Temples and Too Many Ants

Unlike Java Island, Bali is not primarily Muslim. It is more a mix of Hinduism and traditional religion. There are temples absolutely everywhere, nestled within the houses, along the streets, or out in the open depending on size. Little banana leaf baskets filled with flowers are brought to the many shrines, daily it seems, and prayers / recitations are offered. The people are also very superstitious. On the way over in the travel car there was a man, his wife, and their toddler daughter. The driver said these innocent people were using magic. The car apparently couldn't go fast enough while they were inside, but once we dropped them off we were able to zip around. Hmm, I have a hard time believing that. Maybe the driver just wanted an excuse for dropping us off late.

Tuesday afternoon we visited one of the largest temples. Massive stone rectangles rose into the sky around a central courtyard, mysteriously and impressively cut into the earth. At the head of the courtyard was a massive stone sculpture of a bird-like god, and even father up was the stone recreation of one of the Balinese princes. It was a beautiful view of the island from the heights of the temple.

There are also statues everywhere of warriors, uniformed soldiers, or sea-oriented gods, like the one driving the chariot shown here. We got lost so much, so I saw this particular statue much more than what would have been necessary. Traffic in Bali is also absolutely terrible, so we often went by moped. Weaving in and out of the cars, you can get around a lot faster. Since we were staying at Ocha's uncle's house, he was kind enough to lend us one for the week.

The showers this week: barrel and scoop. And by no means was the water warm.

I don't think I have talked about the ants yet. In Malang, they are everywhere. In Bali, they are everywhere. They are in the bed, on the toilet seat, and around my stuff that sits out on the counter. I don't eat food in the room for that reason, but I am sure I have swallowed or eaten my fair share of the little critters. In Bali, all the ants were tiny, and there were swarms of them. In the bathroom, there were two solid lines of ants crawling from floor to ceiling. On Tuesday I took a swig from my water bottle. And then there was a sharp prick and burning sensation on my tongue. Ant. Ew. The little sucker was soon crushed and promptly rolled out of my desecrated mouth.