Bali, at long last

It’s been over two months since we got back from Bali, and I’m only now posting photos. Why the delay? I have no good reason. A big ol’ gallery of photos awaits, but first a few panoramic ones that I stitched together. They will be more impressive if you click to see the full-size version.

Here’s a beautiful rice paddy we walked around for a few hours. Hiking along the hillside ridges is fun, but a bit treacherous.

And here’s a temple courtyard.

And here’s a larger gallery for your delectation. Click on any photo for a carousel-style gallery, or hover over a photo to see the caption. Coming soon: monkey video.

The view at our hotel.

Not a bad place to have breakfast.

It could have come from the resort website, but no; Cate took this picture.

Mount Batur, an active volcano near the northern coast of Bali.

Wood carvers at work behind their creations. The one in the center is Rama and Sita, from the ancient Sanskrit epic the Ramayana.

The kecak dance, in which dozens of Balinese re-enact an episode from the Ramayana. Kidnapping! Monkey armies! True love!

The kecak dance, continued.

The kecak dance, continued.

This is a luwak. He lives in the forests and eats all kinds of things, including coffee beans. His little intestinal tract removes all the bitter parts of the beans, so if you collect those beans after they, errr, pass through him, then clean them *really well*, they make the most excellent and expensive coffee. We tried some, and it is delicious.

We woke up the first morning to find this guy lounging on the wall outside our room.

This shows just how close these monkeys got to our room.

Monkey family.

Monkey daddy.

The rice paddies really are stunning.

Likewise.

And so on.

These little shrines are all over the place, with offerings of fruit, flowers, etc., left daily.

Temple complex by night.

Another temple complex, by day.

The scary guys are meant to scare away evil forces.

The temple gamelan. So cool.

The instrument in front is essentially a set of small gongs mounted on a rack, played with cord-wrapped sticks. The one behind is like a metal xylophone.

Temple wall.

Cate bought an offering basket to leave in the temple.

The classic “split gate” (candi bentar) at Balinese temples opens from the temple complex onto the outside world.

A tree-lined street in downtown Ubud.

The Bali Zoo: bats hanging out.

Creepy and awesome in equal parts.

Cate petting some kind of weird bird.

Very little zoom used on this photo. Those tigers are actually that close.

The view from an elephant.

The requisite touristy picture.

Our ride, a Sumatran elephant named Budy. We asked the handler if he rode Budy every day and he said “Of course. One elephant, one trainer.”