Munene, the journey...

We visited a temple where people go to wash their bodies and cleanse themselves, and pray for prosperity, good fortune and success in their exams (students) Hello there: guard at the entrance to the temple SPP crowd before going into the fountain The spring had many fountains for different things: for success, to heal disease, prevent nightmares etc. there were 2 fountains which are used for cleansing corpses, and are not to be used for normal washing. We had a good lunch, and I ordered pork ribs and French fries - best pork ribs I have had. We then visited another temple which had a huge gong that was used in the olden days for celebrations. Origins of it are a part of a moon fell and then someone peed on it or something… After walking around on the streets in the evening trying to find swimwear for people, we decided to get dinner. Dinner was with the usual crowd (Renuka, Wardah, Jackson, Annisah, Taryn, Andrea and I), at a new place down our street. I had...

The day began with a 7.30am breakfast, and at 8.45am, we left the cottage to see rice fields and subaks. Our host for the day was Prof. Widaya and Dr. Sedana (from Dwijendra University). We met at a subak, and they explained to us some of the features of the subak system: Tak tak: the allocation of water between farms. It consists of blocking water from the main drainage canal to a field for a specific time period. The water is termed as borrowed from the downstream farmers Tak taks also determine how much each farmer contributes to the subak for communal ceremonies, rituals etc. Subak heads: elected every 5 years; he is an unsalaried official who helps coordinate a subak Its contact with government, private millers market, nonprofits etc. Water allocation during meetings Conflict resolution about water allocation Rituals, and inter-subak coordination Calendar: Balinese have multiple calendars: religious, mark...