Saturday 13th August
This morning I walked the 3kms to the centre of Lovina and to where I had yesterday booked my snorkelling trip; I arrived just before the agreed time of 9am but there was no one there, but then the self-proclaimed 'Captain of your ship' arrived and hurried me around to the beach on the back of his motorbike. Just as we got there, my boat zipped off into the distance. It was ok, they put me on another small boat with 3 Parisiens.
The boat went out about 1km and then we jumped in. The coral was mostly brown but it looked good and is still alive I think. I watched a few big fish chomping on the coral, having their breakfast, and there were lots of smaller colourful fish. We sat on the boat and chatted for a while and then headed back after a pleasant start to the day.
I was just looking through a locked gate, into a cemetary when an older local guy came up to me. He seemed friendly enough and we started chatting. After I had said I live in Australia he said his name was Gooday (G'Day); I assumed he was joking but Gede is his real name, a common Indonesian name.
Anyway, we talked a little about Hinduism (the main religion in Bali) and India and karma and he (inevitably) showed me some of the jewellery he had for sale. But he seemed to be genuine in his conversation and not just being the friendly salesman. So I asked him about the cremation ceremonies we had heard about that are supposed to take place in Bali this week. He told me about it and I asked him if it was appropriate for tourists to go and observe and when he said 'yes', I asked him if he would take us, as our guide. I definitely wanted a guide so we can be sure that we 'culturally sensitive'(!), and that we don't upset anyone, and so that he could tell us what was going on. So we agreed a price and we will meet G'Day tomorrow morning. Of course, he gave me a lift to his jewellery store, but there was nothing I wanted to buy.
Lovina is a bit touristy and there are quite a few locals hassling you to buy tours or trinkets but wandering the streets this morning there was a nice atmosphere. There are quite a few stone shrines and temples dotted along the streets and also some stone archways across the roads. The stone carvings usually include mystical creatures with sinister, evil looking faces. The shrines usually have a black and white checked sarong around the lower part of them; one lady told me this is so that they are in balance with humans, since humans are also normally clothed; we don't want to see naked temples. The shrines often have a yellow or white umbrella on the top also.
Sunday 14th August
After breakfast we met G'Day and his son and we went off on motorbikes to the nearby village of Tukad Mungga where the cremation ceremony was taking place. We passed through the village centre and parked up in a field where there were already many other bikes, and groups of people sitting on the grass. During the day G'Day explained what was happening but some things were lost in translation so this is just my understanding of what we saw.....
The cremation ceremonies happen once a year, or maybe less often (maybe). It involves cremating the souls of those who have already been cremated when they passed away. While the Balinese are Hindu, theirs is a variation on the Hinduism of India and I think this ceremony is unique to Bali. G'Day had asked us both to wear sarongs, like the locals, so I wore my sheet/sarong and it suited the occasion perfectly.
Before we arrived, the relatives of the dead had removed some soil from the grave of their deceased relative(s), and this contains the soul of the person. (It is not only the recently deceased who are involved, it is anyone deceased from any time). The soil is then gathered into a rattan(?) basket along with some other offerings. When we arrived small groups were sitting with the baskets.
We moved along to watch the Gamelan orchestra play, like we saw in Java and Sumatra, I really like the music, especially the gong and the wooden whistles. The players invited us to sit with them while they played, some of them know G'Day so we felt comfortable.
G'Day then ushered us back to the field where the burning had begun. The relatives set fire to the rattan baskets; it was quite a scene with the baskets burning all around. Once it has burned itself out the ashes are placed in a clay bowl and mixed with holy water. The holy water is brought by the distinguished-looking holy man who has an refined grey beard and wears a king's crown
The ashes are then wrapped in white cloth and placed in half a coconut shell. The relatives sat with the coconut shells under a marquee and a holy man addressed them and they prayed. We sat under a tree and waited. G'Day pointed out that there was a group of mourners who were not burning baskets. These relatives have lost young family members and these deceased are not cremated in the same way.
G'Day had said that the cremation ceremony involves the 4 elements; earth, wind, fire and water. I can see that the soil represents the earth and burning is the fire element. The next stage was 'water'. The relatives left the marquee and on bikes and in cars and the back of utes, they carried their ashes 2kms to the beach; we went ahead of them. At the beach there was Gamelan music again and some prayers. Then the mourners took turns to take the ashes and other offerings down and into the ocean. It was fairly chaotic and the sea was left with a lot of debris.
I didn't exactly understand, but some of the mourners pulled a white rope out of the water, apparently pulling the soul back onto dry land. They then walk around in a procession, doing a little dance as they go; this is to represent happiness that the soul has been retrieved from the sea. They then take the soul to a temple in the village for the end of the ceremony. At that stage we felt we had seen enough so we left the relatives there and G'Day and his son brought us back to Lovina.
I suppose you could call it a communal cremation. It was not really a somber occasion. There were a few tears but also some smiles. Like in India, these things are all wrapped up in the ritual. I also thought that either deliberately or otherwise, by mourning together, the people are supporting eachother, sharing their loss. It was certainly very interesting for us and I was glad that we had employed G'Day to come with us.
We had lunch and then walked along the beach and sat on the black volcanic sand for a while.
Monday 15th August
First chance in a while to sleep in. We walked to Lovina along the beach rather than the busy road. There were a few obstacles such as boats and small estuaries and dogs. We passed by the back of people's houses and their cows and chickens and pigs. After second breakfast at noon we went to the beach and sat on the black volcanic sand, under the shade of trees. I had a short swim, the water is pretty churned up but it was ok. We chatted and read books and enjoyed the calm beach atmosphere.
There were many hawkers at the beach; almost every few minutes somebody would come by trying to sell sarongs, or massage or fruit or drinks. It gets a little tiresome and you start to feel bad saying 'no thank you' all the time. Young kids come by with menus offering soft drinks. Maybe this is child labour? What happens to the money they make? Well one 11 year old girl said it was to help pay for her schooling and we wondered if this was true. A short while later G'Day came by to chat and he told us that, yes, parents have to pay towards their child's education at Junior High and Hign School. If the parents can not afford it, then the kid just does not go to school; that's pretty bad.
In the evening we went to the nearby rasta bar where a reggae-type band was playing their versions of Pink Floyd, Dire Straits and of course Bob Marley; they were good. I had an orange juice, I haven't had alcohol for ages, simply because at this stage I don't want to spend money on things I don't need.
This morning I walked the 3kms to the centre of Lovina and to where I had yesterday booked my snorkelling trip; I arrived just before the agreed time of 9am but there was no one there, but then the self-proclaimed 'Captain of your ship' arrived and hurried me around to the beach on the back of his motorbike. Just as we got there, my boat zipped off into the distance. It was ok, they put me on another small boat with 3 Parisiens.
The boat went out about 1km and then we jumped in. The coral was mostly brown but it looked good and is still alive I think. I watched a few big fish chomping on the coral, having their breakfast, and there were lots of smaller colourful fish. We sat on the boat and chatted for a while and then headed back after a pleasant start to the day.
I was just looking through a locked gate, into a cemetary when an older local guy came up to me. He seemed friendly enough and we started chatting. After I had said I live in Australia he said his name was Gooday (G'Day); I assumed he was joking but Gede is his real name, a common Indonesian name.
Anyway, we talked a little about Hinduism (the main religion in Bali) and India and karma and he (inevitably) showed me some of the jewellery he had for sale. But he seemed to be genuine in his conversation and not just being the friendly salesman. So I asked him about the cremation ceremonies we had heard about that are supposed to take place in Bali this week. He told me about it and I asked him if it was appropriate for tourists to go and observe and when he said 'yes', I asked him if he would take us, as our guide. I definitely wanted a guide so we can be sure that we 'culturally sensitive'(!), and that we don't upset anyone, and so that he could tell us what was going on. So we agreed a price and we will meet G'Day tomorrow morning. Of course, he gave me a lift to his jewellery store, but there was nothing I wanted to buy.
Lovina is a bit touristy and there are quite a few locals hassling you to buy tours or trinkets but wandering the streets this morning there was a nice atmosphere. There are quite a few stone shrines and temples dotted along the streets and also some stone archways across the roads. The stone carvings usually include mystical creatures with sinister, evil looking faces. The shrines usually have a black and white checked sarong around the lower part of them; one lady told me this is so that they are in balance with humans, since humans are also normally clothed; we don't want to see naked temples. The shrines often have a yellow or white umbrella on the top also.
Sunday 14th August
After breakfast we met G'Day and his son and we went off on motorbikes to the nearby village of Tukad Mungga where the cremation ceremony was taking place. We passed through the village centre and parked up in a field where there were already many other bikes, and groups of people sitting on the grass. During the day G'Day explained what was happening but some things were lost in translation so this is just my understanding of what we saw.....
The cremation ceremonies happen once a year, or maybe less often (maybe). It involves cremating the souls of those who have already been cremated when they passed away. While the Balinese are Hindu, theirs is a variation on the Hinduism of India and I think this ceremony is unique to Bali. G'Day had asked us both to wear sarongs, like the locals, so I wore my sheet/sarong and it suited the occasion perfectly.
Before we arrived, the relatives of the dead had removed some soil from the grave of their deceased relative(s), and this contains the soul of the person. (It is not only the recently deceased who are involved, it is anyone deceased from any time). The soil is then gathered into a rattan(?) basket along with some other offerings. When we arrived small groups were sitting with the baskets.
We moved along to watch the Gamelan orchestra play, like we saw in Java and Sumatra, I really like the music, especially the gong and the wooden whistles. The players invited us to sit with them while they played, some of them know G'Day so we felt comfortable.
G'Day then ushered us back to the field where the burning had begun. The relatives set fire to the rattan baskets; it was quite a scene with the baskets burning all around. Once it has burned itself out the ashes are placed in a clay bowl and mixed with holy water. The holy water is brought by the distinguished-looking holy man who has an refined grey beard and wears a king's crown
The ashes are then wrapped in white cloth and placed in half a coconut shell. The relatives sat with the coconut shells under a marquee and a holy man addressed them and they prayed. We sat under a tree and waited. G'Day pointed out that there was a group of mourners who were not burning baskets. These relatives have lost young family members and these deceased are not cremated in the same way.
G'Day had said that the cremation ceremony involves the 4 elements; earth, wind, fire and water. I can see that the soil represents the earth and burning is the fire element. The next stage was 'water'. The relatives left the marquee and on bikes and in cars and the back of utes, they carried their ashes 2kms to the beach; we went ahead of them. At the beach there was Gamelan music again and some prayers. Then the mourners took turns to take the ashes and other offerings down and into the ocean. It was fairly chaotic and the sea was left with a lot of debris.
I didn't exactly understand, but some of the mourners pulled a white rope out of the water, apparently pulling the soul back onto dry land. They then walk around in a procession, doing a little dance as they go; this is to represent happiness that the soul has been retrieved from the sea. They then take the soul to a temple in the village for the end of the ceremony. At that stage we felt we had seen enough so we left the relatives there and G'Day and his son brought us back to Lovina.
I suppose you could call it a communal cremation. It was not really a somber occasion. There were a few tears but also some smiles. Like in India, these things are all wrapped up in the ritual. I also thought that either deliberately or otherwise, by mourning together, the people are supporting eachother, sharing their loss. It was certainly very interesting for us and I was glad that we had employed G'Day to come with us.
We had lunch and then walked along the beach and sat on the black volcanic sand for a while.
Monday 15th August
First chance in a while to sleep in. We walked to Lovina along the beach rather than the busy road. There were a few obstacles such as boats and small estuaries and dogs. We passed by the back of people's houses and their cows and chickens and pigs. After second breakfast at noon we went to the beach and sat on the black volcanic sand, under the shade of trees. I had a short swim, the water is pretty churned up but it was ok. We chatted and read books and enjoyed the calm beach atmosphere.
There were many hawkers at the beach; almost every few minutes somebody would come by trying to sell sarongs, or massage or fruit or drinks. It gets a little tiresome and you start to feel bad saying 'no thank you' all the time. Young kids come by with menus offering soft drinks. Maybe this is child labour? What happens to the money they make? Well one 11 year old girl said it was to help pay for her schooling and we wondered if this was true. A short while later G'Day came by to chat and he told us that, yes, parents have to pay towards their child's education at Junior High and Hign School. If the parents can not afford it, then the kid just does not go to school; that's pretty bad.
In the evening we went to the nearby rasta bar where a reggae-type band was playing their versions of Pink Floyd, Dire Straits and of course Bob Marley; they were good. I had an orange juice, I haven't had alcohol for ages, simply because at this stage I don't want to spend money on things I don't need.
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