony of the restaurant. That night, Warung Riola cooked up some steak, brown rice and salad.
After our day in Ubud, we were a bit wiped out and unfortunately my stomach wasn’t doing that great. So, we spent the last day in our villa hanging out, taking dips in our private salt pool, eating up the last of the food and booking our next destination. That night, Warung Riola cooked up some more spelt pasta with tuna marinara, a specialty dish acquired from a European campervan.
So with that said, our first half and full day there, we hung out at the villa, took dips in the pool, and rented a scooter to stock up on food and check out the beach and area. The only thing that made it less than stellar was that the weather was unusually cool for that time of the year. Don’t get me wrong. It was very pleasant, probably in the high 70’s. But just not so hot that you are forced to cool off in the pool. I was worried that Seminyak might be a little too crowded for our taste. But it’s just far enough away from the tourist-centric area of Kuta. You still have restaurants and shops around, but not too many crowds. However, we enjoyed dinner right at the villa, at Warung Riola, consisting of vegetable stir fry, brown rice and snapper.
The next day, we got a driver to take us about 45 minutes away to the south tip of Bali. Originally, we were going to hit surfer mecca, Uluwatu, but the driver recommended we check out Dreamland first on the way, because it had a good sandy beach for Kailani to play on. As it turned out, we could see both Uluwatu and another break, Padang Padang, down the coast from Dreamland and there were no waves. So, Dreamland it was. Sean rented a board and mucked-it-up in the water while Kai and I played in the sand, getting attacked by ladies wanting to sell clothes and give me a massage. It seemed like a good excuse to tell them “maybe later”, that I couldn’t get a massage while watching the kid and then it was my time to go surfing. But when Sean got out of the water, I was forced to escape them by going out, even though the waves died even worse. Sean was ready to leave by the time I got out of the water and that seemed like another good excuse for the ladies. But, he still had a beer to finish. So, I thought I was compromising when I agreed to a half hour instead of an hour. They got my money anyway. Instead, two ladies massaged me at once….not that it was torture or anything. As a matter of fact, I technically had a SIX hand massage, as Kailani joined in on the action. But, one bummer about being on the beach is that the sand gets in the way, so you technically get an exfoliation scrub too. Lesson learned: You might as well just expect to get a massage while on Bali’s beaches…unless you can handle the pressure! Again, we had another delightful dinner of spelt pasta putanesca and salad at Warung Riola.
The day after that, we had the same driver take us back to Ubud so we could see the big cremation ceremony that we saw the town preparing for the week before. It was definitely a big event. Parking was nearly impossible and there were crowds lining up and down the main street hours before anything even happened. Of course, sitting there waiting for the action, it seemed like the sun decided to come out full strength and every Balinese standing around you was smoking. After a couple hours, Kai and I couldn’t take it any longer. So we ducked into my favorite Ubud café, Bali Buddha, for some lunch and a Balinese health tonic. (They also had a little market where they sold homemade kombucha!) Sean came in too, but then went back down to the street when he heard drum beats coming toward us. Finally, the procession was coming down the main street from the Ubud Palace toward the cemetery. The cremation was for the former King and Queen of Ubud, who ruled one of several provinces of Bali. One of the two had died a few years ago, followed by a recent death of the other. In Bali, they bury recently deceased and then wait until the right day on the lunar calendar for a cremation ceremony where they usually cremate several people at once. This time, they waited for both spouses to pass before having the ceremony. Usually, it’s not such a big ordeal, but this was for a very well-respected King and Queen. It felt like the entire island was there that day. The first to come down the street, one after another, were two big paper mache bulls, each carried by a large crowd of men accompanied by drummers and musicians. After that came two very elaborately decorated, very tall towers. There was also a man standing at the top of the tower waving to the crowd. I believe that he was the Prince. We don’t quite remember all the specifics, but the ceremony has something to do with bodies going into bulls because bulls are considered sacred, and the tall towers are to get closer to the heavens. Somehow, a cremation happens between all of this. It was quite a sight to see, and we were honored to be there for it, although it all seems very tough to explain yet very amazing to see in person. As Sean was down in the crowds, taking pictures of it all, he said it was so packed that it was like he was in the front row of a big rock concert. Luckily, Kailani and I still got to see what was going on from afar, from the balcony of the restaurant. That night, Warung Riola cooked up some steak, brown rice and salad.
After our day in Ubud, we were a bit wiped out and unfortunately my stomach wasn’t doing that great. So, we spent the last day in our villa hanging out, taking dips in our private salt pool, eating up the last of the food and booking our next destination. That night, Warung Riola cooked up some more spelt pasta with tuna marinara, a specialty dish acquired from a European campervan.
No comments:
Post a Comment