Katrina K. Photography

We were lucky enough to see a Bali cremation ceremony before leaving Nusa Lembongan.  We had read about these elaborate rituals that, like the Indian Hindus, involve sending cremated remains into the water. In Bali, they send remains into the sea. With all of our beach-going, we were really hoping to see one. The day we arrived, our host informed us there would be a mass cremation two days. We were stoked! You might be thinking, " Mass  cremation? What's up with that?" Let me explain.  

Yesterday we were extremely lucky and were able to attend a Balinese mass cremation. Even though we are in Nusa Lembongan, and island Southeast of Bali, people here follow Bali customs and religion. Seeing a cremation was on our wish-list, so we were stoked. It being in a place we really like was the proverbial icing on the cake.

The view from our lounge chairs at the Komodo Resort (which is not on the namesake island) We left Kanawa Island Resort on a cold, rainy day. The Flores Sea was choppy and white-capped, which wasn't the best of news for us since we were taking a boat to Komodo Resort, on the nearby Sebayur Island. Lucky for us, on a good day  our boat ride was only 15 minutes by speed boat, as opposed to the hour needed to get back to Flores.

After my moonlit dip, I slept like a rock, as I often do when there's an ocean nearby. Unless there's also a fog horn. Or a mosque.  I woke up to use the bathroom and realized that dawn was just breaking. It was a gorgeous morning, so I decided to climb the Kanawa Island hill to watch the sunrise. It was beautiful.

The beach view from our accomocations for the night, a bale-bale* I write this sitting on a secluded beach, under a full moon and a cloudless sky, listening to the lapping waves of the Flores sea. The sound of the waves is commingled with nearby crickets and the dull hum of a distant generator.  The air is warm -- perfect, in fact. A light breeze keeps the bugs at bay, and I am perfectly content in my tank top and shorts.

The port of Luanbajo This evening something remarkable happened. Tadashi and I went to the night market for dinner. No, that's not the remarkable part--you'll have to wait for that.  In Luanbajo, the night market is a bunch of food stalls set up along the waterfront promenade. We found a stall that looked good, sat down, and ordered dinner ( mie goreng  and goreng,  fried noodles and   fried chicken). The stall didn't serve beer, so I went to go buy some. Although it's totally legit to BYOB, finding the B turned out to be a little more difficult the it sounds. 

We've been in Luanbajo, Flores for three days. Most people come here to scuba dive or see Komodo dragons.  Us? we came here to get in a little beach time and do a little snorkeling on some (supposedly) awesome reefs, but mainly, we came here to try and see the quiet side of Indonesia. We had hoped that Ubud, Bali would give us that, but we were disappointed.

This is the third time I'm having to redo this entry (grrrrrr!), so it will be shorter than I originally intended.... We were lucky enough to be at Cozy Wayan Sueta for the bi-annual temple festival -- twice! The photos below are are combination of both nights.  Going to the temple means getting dressed in proper clothes, and Wayan and Ayu were kind enough to loan us some of theirs. 

Village Girls A small village West of the center of Ubud, Taman, has become our home away from home. Wayan and Ayu's place, Cozy Wayan Sueta, has been filled with humor, kindness, love, and drunken shenanigans-- not necessarily in that order-- since we arrived 13 days ago.

Yesterday was a shopping day.  We started with a drive to Mas to see (and hopefully purchase) wood carvings. The carving were absolutely stunning.   And waaaay out of our price range.  The starting prices for the good stuff was over 8 million Rupia, which means anything would have cost at least 700 US dollars. And that would be for the simple pieces that were relatively small.  Suffice it to say that we only left with photos.  And I was surprised that they let us take that!  Unfortunately the photos are on my camera, so I can't share them yet, but I will update with photos when we get home.  Some of the carvings were truly life-like. I truly cannot describe them other than to say we were awe-struck at the detail and beauty. Even at a clearance sale, we couldn't afford the pieces we wanted. Were I to win the lottery, I would head right back there!

I have been trying to post a blog, and photos, for a week now, but there is precious little internet, and even fewer ways to post with my iPad. Our original intent was to use the camera wifi to transfer photos, but it turns out that doesn't work well at all.  Of spouse, it worked just fine when we we're home! Traveling extra light, we have no computer, and being in the remote countryside of Ubud, we have no unternet cafés. Blogger is especially troublesome on the ipad.  So I will just post a bunch of photos. I will tell y about the funeral we say today on another post, because it's bed time, and theses photos will take over an hour tonload. First world problems, right?