Dance when you get the chance - Bali Trip 5

Lunch time at office has become more interesting due to my pregnant colleague. Every now and then she would ask us to do tummy watch for possible movements and occasional baby kicks. The baby seems to have performance pressure though, it hardly moves while we are watching. It might dance to the drums.

Mata hari bungalow the hotel we stayed, from the breakfast hall

After visiting few temples along the way we went to see the famous traditional dance of Bali called Kecak. Its Balinese dance cum drama performance orchestrated by male chorus (no music instruments used). A group of men sit in semi circle around a lighted lamp while the dancers perform scenes of Ramayana.

The open auditorium suddenly got jam packed with audience around 7:30 pm and the only lighting was from the lamps lit in the center of the stage. The show started as men started chanting the word “cak” and occasionally threw their arms up in the air towards the lamp. This action denotes the Hanuman / Vanaras – monkey which helped the king Rama to defeat Ravana who kidnapped his wife. Have a look at this link.

We couldnt take many as our battery died out, at far end u can see hanuman on the tree

The”cak” sound became the base rhythm over which other performers sang and chanted mantras. I liked the performance of the “Sita” she looked beautiful and danced with intricate expressions and elegant steps. Every time she appeared on stage it smelled wonderful (must be a country perfume). After the happy ending, one of the performers acted like he was possessed by some demon and danced on fire!

This dance used to be a trance ritual used for exorcism. During 1930 a German painter got interested in this ritual and made it as drama cum dance performance to be presented to western audience. Then it became famous in and out of Bali. These days the demon possessed actors dance in fire every night, all around of Bali. Thanks to westernization, the ritual that was part of the culture is separated and molded into art that doesn’t vibe with them anymore!

The fire, smoke, strange orchestra and demon dances felt very spooky to me. Something in me wanted to get up and dance with them (demon I guess). After dinner we tasted the nightlife of Bali in a hot happening club and I got to dance like its no body’s business. I tried Bali Joe cocktail and it was smooth. The ambiance and music was so entertaining. We even got to see the Beyounce of Bali performing " All the single ladies ". The night life of Bali is probably the main reasons why it’s popular with western world. City comes to life in the night and restaurants/bars are open until wee hours of morning. We were caught in traffic jam at 1 am and decided to walk to the hotel.

Ulun Danu Bratan Temple, can u see Rama and Ravan on the door ?

We had a late morning on Sunday and started to “Ulun Danu Bratan” temple that's located in a lake at the crater of what used be a volcano. On the way I asked the driver to stop at this valley.

Valley along the way to the temple, its Cabbage on the right

I walked around the strawberry farm, we couldnt understand each other but she was friendly

This is what " fresh from the farm" actually means ;)

I also tried local snacks, it tasted similar to Indian snacks, Emma this ones for you ;)

More to come..