Friday, October 20, Day 7 Departure Day

We requested a late check out because our flight was not until 1 am; yes, you read that correctly, 1 am was our scheduled departure time on October 21 but we would plan to be at the airport by 11 pm on October 20. 

We had time to relax and repeat my birthday morning with a swim, breakfast and a soak in the hot pool. And we decided to try a pizza again for lunch because Neil talked to them and convinced them to leave it in the oven till the bottom was crispy brown. So much better.

There was the usual flurry of checking out with Komong coming too early to carry our bags while we were still packing and then figuring out how to cash in the wristband. Wayan was standing by and we were loaded up and saying goodbyes to everyone before we knew it. 

Our first stop was just down the road from the resort at the temple Puna Jati Batur which is on the shore of Lake Batur. One website refers to it as the oldest temple in Bali. The other temple associated with it is Puna Segara Ulan Danu Batur which is located in the lake and connected to the shore by a wooden bridge. The temples are basically part of the same complex since you have to walk through the Jati Batur Temple to reach the wooden bridge to the temple on the lake.

As we drove near to the temple, there were cars parked everywhere on the road and the parking was packed full. It became clear that it was a celebration day for the entire village. Wayan double parked and stayed with the car while we went to explore. I felt completely under-dressed with all the villagers in their beautiful temple finery. The entire temple complex appeared to be filled with seated family groups both inside and out of the temple. We chose not to go into the temple itself because it didn’t feel appropriate but we did walk around outside and up to the top to overlook the temple. We could look straight down to the wooden bridge and Puna Segara Ulan Danu Batur where the priests looked like they were just coming out to begin the ceremony. The gamelan orchestra was already playing and we enjoyed the music for a little bit before we headed back to the car.

We drove along the South edge of Lake Batur and began the climb up out of the caldera. There were picturesque views all the way up and we stopped for a photo at the very top before starting our way South and downhill toward the airport.

Our next destination was Kayuan Demulih, a holy water temple in the little village of Demulih. It was in poor condition with the lack of maintenance but we could feel nice energy in the temple, feeling like it was sacred going back for centuries. Here’s a short video showing it clean and beautiful. The large pool no longer held much water and was stagnant. The back pool where the spring water entered the temple was still full but it was sad to see so much trash in it. There was a concrete wall section at the front and it became clear that this was the public shower area divided between the men and women. The shower is turned on by pulling the cork out of the pipe coming out of the wall! An older woman was surprised to see tourists there as she was leaving and scurried off as we arrived. The older man who arrived while we were there was so intrigued to see us there, he stayed staring at us the entire visit. We still had a Canang Sari, the small trays of offerings from our day at Pura Besakih, the Mother Temple. Wayan helped Neil make ceremony at the small shrine at the back of the temple grounds.

As we were continuing South, Wayan pointed out the rice field we saw being planted on Monday. It was now flooded and we could see the very young plants poking above the water. A short while later, Wayan pulled off to the side of the road and asked if we would like to visit a typical Balinese family home compound. They were friends of his who accepted a donation for tourists to visit. We walked in the front gate and along the first house building and then we stood in the courtyard as he pointed things out. There were two solid built buildings on the property which were the residences, a kitchen building that looked to be constructed of bamboo and rattan, and a kitchen garden to the side of it. There was a wooden building which Wayan said was the granary and tool shed. At the rear of the property was the family temple. We could see several shrines built in the area. Two toothless old men of the family were entertained watching us the whole time. Children and old folks on Bali seem to be bored and have plenty of time to interact with us if we’re interested. 

Our next destination was to see a Balinese dance performance as part of my birthday gift. Wayan thought we were early so asked us if we wanted to visit one of two markets. We chose the craft market. But the traffic was so congested and slow that we crawled along and ran out of time. We decided we needed to go straight to the temple for the dance.

There are dances performed most evenings at the Pura Puesh Batubulan temple. A portion of the temple outside grounds is set up with covered theater seats and a stage in front of one of the temple gates. Pura Puesh Batubulan Kecak and Fire Dance was the performance we had purchased tickets to see. There were three dances scheduled: Kecak, Sanghyang Dedari (dance by young girls), and Sanghyang Jaran (a fire dance.) All of the dances were accompanied by a choir of men using only their voices instead of instruments to weave complex percussive chants. 

I was there to enjoy the dances as art, while Neil, the anthropologist, was unexpectedly intrigued by the deep spiritual history of the dances. They date back centuries if not thousands of years, with similarities to shamanic trance dances found in ancient cultures around the globe. The first dance, the Kecak, was modified in the 1930’s to depict stories from the Ramayana (putting a Hindu veneer on the ancient dance). But originally, those dancers would offer themselves to be temporarily inhabited by deities or ancestors to drive away sickness and death and to allow them to express their wishes to the village.

According to the handout we were given, Sanghyang refers to a spirit that dives to the mortal realm, and Dedari means ‘angels.’ In its original form, performed in village temples for centuries, the girls would be placed in trance prior to dancing. They would then perform a free-form legong dance, with the angelic spirit moving them in synchronicity. Similarly, for the boy’s dance, an entranced boy on a costume horse (jaran) dances around and then upon a bonfire made of coconut husks. Where else around the world do indigenous cultures have entranced dancers tread upon hot coals?? Seems to us we were seeing a glimpse of Balinese culture that predated the arrival of Hinduism.

After the dance performance, Wayan offered to take us to the “souvenir shop” near the airport since we hadn’t had time to stop at the other market. It turns out Krisna Oleh Shopping Center is a five story shopping center with the fifth floor holding a large pool and open air restaurant. We hadn’t had a chance to eat dinner and we headed to the fifth floor for some food. I thought it might be a food court but instead it was a fancy sit down restaurant. With limited options, we enjoyed a nice meal before spending over an hour shopping. When we got to the basement to meet Wayan at the car, it was the only vehicle remaining in the garage! It was a short drive to the airport and we arrived at 11 pm exactly two hours before our departure time. We said our goodbyes to Wayan and got a last photo with him before sorting ourselves out with our luggage and changing for an overnight flight. We checked our luggage and went through passport control. We were on our way home!

After a short flight without any sleep, we landed in the Philippines at 5 am with a 12 hour layover. Our plan was to spend the morning in old town Manila seeing the sites and to enjoy a meal before needing to get back to the airport through what we heard would probably be horrible traffic. It was raining when we landed. Rain wouldn’t melt us but we weren’t prepared to lug our travel backpacks around all day while trying to keep everything dry. And we felt overly tired. We decided to just stay in the airport all day. We did find a few benches without arms (very rare) where we took a couple of naps during our layover. And I found a delicious piece of chocolate cake at a coffee kiosk to complete my birthday celebration.

After another redeye flight, we landed in beautiful sunny Oahu. After customs and passport control, we boarded our Maui bound flight and were thrilled to see our home out the window as we came in for a landing. Home again, home again.

Thank you for coming along with us on our Southeast Asia adventure.