Bali & Jakarta

So here's my long awaited first post about the Asian leg of my trip. I'm in Manila right now, hiding away from the tropical rainstorm that's raging outside. I'll be hitting up a museum later on today, and also the Rizal Park, which hosts martial arts displays every Sunday afternoon (weather permitting- so hopefully it clears up!).

So my time in Bali was incredible. I spent the three days I was there in a village called Ubud. Ubud has historically been the artistic centre of Bali and numerous western artists have moved to the village to continue their work there. Unfortunately, the secret of Ubud has been let out, and it's become a lot more commercial over the years. When I went, there were plenty of tourists out and about, though it's still a safe haven compared to other places in Bali like Kuta Beach.

On my first night in Ubud I spent an hour or so wandering the pungent streets of the village, trying to avoid falling into one of the many potholes in the road. It was a very unique experience, I was followed by stray dogs, cats and chickens for much of my night of exploration. I did find a nice restaurant that served very cheap traditional Balinese food (approx. $2CAD for a meal)

The second morning I took a trip to the Monkey Forest Sanctuary- a site with a bunch of Hindu temples devoted to worshipping the monkey. It also houses hundreds of Balinese long-tailed macaques- a group of very cheeky monkeys. I was actually attacked by the monkeys on three separate occasions- on one occasion the monkeys thought it would be a good idea to cling onto my hair and face... that was a fun experience. Apparently, the monkeys also like iPhones, because one of them tried to steal mine:



Aside from the kleptomaniac monkey and the let's use Hakim as a jungle gym monkeys, I did manage to snap a few pics of some very cute baby monkeys:

After the monkey sanctuary, I went to the market in Ubud which had a lot of arts & crafts, but was definitely designed to rip off tourists. I did buy a couple of things though, after much haggling =)

The evening was spent going to a traditional Balinese dance. On my second night I went to the Legong Dance and on the third night I went to the Kecak Dance. Despite having the same subject matter (the Hindu Ramayana Epics) both dances were very different in nature. The Legong was more of a typical dance, with elaborate colourful costumes, while the Kecak had a chorus of 100 men, chanting and swaying in a trance.

Dance pics!:

^Legong Dance

^Kecak Dance

On my last day in Ubud, i stumbled upon a traditional Balinese cremation ceremony. That was unlike anything else I've ever witnessed. They've turned funeral processions in Bali into tourist attractions, but understandably so- it's a spectacle that I doubt any other culture celebrates as elaborately. There is a 100 man band that is split into two sections, one which leads the funeral procession and one which follows it, another 100 men are charged with carrying the giant tower, which the body is stored in for the procession, and the giant bull which the body is stored in for the cremation.

Here is a picture and video of parts of the event:

I also have a 6 minute video which covered most of the procession so if anybody wants to see that, they can just let me know when I get back. Aside from all these events, I went to a few art galleries in Ubud, which really surprised me with their breadth and professional setup. I also got a chance to walk along the Campu Ridge, which had some great lookouts to the rice fields surrounding the village

As soon as I stepped off the plane in Jakarta I knew that the city was very heavily polluted. The hotel I was staying in was also highly questionable in terms of hygiene, and the rumours about it doubling as a brothel were indeed correct. I encountered at least a half dozen sex workers on the street outside my hotel while trying to find dinner on my first night in Jakarta. Naturally, on my first morning there I woke up with a massive headache and ended up quite ill throughout my stay in the city. I did end up visiting a doctor in Singapore and again in Kuala Lumpur and thankfully after taking anti-biotics for 3 days I'm feeling much better. Unfortunately I didn't get to see much of Jakarta while I was there, but I do have a picture of the national monument, taken when some friends of my family took me out to see the sights for a few hours.

And that was my time in Indonesia! I'll post my Singapore and Manila updates fairly shortly- I'll save KL for when I get back and visit more of the city =)


PS- If the videos don't work- which they don't seem to be doing for me, try going to my youtube channel and watching them there http://www.youtube.com/user/hkassam