Temple tales - my own take.

It would not be an exaggeration to say that every third building in Bali is a temple or a shrine. The real estate on which they are built must be immense. One day someone might start factoring that in and that will be an interesting time, given the pressures that are already being felt all over the island. 

In the meantime Hinduism is mainstream though Bali is open to all religions. Every morning, hundreds of offerings are made and offered to the gods.  The women spend hours cutting up the banana and palm leaves to size and making little receptacles in which they place the offerings. Here is one which is especially pretty but there are thousands made every day. They are placed in front of shrines, temples, statues, homes, places of business, fountains, ponds, hotels, shop fronts, restaurants and every conceivable nook and cranny which looks as if it might need one. 

You may not be able to see them but every spout has an offering placed on the side. 

By dusk they lie in forgotten piles on the sidewalk, in the doorways and by the shrine steps. More women spend more time sweeping them up and making new ones in preparation for the new day. 

Well do you know what - I would just have a temple temper tantrum. I guess I would not be a good Hindu or a good Balinese woman. Religions are sapping not nurturing. 

Think about the time you could gain instead reading books, learning new things, getting a real grasp of the history and culture in a more substantial way where you could "offer" an opinion, a bit of writing, a take on current affairs. 

Punk monkey eating Croissant

Breakfast is a tranquil affair. I check up on messages, the family, the world and get a little distracted. From my right a punk looking monkey with a mohican is watching. I haven't spotted him but he has sized me up, looked at my ditsy status and decided I was a goer. While I was busy typing he jumped up grabbed a croissant and made off back to his ledge with a certain glint in his eye. I was amused and watched him munching on it. Cheekily he decided to come back for more at which point the hotel staff intervened and chased him off. Is that a crumb just visible on the side of his mouth?

They live in their social groups happily grooming and caring for one another. They are clever enough to take every opportunity that presents itself to them. They even have a special place named after them, the Monkey Forest near the city where they roam around quite happily and size up the tourists who gawp at them. Well I was fascinated, and wandered all around the forest, full of the tallest banyans with leanas everywhere and watched the monkeys interacting, lazing around and just being cheeky.

They are macaques- Macaca Fascicularis. Four moments stood out. The first was a male coming up to one of the statues and sucking at the some of the protruding parts - like a nipple - they must be getting some nutrient from them.

Further along I saw a mum jumping in and out of a ditch which was covered by a footpath. I watched for a bit and quickly realised she was playing hide and seek with her young one who was just the other side of the covered footpath. She would jump down, show herself and as soon as the young one saw her, she would jump out again. This went on happily for some time to the delight of the young one. Here is the mum having a cuddle with the baby.

Here she is playing hide and seek.

In the main Prajapati Temple there were statues of monkeys.A real one was sitting next to them and closing his eyes. It was time for a nap  and I loved the fact he was leaning against his stone cousins.

There are three fairly ancient temples in the Monkey Forest and people worship as well as stroll along and enjoy the rain forest. It is full of ancient carvings which are often mossy and green, but blend so well in the environment.

They are many troupes and they are quite territorial. They are hugely interactive with the tourists and some feed them bananas, others have them on their shoulder, but I just enjoyed watching them. As I was leaving there was a young male sitting in the path. He had a stone and a couple of seeds. He rolled the stone like a boy would roll marbles. He played with them and softened the seeds and occasionally popped them in his mouth. When he was shooed away by a cleaner he went back to collect his stone - marble and continued his play which was nothing short of a learned response. Just fascinating. I had watched them leap onto vertical tree trunks and climb to the top, do somersaults on the ground, groom one another carefully and have fun and games as well as cuddles with their young. I envied them that slightly mad free spirit so when I left the Forest and could not find a taxi I jumped onto the back of a Balinese motorbike and asked him to take me to the other side of town. I knew that was slightly mad and I was taking a bit of a risk but hell - why not. I have to say I was a little unnerved when he turned into some narrow back alley ways but actually it was a handy short cut which avoided the congestion of the main road. I felt I had meandered just like the monkeys. 

Fifty shades of Gr...een.

I look out from our hotel room to the rain forest ravine in front of me, bursting with life. Honking, shrieking, croaking and calling. The cicadas offer the choral backdrop which reach crescendos and then drop away. To the right a mountain not unlike Agung but mercifully not smouldering.

The road that leaves the hotel snakes around paddy fields, silent in their serenity, the hotel standing like a great border reminder of the two competing sides of this island. Pristine forests and the population's farming needs. 

A few kilometres from Ubud we stop at another ravine, perhaps once covered in rainforest, now a lustrous example of well organised and tended paddies with locals showing their hardworking presence and an imposter in their midst. The good thing is that this very heart of their existence has been turned into a tourist attraction and so can inform as well as finance some of the costs. It is an idea which I find welcome to show those who buy their rice from supermarkets what toil, hardship and water is needed to produce it. It is all hand harvested here and the community comes together to help each other out when harvest comes round. 

In the city the ponds of water lilies and lotus flowers, almost blue in their hues, stretch upwards. Talking to the people who are gracious and kind, tourism is coming at a high price and the water tables are dropping every year. Overdevelopment and overcrowding are beginning to have a serious impact on the island and some of its unusual Green Inhabitants. 

Bali Bites

I travelled to Bali with hundred of Australians, their tatooes and their children. Passing through passport control the immigration officer asked me "First time in Bali?" "Yes," I replied sheepishly feeling as if I was very late in coming to this experience. 

I arrived at my hotel https://www.alilahotels.com/ubud close to midnight and as I waited for my details to be processed I sat transfixed at the noises all around. The rainforest was alive with cicadas, frogs, lizards, langur monkeys and bird calls. As we were walking to the room I stopped once more to listen ... only to suddenly feel intense burning on my feet. Red ants who saw this pink ballerina-shoed moisturised foreigner cross their path thought the opportunity too great to pass up. They scrambled up and started biting like mad. I rushed to the room and took my trousers down while the poor hotel attendant was busy stamping them out with my shoes. Hilarious really and it made me think of Balinese dancers dancing so nimbly on their toes...

Same Sex Marriages

Bright and shiny, loud and clear,

This is one time I wish I had the vote

To put my mark in the small yes box.

Read the arguments of the the nos,

They felt faulty, phobic,

Frankly disrespectful to blokes and gals,

Choosing who to love and how

Is a gift for all.

Love my neighbourhood.  

The Dogs of Democracy

In May of 2016 when I was in Athens I noticed the many stray dogs that roamed around Syntagma square. Some of these were much loved pets that the owners could no longer afford to feed or keep. Maybe others were less fortunate and had been abandoned by them when they realised that having a pet means costs, effort and love. I put a photo of such a dog on the blog, curled up, sleeping, and found my heart was a little torn by what I saw. What I didnt know then was how these dogs became part of the Athenian soul. 

The Greek Film festival is on in Brisbane at the moment and looking through the programme I came across one called the "Dogs of Democracy". I went last night to watch it. 

http://greekfilmfestival.com.au/program/418/dogs-of-democracy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s4deL_HmIBQ

The director is a Greek Australian called Mary Zournazi. She visited Athens and like me she noticed the dogs - she then went on to make a short documentary film about it with a special star called "Loukanikos"- "Sausage"- a  fearless handsome dog who seemed to be there with the demonstrators, protecting the most vulnerable against the onslaughts of the riot police and whose image was well known to Athenians. Loukanikos died of some of the side effects of tear gas and old age. At that point he had been lovingly taken in by Rita, a woman who clearly sees the human side of these animals. She and Spiros, a man who has been rendered homeless by the financial crisis, spend time and valuable resources, looking after the strays.They have come to represent a unifying human influence on Athenians as they come together to give them care and food when they can.

I was much moved by this short but thoughtful film. My sadness however was compacted by the fact that there were only four people in the cinema. I had attended the premiere the previous night, a full house, a chance to be seen, and free food. Sometimes we just have to dig a little deeper to get more and let me tell you it is well worth the effort. 

Flames

Some of you may have realised that I love the colours of nature and all that it offers at different times of the year. The other day I went to a neighbourhood in Brisbane, called Bulimba to meet a dear friend for lunch and as I was walking down to the ferry my eye caught these colours.

Look down  

Look up 

Look all around

Resplendent red buds of the flame tree on the ground, on the tree, and the hedge nearby.