Archive for October 9th, 2006
The horrific bombing that took place in Kuta Bali in 2002, was planned by JI (Jemaah Islamiyah) operative,
Dulmatin. His wife was arrested recently on the Philippine island of Jolo.
JI has links to other terrorist groups in Asia, include Abu Sayyaf, located in the southern Philippines. While considered a Catholic country, the Philippines has a large Muslim population on the island of Midanao, and its smaller neighbors. Kidnappings and smallscale bombings have been the modus operandi of terrorists here. The Filipino army has been chasing the Abu Sayyaf group for a while and the capture of Dulmatin’s wife, is a sure sign he is in the area. Great news for the relatives of the Bali Bombing victims. Let’s hope Dulmatin is brought to justice, or meets a sticky end, in the Philippine jungle.
source : www.baliblog.com
October 9th, 2006
An evening shower on Friday night, followed by patchy cloud on Saturday morning. Could this be the start of the wet season in Bali?
Sitting on a bamboo chair on my porch last night, I was getting into a travel book,
Jupiter’s Travels, the story of a bloke who does a 4 year motorbike trip around the world. Suddenly the mozzie population increased, which meant it was about to rain. The 15 minute shower was refreshing and I took the opportunity to test my Aussie hat in the rain. It worked, and with my rain jacket, stayed quite dry.
Our weather of late has been sunny and dry, with some cloud drifting through. Here’s the 10 day weather forecast for Bali.
source : www.baliblog.com
October 9th, 2006
The 2002 Bali Bombings, in Kuta shook the world and left people with a ‘I was doing ‘X’ when I heard the news’ memory.
When I heard the news I was in Eugene Oregon, just a couple of months away from moving to Bali. Having talked to many Balinese locals about their experiences, I know the event brought great shock and sadness. Ika was actually only 20 meters from the Sari Club when it blew up, sitting in a taxi on Poppies II, shielded by Aloha Surf Shop.
Australain Federal Police Commissioner, Mick Keelty was on Poppies II also, and an article in The Australian, talks about his and other people’s experiences that night.
source : www.baliblog.com
October 9th, 2006
Pura Petitenget is located in Seminyak, where
Jl. Petitenget meets the beach. This afternoon there was a Balinese ceremony going on there. Skies were slightly darkened, but a gazebo structure was set up to give people shade.
Approaching the ceremony, I could hear the rattle of the gamelan orchestra. Many seated Balinese people, mostly older people it seemed, were listening to the prayers of a priest over a loudspeaker. A local told me this was a ‘poleng’ ceremony, the poleng being the black and white checkered cloth, the banjar people wear. I could see people who were dressed head to toe in checkered cloth. One senior priest cavorted around, clasping a kris (wiggly sword) pressed into his chest.
While I watched, a handful of tourists gathered, taking in the music and the proceedings. The ceremony was directly in front of La Lucciola, an Italian restaurant that is favoured by the Seminyak crowd. I could see some fly-ass expat coochies, getting their drink on, and their snack on, the ceremony of no interest.
The reason Balinese set some temples up close to the ocean, is they feel it is sacred. On occassion priests will bring temple equipment to the ocean to be purified. When Balinese people perform a ceremony on the beach, they normally face the ocean, a trail of offerings often leading to the waters edge. I try not to block their view to the ocean and stand on the sidelines, where possible. Today people seemed totally cool with others watching.
The nearby temple, Pura Petitenget, had a steady line of worshippers entering. I never tire of looking at Balinese people in their ceremonial outfits, whether they be male or female. When my friend Darvis, was going on about western crap, that spoils his time shooting, he is referring to scenes like today, where random people dressed in soccer shirts, or Bintang t-shirts stroll through the frame. Funnily enough, here in Bali I don’t have that problem too much. When there is a big temple festival, most everyone there is dressed in traditional outfits, except the satay vendors who are parked under a tree.
Feel free to view a Balinese ceremony when you are in Bali. No need to wear special clothing, if you are not inside a temple, or at a wedding.
source : www.baliblog.com
October 9th, 2006
Sunday here in Bali was spent for me, exploring the beach, roads and rice paddies of Yeh Gangga, just up the coast from Tanah Lot.
The area is almost totally untouristed, has sweeping, empty, dark sand beaches. Rice paddies come right down to the back of the beach and you can see the water, that has trickled all the way from the mountains, making it final descent to the beach.
I was intending to follow a hike suggesed in my guidebook, but the directions were a bit sketchy. I ended up bushwhacking through dry paddy fields, which were like ovens, tethered cattle looking on, and my wondering how long it would take, to get back to my motorbike. There is some lovely scenery though, around Yeh Gangga, and people were nice. More on that trip besok (that’s tommorrow for you touro’s).
source : www.baliblog.com
October 9th, 2006