Lake Bratan

Lake Bratan
By:http://www.edwebproject.org/bali/gallery/bratan.html

Lake Bratan, high up in the central mountains of Bali (see map), is famous for its lakeside temple. We stayed long enough just to get some pictures of the temple before returning to Ubud that afternoon.

Tirta Gangga's Rice Paddies

Tirta Gangga's Rice Paddies
By:http://www.edwebproject.org/bali/gallery/tirtagangga.html

The village of Tirta Gangga in eastern Bali (see map) is home to some of the most beautiful rice paddies in Bali. We hired the owner of our hotel, the Puri Prima, to take us on a morning walk. For nearly four hours we visited cascading paddies, climbed hillsides crowded with crops and snaked through numerous villages.

	A view from our hotel to a valley of rice paddies.		Rice paddies are at their prettiest early in the morning.
	Andy follows Nyoman, our guide, along a stream.		A pair of girls fetching water from the stream.
	Sometimes the best way to follow a stream is to walk in it.		Susanne certainly doesn't mind getting her feet wet.
	A view of Mt. Agung, Bali's holiest volcano. Its 1963 eruption killed hundreds of villagers.		Andy tries to keep up with Nyoman.
	Let's hope it doesn't erupt again.
	Even Nyoman gets to pause by the volcano for a photo.		Andy examines a field of padi bali Bali's indigenous rice. Largely replaced by modern rice hybrids because of their shorter harvest cycles, padi bali is getting quite rare on the island.
	The padi bali is almost as tall as Susanne!		Closeup of a girl carrying a basket.
	A view of the rice paddies from a hill north of the village.		Closeup of the paddies.
	Coconut palms crowd out the view of the paddies in another direction.		Nyoman surveys the view.
	A villager stops to say hello along the roadside.		Heading down the hill, we reach another valley of rice paddies.
	Everywhere you go, Mt. Agung is looming in the distance.		A man replants young rice in a paddy.
	There's plenty of work to be done today.
	Palm trees stand guard over a rice paddy ready for harvest.		A family works the freshly harvested rice, separating it from the stalks.
			Along the roadside, women spread the rice husks to dry on a sheet.
	Susanne takes the lead.		Pausing for another photo along a hillside.
	Susanne and Nyoman looking over the valley, with Mt. Agung off to the northwest.		Back at our hotel, we spotted a parade going up the road. We grabbed our cameras and tried to catch up with them.
	The parade was for a new baby, and the entire village was gathering to celebrate.		A drummer leads a marching band.
	A gamelan musician carries a gong.
	Villagers carrying beautiful parasols.		Parasols come in red and yellow, along with silver, gold and other colors.
	It's a full moon in Tirta Ganga -- our bulan madu (honeymoon)!

Bali Cremation Ceremony, Candidasa

Bali Cremation Ceremony, Candidasa
By:http://www.edwebproject.org/bali/gallery/cremation.html

Susanne and I were invited by Nengah Sutu, our driver in Candidasa, to attend a cremation in his village. Having seen cremations in India we were really eager to see what they were like in Bali -- and as we soon discovered, it was more like a festival than anything else.

	Sittin in front of Nengah's shop, a neighbor and his son wait for the cremation procession to begin.		Nengah's wife feeds some rice to their daughter.
	Andy reading his book waiting for the funeral procession.		Ahead of the procession, a group of men arrive carrying items for the funeral pyre.
	Before we know it, the entire village has assembled into a procession coming down the street.		We make our way into the crowd to join the parade.
	A mother carries her young daugther.		Susanne poses amidst the crowd.
	Andy, with his blue backpack, makes his way among the crowd.		A relative of the deceased carrying offerings.
	Some relatives are in a trance, and need assistance when walking with offerings.		Another relative of the deceased.
	The pall bearers arrive.		Musicians follow the pall bearers to the cremation site.
	More music adds to the spectacle.		A band member blowing his whistle.
	Women carry clay jars of holy water.		Groups of men hang out at the cremation site.
	Chatting it up while the priests get ready to go to work.		One of the village priests gets ready to begin the ceremony.
	Men hold umbrellas while other villagers get to work on the funeral pyre.		Another priest pours holy water onto the pyre. The empty clay jars are then shattered and discarded below the pyre.
	Susanne takes a break as villager wait to bring their offerings up to the funeral pyre.		More women line up with their offerings.
	The cremation won't start until every woman gets to bring her offerings to the pyre.		Andy hanging out at the cremation.
	A local boy happy with all the old coins he's found at the cremation site, where mourners have thrown antique Chinese coins into the air.		Kids mug for the camera while waiting for the cremation to reach full swing.
	No matter where you go in the world, kids always love a camera lens.		Pointing a toy bow and arrow at us.
	A man gets ready to light the funeral pyre.		Locals continue to mount items on the pyre as the fire spreads.
	A man stokes the fire as smoke pours out heavily.		Smoke from the pyre hangs over the crowd of mourners.
	The flames reach their peak...		And quickly die out. The crowd disperses minutes afterwards.