Friday in Ubud

I'm writing this Saturday morning as I was simply too tired last night to do anything productive. The only problem with that is we're to leave in an hour and a half for a day long tour of the major sights of the island. We'll see how much I get done before we leave (and after we get back).

We got a ride into the center of Ubud and went first to the market. It was the typical riot of voices, colors, and smells.

Some of the smells were worse than others.

Where to go next?

We decided to visit the former compound and current museum of the artist Antonio Blanco. We walked and walked.

Finally, there we were.

It was really quite amazing. Blanco was from Catalan but married a Balinese dancer and fell utterly in love with Bali. He was great friends with Sukarno with whom, according to what I read, he shared a love of art and women. His paintings tend toward sexual themes but with a sense of humor. Also, he designed his own frames which are whimsical and fascinating. No photos allowed.

The compound/museum grounds are extensive (a gift from Sukarno). With some beautiful birds.

I saw someone feeding the birds, calling to them, and went over to chat. Turned out it was the son of Antonio Blanco, Marco. He's an artist in his own right and a photographer. He recognized my Leica. I showed it to him, and we had a nice chat about cameras.

I couldn't take photos of Blanco's art, in the museum, but did get some of his studio.

We loved it. Next, it was time for lunch. We'd read about the place with the best roast suckling pig in Bali, so off we went. In a cab this time.

It's a bit hard to read, but above the entrance the banner read "Merry Christmas." I have no idea why and, I expect, neither do they.

The pig sculpture/fountain was more to the point (that's Ganesh, the elephant god, in the background).

The food was great!

From there we walked through Monkey Forest

where there were lots and lots of . . . monkeys.

That night, we went to a kecak dance and fire dance.

Next to us was a lovely Norwegian/Swedish family with two darling little girls and an eight month old baby. For being eight months old, the baby was pretty friendly and gave us just a bit of Evynne loss compensation.

The only light is fire -- a photographic nightmare. Here the lamps are being lit.

Both the Kecak and the fire dances have no gamelan for musical accompaniment but rather a chorus of men chanting.

The kecak was eerie and strangely alluring. Again, I would love to know the story being told.

The fire dance was not only eerie but a bit scary. A fire was built on the floor, the men chanted and a man who looked like a horse ran through the fire, kicking it and sending embers flying. He had bare feet, incomprehensibly, but that didn't reassure Nancy when those burning embers came within inches of her sandaled feet!

We've seen some amazing things!