Asia Mega Tour II - Galungan Ultimate Photo/Video Experience

Our day starts out with Bob of Bali Tours coming by with all the traditional clothes that are required to gain entrance to the temples on this important day on the Balinese Hindu calendar.

Bob is actually a priest and will be giving blessings all day at his temple

We get to meet his whole family

The older girl was very shy but I broke the ice with her by having her use my camera to take pictures of her younger sister and mother. These were hardly touched up at all!

Putu, one of Bob's drivers, came and helped us into all of our garb. Then it was off on the long drive to two of the major temples in Western Bali - Pura Melanting and Pura Pulati.

There were opportunities to catch much local flavor

The drive-up offering store. Don't have your offering ready? Just stop by one of these convenient street side locations and pick on up on your way to the temple.

It was a cloudy day but there was no rain.

Scenes of the low coastal lands and the mountains

Capturing the full scope of motorbike traffice

The Sundry Store

Transporting the friend to the temple

Don't forget the offering

The ice cream bike

Transporting the comatose child

At last at the Melanting Temple

Wife and #1 getting ready to go in

Entering the temple

Now enjoy the experience of entering the temple and taking part in receiving its blessings

Once the receiving of blessings was over, we went exploring the temple

Then it was a drive over to the Pulati Temple, also called the monkey temple...a real major one. Lots of folks from the big town of Denpasar come here. There were so many young folks that #1 joked this temple must be the 'hip' place for the young Denpasar crowd to go to temple.

We were incredibly lucky. Putu found a parking place literally right in front of the temple...and this place was mobbed! 

Then we walked in and got the last places for the devotions and blessings for this shift.

Us sitting and waiting for blessings to begin

Everyone filling out after blessings

Some nice shots of #1 and Putu

We finished off by getting a very late lunch at a place that grills fish over an open fire of coconut husks

The owner, who I met, worked nine years in the US in Alabama, Nebraska, West Virginia, and New York City saving enough money to come home and buy this place. He had a guy playing country music on an electric piano.

The fish was yummy!

Asia Mega Tour II - Happy Galungan!

I don't know what you were doing today. I bet you weren't out there celebrating the battle of good versus evil as it represents in your own soul. Well Wife, #1, and I were out there being good Hindus and making our devotions at the temple I can tell you.

We've gone 180  degrees from sitting around in contented semi-comatose repose, to back on the crazy experience thrill ride again. Bob (the best driver in Bali) the tour guide it turns out is a priest at a local Hindu temple. And today Wednesday is one of a gazillion holidays they have. It is Galungan.  You can check out the link for the background.

Originally it was going to be an off day but we are getting to the end of our time and we didn't want an off day. Plus I think Bob saw how interested we were in the local culture on our trip Sunday. So while he had temple duties, he arranged for another driver to take us to two major temples on the island to experience the full event.

It was amazing. We had to dress in local garb and we participated in the devotional and getting of blessings. I will have a much, much more detailed post as soon as I can get all my pictures and videos edited.

But in the meantime get with your families and have a happy Galungan!