The last post

For a little while.

Blogger tells me that this will be the 99th post of this trip. Just missed the century, but there may be more a little later. This time tomorrow we will be in the airport ready to head back to Australia. And it's not just us who is wondering where the time has gone. Almost everyone is looking disbelieving as they ask the inevitable question. And where has it gone? In a whirl of new friendships, new learning, conversations with like-minded people, films, talks and self discovery.

Only last night as we walked down Jl Dewi Sita, frantic waving from a restaurant alerted us to a couple we hadn't seen for weeks. Another farewell. The last few days have involved farewell drinks and 'au revoirs' with the many people who live here that we are happy to now call friends. And in a nice show of symmetry, just as we arrived in May in time for a Royal Cremation, we depart in October with preparations under way at the Palace for another next week.

Bali's, or more precisely, Ubud's siren call still echoes and we will most certainly be back in a few months, and for even longer. But those will be other stories for another time. Perhaps I will continue to document our experiences next year as we use this base to explore other parts of Indonesia, and South East Asia.

The readership has surprised me and I thank those of you who have been following my ramblings.

And as if to prove that she has still secrets to reveal, Bali sprung yet another surprise yesterday. We had no idea that the afternoon and evening after Galungan Day is the time that children band together and dance their barongs up and down the streets seeking donations. A Balinese trick or treat, except it's all our treat. Impossibly cute boys in groups of about 20, some looking as young as three, all under ten, have been obviously preparing routines involving dance and music. The same ritual that their older brothers, their fathers, their grandfathers and beyond would have performed each Galungan. So charming. So delightful. Such a lovely memory to leave with.

Please  check in from time as I hope to build this site over time with cultural and practical information about the island and its people.

Selamat jalan. Selamat tinggal. Terima kasih Ubud.

Galungan Day

It felt very special to be in the only place on the planet where the huge ceremony of Galungan was being celebrated today. Although Bali is a Hindu culture, this festival is not part of the worship of Indian followers of the faith. It is the biggest day on the calendar, and the streets had a distinct holiday lull about them.

We had been watching the preparations over the past few days, particularly the vast number of offerings being prepared and the lavish decoration of family and village temples. Yesterday afternoon we went on a penjor-spotting drive. While some were in the late stages of preparation, most were fully decorated, with narrow village streets transformed by the swaying poles. Each seemed subtly different from its neighbour, and we were told today that although the symbolism remains constant, different villages have different styles of decoration, although our eyes are not yet keen enough to pick this.

The penjor is a symbol of victory against evil spirits and must contain agricultural products such are used in daily life. Thus you will find rice and vegetables featuring on each penjor in some capacity while the swaying, bowing upper section denotes respect and acknowledgement of the gods. This tradition has been going on for centuries and its elements are passed through the generations so that it can never be forgotten. The Balinese social structure of village temple and banjar ensures that everyone complies with these demanding, and expensive, spiritual obligations. Not that you will ever hear a Balinese person grumble about their religious duty.

Today was the main event, (and Galungan is always a Wednesday) but Monday, Peyajaan Galungan, was the day of baking special cakes (jaja) to be used in the offerings. On Tuesday (Penampahan Galungan), as well as the erection of the penjors, animals such as pigs and chickens are sacrificed and offered in order to erase negativity in both the personal and broader environment. Although I confess to feeling squeamish at the notion of animal sacrifice, I reminded myself that we do it too for major festivals (turkey for Thanksgiving or Christmas, anyone?) but in a way that is so sanitised and removed from our daily reality we scarcely give it a thought. There's no avoiding the reality here, and there is no waste as the village shares the meat and dishes served today, such as lawar, babi guling and sate are the result.

Dressed in our finery we were honoured to enjoy a meal today at our friends' compound and left with a packet of cakes and fruits from the offerings in the temple.

The streets of Ubud, and all over Bali, tonight reverberated to the sounds of drums and gongs as the Barong, symbol of good, led processions of young and old, marking the end of an important family day.

Between now and Kuningan, in ten days' time, there will be further ceremony and worship, but with less intensity until Kuningan day itself, which we won't be here to see.

 Only three more sleeps left for this trip. Where have the months gone?

Sibuk, sibuk

Or, busy, busy. After a couple of days of seclusion feeling blah, it was a surprise to venture out and see how busy everybody had become. It felt like Christmas Eve in the West, with increased traffic and longer than usual queues in the supermarket.

Some penjors are already in place, but apparently tomorrow is the correct day to put them up, Galungan Eve. As we were driving it became apparent that penjor work is men's work. Some completed poles were lying on their side, decorations being fine-tuned or waiting for the right time to go on full display; in other places groups of men still sat working on their creations. We even saw a motorbike this afternoon carrying two very green, obviously just-cut long bamboo poles - the Bali equivalent of the last-minute Christmas tree dash.

We did wonder, human nature being what it is, if there were penjor 'competitions': whose was the biggest and best in the village, much as our Christmas lights tend to become. But Balinese spirituality seems so much stronger than ours, and if some penjors are fancier than others it might be a show of wealth, but it is also a sincere tribute to the gods.

Bearing our gift of fruits and cakes, we called in at the family compound where we will be celebrating the holiday on Wednesday. Knowing how busy everyone is, we planned just a short visit, but soon realised that would be impossible. The compound has six dwellings, housing five generations, set in lovely grounds. Our immediate hosts, Dika and Ketut, insisted on stopping what they were doing, calling any children present and serving coffee, tea, pisang goreng (fried banana) and small cakes. The very oldest members of the family did not join us, but we will meet them formally on Wednesday. It struck us as such a sensible way to live: multi generational, children always with playmates and minders, yet a degree of privacy. The youngest child is not yet six months, the oldest adult well into his 80s.

Ketut showed me her room full of beautiful offerings, stacked almost to the ceiling, made by the women of the compound. Nowhere near finished, she assured me, but there was still time. Our fruit will be incorporated into one of those glorious towers that Balinese women carry on their heads to the temple. Tomorrow is cooking day for the Wednesday feast, so I am guessing that sleep will be in short supply tonight and tomorrow.

It is such a privilege to be so intimately involved with this celebration.

The gods are on their way

On Wednesday the gods and the spirits of the ancestors will descend from the mountain and so begins the biggest celebration on the Balinese calendar. You know that Galungan is near when the beautifully decorated penjors appear outside every dwelling on the island. For weeks we have noticed small trucks carrying extremely long bamboo poles, which will become these penjors, and many tiny shops have sprung up along the road selling decorations.

Shops and some restaurants will soon close - some for just a couple of days, some for the full 10 days until Kuningan heralds the end of the festivities and the gods go back to the mountain. We leave on Saturday so will miss some of the fun. Bad planning on our part, but as our visas will expire, sadly we cannot stay longer.

Rather than paraphrase the many articles that explain the significance of Galungan and Kuningan, the links will give more detail, and this recent article from the Jakarta Times explains the importance of a celebration where cost is no object, even to the poorest families.

We are honoured to have been invited into a Balinese compound on Wednesday to join the family for the afternoon. Honour is combined with anxiety. What do you wear? Bring? This particular compound houses 27 people across five generations. We have the right garments: I will wear kamben, kebaya and sash while Eddie will add a jacket and saput to his kamben and on his head wear a udeng. Diagram here and Murni explains Balinese dress in more detail here. As for bringing, we are assured that nothing is required on the day (which feels odd) but a gift of fruit on Monday that can be used for offerings would be appreciated. It can't just be any fruit though, we need to look for beautiful apples and oranges and grapes would be a bonus. So that is tomorrow's task.

Those who have been granted the full holiday are heading back to their families to help with preparations, but even those who are working will try and return for even a short time on the day. An indication of the importance of the family temple is one young man we know who works in Ubud, but whose family is more than four hours away by motorbike on the west coast. On two consecutive days last week he finished work at around 5pm, rode the four hours home, spent an hour at the temple, then rode back to Ubud ready to work again. Something very important was happening that he could not miss so there is no doubt that he will be home for Galungan. This is also the holiday when workers can expect an extra half month's wages to help with the heavy costs of the celebrations.

Galungan and Kuningan was last celebrated in March, according to the 210-day calendar, so it will next occur in May 2014. We plan to be here for the full 10 days. It feels incomplete to be leaving this time before the gods have ascended the mountain again.

Selamat Hari Raya Galungan dan Kuningan.

All quiet now

It hasn't taken long for the streets to clear after the busyness of the past week. Banners have been dismantled and temporary structures removed even more quickly than they were put up. When we took Thando and Truth to the airport for their return flight to Harare, the new departure area was crazy busy. This airport has been open less than a month, and during the APEC madness more than 700 flights were cancelled and the airport closed for four days. In the midst of all this, the international departure area was moved from the old airport into the new, so teething problems are to be expected.

Now the first round of security checking begins even before check-in, so we made our farewells at the gate a little earlier than we thought. Less than a week after getting here, they are now home again. Talk about whirlwind!

If you are a writer's festival sort of a person, and many people are, you might want to consider visiting Ubud next October. The festival sessions are held in the area of the town known as Sanggingan, a little over a kilometer from the centre. That's no problem, as a regular shuttle runs from the Casa Luna restaurant down to the festival action throughout the day and transport is cheap at other times. But if you want to stay right in the midst of the bustle, here is an accommodation list of places between the Neka Museum and the Bintang Supermarket, all an easy walk to the main venues along Jalan Campuhan and Jalan Sanggingan.. Something here might suit your budget but, as you can imagine, rooms book up quickly with regulars securing their place a year ahead. Anything located in Penestanan would also be quite convenient but transport to and fro will probably be needed, as it would in the heart of Ubud. The walk from the centre is doable, but the middle of the day can get very hot and sticky, so closer is better.

Walkability, in no particular order, and without any particular recommendation: TripAdvisor can be a useful guide:

• Taman Indrakila, currently under renovation, and the website seems to be down, but look later.
• Kori Ubud
• Sunrise Villas. This certainly looks like the one, but no guarantee as they don't give exact address. If contacting them, best to ask about Festival proximity.
• Villa Sanggingan
• Anom Cottages
• Royal Pita Maha
• Uma Ubud
• Toko Toko Bungalows, no website
• Ananda
• Sunny Blow Cottages
• Anini Raka

If rates are quoted in rupiah, a very general rule of thumb is to subtract four zeros to reach a dollar figure. Thus, Rp400000 is close enough to $40 at the moment although the rate may vary, and if either currency takes a dive you will have to do your own calculations.

Closer to Ubud, but further from the Festival along Jl Campuhan is the Tjampuhan Hotel, but if you don't mind a walk, it's worth a look.

There, all the work done for you. You just need to come! Here's this year's program again as inspiration. See you in 2014. Exact dates are still to be announced so watch the website.

Over for another year

Did the gods not want this to end? A significant earth tremor just as the party started at Blanco Museum would suggest so. We have had about four since getting here in May, and this was the biggest, no doubt an aftershock from the 7.1 incident that hit the Philippines earlier in the day, with a growing death toll. We were busy helping Thando and Truth stock up on goodies for their return trip to Zimbabwe today, so didn't even notice but friends said that it had been a good one.

So the Festival has concluded for another year.If there is time to reflect further before we leave for home in 10 days (10 days!) I will, otherwise later, as I will keep this blog alive with information about tradition, culture and other aspects of Balinese life in the space between trips. For we will be back. And soon.

Of the almost-200 writers here this year we were able to see but a handful, but every session offered insight and often humour. Some highlights:

• Opening Ceremony at the Palace. An invitation event that had beautiful Balinese elements that was unfortunately spoiled by the ceaseless loud chatter of people at the back who didn't even stop for the Prince's welcome speech. I cannot imagine that they would be as rude in their own country.
• I had not heard of US-born writer David Vann before this Festival, but Jennifer Byrne's interview with him revealed a very funny, engaging man, whose bleak past could have led to a very different life. Fascinating.
• Grandma Bilawara Lee of the Larrakia Nation in northern Australia and Cok Sawitri discussing the wisdom of elders, particularly women, in traditional societies. By abbreviating the title Cokorda to 'Cok' this woman is playing down her royal status. She did, however, exercise her right to speak in high Balinese, but the things she had to say, particularly about the feminine, at times confounded her translator. She speaks perfectly good English, but made the point that in the ten years of this festival held in Bali, the Balinese language had never been used in a forum. She has put that situation to rights.
• The courage and humanity of people such as Romani Benjamin and Ben Quilty who, through the arts are making a difference to the lives of refugees and prisoners. 
• Continuing this theme:  Mexican journalist Lydia Cacho and Egyptian activist Mona Prince whose lives continue to be in danger because they speak out. Two extraordinarily courageous women.
• Ben Quilty again. This time as he spoke of his work as official war artist for the Australian Defence Forces in Afghanistan and his ongoing connection with the young soldiers who continue to serve there. Very moving. He kept apologising that he was an artist at a writer's festival so felt a bit fraudulent but the word pictures that he evoked were powerful.
• Out of Africa Night at Bar Luna. Fantastic music and poetry from Thando and other African men who currently reside in the island. The place was packed, but people still managed to dance.
• The premiere of the film Jalanan, made by Ubud-based film maker Daniel Ziv, which had just won an award as best-documentary at the Busan International Film Festival in Korea. The award was presented on the night, and Boni, Ho and Titi, the three young Jakarta buskers who were stars of the film, played afterwards. Here's a teaser of this entertaining but thought-provoking movie. The music that followed wasn't too shabby, either, and included Australian Clare Bowditch and an Indonesian rock group* that all the kids knew well and sang along with. The lyrics seemed very political, taking a strong anti-corruption stance. Fabulous night.

Of course there was more. Much more. But you will just have to come along to this exciting, stimulating festival yourselves. I plan to put up a list of nearby accommodation for anyone who is seriously considering the trip so watch this space. 

Now for those who have read all of this post, your reward is this video of our new friend Thando performing one of his poems, courtesy of another friend of his who just happens to be in Bali right now and took Thando and Truth out on a boat for the day yesterday. Thank you James Maiden.

Home to Africa by Thando Sibanda from James Maiden on Vimeo. *later found out it was the band Navicula. They were good!

Decisions, decisions

So much to see. So much to do. So many people to listen to. Above all, this is a festival of ideas. We have found from previous festivals that, unless there is a compelling reason to attend a particular session, it is really rewarding to choose a venue instead and enjoy the serendipity. But before I head off to Neka this morning (Eddie has volunteer duties for a few hours), a quick recap.

Airport duty on Thursday was intense. It was as if every plane that had been waiting to land following the APEC closures had arrived at the same time. Writers were hot and tired. Some had been travelling for 24 hours from Europe. But all were unfailingly pleasant, even though the immigration queue took over two hours before processing.

It was my good fortune to make the return journey to Ubud with a charming couple from Zimbabwe. Thando Sibanda is a performance poet, and his beautiful wife Truthness (aka Truth) is a livewire. So much fun. Since they met Eddie too we have all made a strong connection, but more of them and Thando's work another time.

We have attended the Opening Ceremony in the Palace, the writers' dinner at Casa Luna and attended three fabulous sessions yesterday. All of these deserve more time than I have right now. I will reflect later. In 15 minutes Thando is appearing in a panel at Neka (my compelling reason). Making a Mark will feature other people whose work is changing lives through art including Australian artist Ben Quilty who is working with inmates at Kerobokan Prison. So I must rush off, without pictures or links at this stage. Back soon.

UWRF

Taman Baca, Reading Garden

In every way the Writers and Readers Festival is the reason we are in Ubud. We have attended in previous years and found excellent accommodation close by, which is where we have been staying since May. Now the 10th anniversary 2013 Festival is about to start, and excitement levels are mounting.

Thousands of people will attend sessions - something like 25000 seats have been sold, but of course some of these will be people attending multiple sessions. Nevertheless, that's an influx of visitors and a great boost to the town's economy. Which was Janet deNeefe's intention when she founded the Festival immediately after the first bombing when tourists stopped coming here. I can't imagine her feelings when the second bombings took place soon after the 2005 event had concluded but it was all the more reason to carry on. Now UWRF is considered one of the premier international festivals of its kind.

This year more than 190 writers will be presenting; some are household names but many are not, and all the more interesting for that. Later I am off to the airport to greet arriving presenters and welcome them to Bali.

The streets are bedecked and this time on Saturday they will be teeming. Tonight there will be a Hindu blessing ceremony, tomorrow night we are lucky enough to be invited to the official opening at the Palace followed by a gala dinner. Then it's go, go, go.

Eddie and I both volunteered as soon as we got here in May and we have been helping with the programme and presenting authors and their books at the Bar Luna literary evenings. We have seen first-hand how brilliantly the programming staff have been juggling events and dealing with disappointment*. And how amazing the volunteer coordinators have been as they communicate with people around the world about their roles and as they have coped with last minute changes. Now I will sit back and enjoy the delicious dilemma of selecting what to attend, but Eddie's volunteering continues as he will be helping out with book launches and workshops over the four days.

Let the Festival begin! Will report as I can.

* It's a two-edged sword when you are smart enough to programme Man Booker Prize nominees before they are nominated. It means that when they are, they can't attend the Festival! Everyone is delighted for the authors, but disappointed for the Festival.So no Tash Aw, no Ruth Ozeki. This year, anyway.

Volunteer briefing, this morning

Box office will be busy

This building and grounds needs to be ready for action in 24 hours, and will be.

Sorry about that

Second post of the month, second apology, but we have popped our heads briefly out of the cone of silence. The past few weeks have been far busier than we could have anticipated. Not only have we enjoyed the company of family, there have been myriad social events. We are also making some big decisions, so talking, researching, emailing and considering has engaged our time. More of those developments another time.

With the Festival starting on Friday, we have been fortunate to start the partying early. Who knew that the new premises of Bali Adventure Tours were so, well, lush? We certainly do now, as a welcome reception for sponsors and volunteers was held there last week. The drinks and food foreshadowed many other lavish affairs to come over the next few days, but as few had been to this newly opened venue, the style came as something of an extremely pleasant surprise.

No doubt the hotels that cater for the rich and famous, and there are a few in Ubud, also enjoy stunning views, but they are exclusive. Any lucky rafter who finishes their adrenaline-filled whitewater experience will end up here. Not quite where we were - that was the posh part of the eight levels (four underground). They will be even higher* so will probably have an even better view over the gorges than ours, but it's difficult to imagine. And we have to imagine, as it had become dark when we passed this area on the way to see the helipad.

Did I mention the helipad? We were in the right place at the right time when the entrepreneurial owner** asked three of us if we would like to see it. A touch James Bondish with the press button retractable roof. He explained that he believes Ubud is ready for a high-end space such as this centre. Goodness only knows what it cost, but it certainly is impressive, and you would have no idea from the road.

This is not the only festival-related socialising we have done recently, either. The expat life!

As I have said, the Festival begins on Friday with the opening ceremony, although a Balinese ceremony and blessing will be held on Thursday night. Banners are fluttering all over town and the writers have started arriving, with the biggest number from all over the world due on Thursday. I am going to the airport in a meet-and-greet capacity in the afternoon. More on the exciting days ahead soon.

* No building in Bali is permitted to be higher than the coconut palms after the 1960s architectural disaster of the Bali Beach Hotel. The gods had their revenge later when practically the whole building was destroyed by fire in 1993 with a mysterious outcome. When you have been here a while, you begin to take such strange happenings as quite normal.
**He is also responsible for wonderful Taro Elephant Safari Park, where there is a rescue and breeding program for Sumatran elephants.

Still can't do links.

Apologies...

...for the break in transmission. Too busy! Normal service will be resumed as soon as possible.