C. Bali: Part 2

After our canoeing trip we saddled up our bikes and took to the back roads of some small Balinese villages.  The smell of incense was thick as the sound of gamelans and singing lingered in the distance from the New Year's celebrations.  I couldn't help but breathe in deeply and smile!

We made many stops along the way to various villages, learning about their culture all the while.

Bali is 93% Hindu, with devout followers and religious police to boot.  Each family has their own temple, always more ornate and costly than their homes, where the ashes of their ancestors are housed.  

Below are typical houses in Bali.

It's common to see women crouched over their grass weavings, making their offering baskets.  Every girl learns to make these by the time they are six years old and will be responsible for making offerings their whole life.

These kinds of offerings are made three times a day to appease the spirits and bring prosperity and health to ones family.  The offering baskets are filled with a variety of items that stimulate the senses including rice, flowers, crackers, sometimes cigarettes, and always incense...always.  Offerings for ancestors are put up on high temple platforms like these,

...while others are placed on the floor to keep demons away, because demons live on the ground, of course.  An interesting part of this believe is that babies are not allowed to touch the ground for the first 90-120 days of their life (this number varies from village to village) - Not at all!  Can you imagine never putting your new baby down on the ground for 90 days!  We saw mothers with their new babies clinging on to them for dear life.  The reasoning behind this is that if they put their child down, then they will be possessed by demons, because demons live on the ground.  In their believes with reincarnation, individuals come into this world without a spirit and then receive one of their ancestor's spirits after the 90-120 days, so it is vitally important that they remain empty vessels until that ritual is performed.

In the picture below you can see a rooster cage.  These are common throughout Bali, as cock fighting is popular.  Sometimes you will even see men outside lovingly messaging their prized rooster.  Recently, however, cock fighting was banned, but there are still underground fights.

Part 3 of C. Bali coming up next...