Bali Class Trip

When people think of Indonesia, Bali is typically the first place that comes to mind. It is one of the largest tourist destinations in the world and Kuta, Bali is equivalent to Cancun for Australians. The striking colors, unfamiliar music, Hindu statues, gorgeous beaches, picturesque rice paddies, immense biodiversity, surfing, and distinctive dance make this a memorable place to visit. Drugs, exploration, women, relaxation, partying... nothing is out of reach on this island. It also conveniently happens to have the best infrastructure and most widely spoken amount of English in Indonesia. Culturally, the island is overwhelmingly Hindu (85%), which is in stark contrast to Muslim dominated Java (>90%).

Map of the Trip

My three day excursion to Bali was due to a class field trip. Having been to Bali previously, this was a much more educational trip than my previous foray, which overwhelmingly revolved around partying and relaxing. Our first stop was Taman Safari Indonesia, the Bali Safari and Marine Park, which exceeded my expectations considering I'm normally anti-zoo. However, this place seemed more cognizant of conservation and providing the wildlife with more space than most zoos. The space was obviously insufficient, but nowhere near as claustrophobic as other places I've visited.

Tigers Napping

Zebras at the Watering Hole

Meeting the Elephants 

Meeting the Elephants

These trained elephants put on a performance that raised awareness about conservation and their dwindling numbers throughout Southeast Asia. According to National Geographic, "in financial terms, a living elephant is as valuable as 76 dead elephants." Consider that...

Majestic White Tiger

Snoozing Leopard

Our next stop was Tanah Lot, meaning "land sea" in Balinese, which is a unique rock formation that rises from the ocean. Atop Tanah Lot sits a temple claimed to be the work of a famous 16th century Hindu explorer and traveler. When the traveler saw the rock he felt it was a holy place to worship the Balinese sea gods. It is believed that venomous sea snakes guard the temple from evil spirits. It is one of seven sea temples on the Balinese coast that are within eyesight of each other (Wikipedia). Depending on the time of day, the tide may or may not allow you to walk to the base of the rock and temple.

Tanah Lot

Tanah Lot

Tanah Lot

Land Revealed by the Tide

After our first full day, I had the organization of over a hundred and fifty 13 to 15-year-olds to look forward to that and the following night. The checking-in was an ordeal and my night rounds checking on students were a nightmare. It should go without saying that I got little to no sleep over the course of those three days.

The following morning, we headed to Dreamland Beach...

Dreamland Beach

This is a video from my first visit to Dreamland Beach in September 2013. It reveals the serene, peaceful atmosphere present at this restorative beach of relaxation.

Dreamland Beach

Dreamland Beach View from the Cliff-Side Hotel

My Form Class

That afternoon we went to Desa Wisata Penglipuran, which is home to a small village that performs traditional Balinese dance and exquisitely detailed Hindu temples. The dance is coordinated to gamelan music and is dramatized using the face, hands, eyes, arms, hips, and feet. The intensity expressed through the dancers' eyes are simultaneously seductive and terrifying. The dances represent a wide variety of meanings; the majority are connected to Hindu rituals, but may also be used to welcome guests or purely as entertainment. It is believed that the dancers become possessed by spirits in a trance state during the performance as dance is symbolic of the perpetual dissolving and reforming of the world (Wikipedia).

Balinese children begin learning movements from their mothers as soon as they are born. They begin learning how to position their hands to music before they can walk and officially begin training as young as seven (Wikipedia). The hand positions and gestures, or mudras, are traditionally Hindu and similar to those used throughout India and Southeast Asia.

Legong Balinese Dance

The gamelan orchestra is positioned to the left of the dancers...

Legong Balinese Dance

Now time to explore the village...

Main Walkway

Hindu Temple

Hindu Temple

Exquisite Detail

Balinese Hinduism is slightly different from traditional Hinduism. According to Wikipedia:

"The fundamental principle underlying Hinduism is that there is order in the cosmos, known as dharma. There is also a disordering force, adharma, Hindus seek balance and harmony between these two forces, thus freeing themselves from the never-ending cycle of reincarnation, attaining a state called moksa.

Balinese Hinduism divides the cosmos into three layers. The highest level is heaven, or suarga, the abode of the gods. Next is the world of man, buwah. Below this is hell or bhur, where the demons live and where people's spirits are punished for misdeeds on earth."

Rangda & I

Rangda is a demon queen in Bali; she leads an army of evil witches against Barong, a lion or dragon and the leader of the forces of good. Their battle is dramatized in Balinese dance representing the eternal battle between good and evil. In parts of Bali, Rangda is viewed as protective as well as feared. Rangda is similar to the traditional Hindu Durga, the wife of Shiva. 

Barong

Private Home Courtyard for Prayer

That evening we attended a Kecak Balinese dance. This dance is unique, rather than a gamelan orchestra, the score is composed of a choir of a hundred men repeatedly saying the phrase "kecak" at varied speeds and volumes throughout the performance. The performance is based on pieces of the Hindu epic poem Ramayana, which is considered one of the two great works of Indian literature.

The story goes... Due to an evil trick, Prince Rama, the legal heir to the throne, was exiled from the realm of his Father Dasaratha. Accompanied by his wife Sita and his younger brother Lakshmana, they went into a forest. While they were in the forest, the demon King Ravana found them and lusted after the beautiful Sita. Accompanied by the shape-shifting demon Maricha, Ravana and Marica made a plan to steal Sita. Marica transformed himself into a golden deer and succeeded in luring Rama and Lakshmana away from Sita. Ravana making use of the opportunity, kidnapped Sita and took her to his palace. Discovering the deception, Rama and Lakshmana set out to rescue Sita from the clutches of the demon king. With the help of Garuda (bird deity), Hanuman (monkey deity), and Sugriva (monkey king); Rama destroys Ravana's army under the command of his son Indrajit. Finally, Rama succeeds in safely rescuing his wife.

Students Learning Gamelan

Our final day was spent at the ARMA Museum & Resort located in Ubud, Bali. At the museum, the students learned to play in a gamelan orchestra, created offering baskets called canang sari, learned to Balinese dance, and made batik. Our final activity was perusing the museum, which was one of my favorite parts of the entire trip. I took photos of my favorite pieces.

Students Making Offering Baskets

ARMA Museum Painting

ARMA Museum Painting

ARMA Museum Painting

ARMA Museum Painting

Close Up

Close Up

ARMA Museum Painting

Traveling to Bali with my form students was an incredible experience. Between the incredible cultural performances and sleep deprivation, I'm sure I will not soon forget it.

Mount Bromo & Malang (East Java, Indonesia)

Ribka, a former colleague and close friend of Rashidah, invited the both of us to Malang to stay with her family during our fall break. Malang is the second largest city in East Java, Surabaya is the largest, and has a population exceeding 800,000 people. The climate in this region is significantly cooler due to its elevation than where I live in Jakarta, West Java. The temperature at night can approach freezing, while the days are a pleasant 20 C (68 F). In relation to the rest of Indonesia, Malang is a relatively cosmopolitan city as many Indonesians come to Malang for higher education.

Map of Java - Jakarta (Upper Left), Malang (Lower Right), Mount Bromo (Lower Right)

Rashidah and I arrived in the late afternoon and were set on having local cuisine. Ribka and her friend Raisa met us at the airport and kindly drove us to a local, fairly touristy restaurant not too far from the airport called Taman Indie River View Resto.

Entryway of Taman Indie River View Resto

Our Private Bungalow at Taman Indie

Tranquil Courtyard Behind Taman Indie

Raisa & Ribka

Delicious Indonesian Food

Delicious Indonesian Food

After an outstanding first meal in Malang I came across an amusing wooden carving of a wayang. This wayang is a large sculpture, however most wayangs are small intricately designed puppets made from buffalo hide and bamboo shoots over the course of several weeks. The word wayang may refer to the puppet itself or the physical theater where the performances with the shadow puppets take place. The performances are accompanied by gamelan music and tell romantic tales, classic Hindu and Buddhist stories, or local accounts of events. The play always climaxes with good conquering evil.

That night we prepared for the highlight of our journey, a day-long excursion to Mount Bromo. Bromo is derived from the Javanese pronunciation of Brahma, the Hindu creator god (Wikipedia). A group of Ribka's friends and us hired a valet to drive us through the night to Mount Penanjakan, 2770 m or 9,088 ft, that overlooks the valley of Mount Bromo. We had to leave Malang at 1 a.m. to make it in time for the sunrise. After several hours of sleeping, I woke abruptly to the sound of many raised voices. We had arrived at the base of Mount Penanjakan and needed to move from the warmth and comfort of our car to a harsh, metallic Jeep. I opened my door and was struck by the frigid air, I was under-dressed. Fortunately, I had my sarong with me; otherwise I would have frozen completely.

Arriving at Mount Penanjakan's peak, we exited and walked the additional 100 meters (300 ft) to the lookout. Mount Bromo is international know for having one of the best sunrises in the world, and it did not disappoint. Luckily, we had the perfect amount of cloud-cover for a picturesque and breathtaking sunrise.

Sunrise at Mount Bromo

Sunrise at Mount Bromo

Sunrise at Mount Bromo

Sunrise at Mount Bromo

I'm Freezing Cold, I Foolishly Only Packed Shorts

Mount Bromo

I'm Still Cold

Following the most memorable sunrise of my life, we ventured into the valley of Mount Bromo, 2,329 m or 7,641 ft, to see more of the land before actually scaling the active volcano.

Mount Bromo Valley

Mount Bromo Valley

Mount Bromo Valley

Mount Bromo Valley

Mount Bromo Valley

After our brief stint in Bromo's valley we headed for the active volcano, which has erupted a handful of times in the past ten years. According to Wikipedia:

"On the fourteenth day of the Hindu festival of Yadnya Kasada, the Tenggerese people of Probolinggo, East Java, travel up the mountain in order to make offerings of fruit, rice, vegetables, flowers, and sacrifices of livestock to the mountain gods by throwing them into the caldera of the volcano... Some locals risk climbing down into the crater in an attempt to recollect the sacrificed goods that they believe could bring them good luck."

Volcanic Sand Littering the "Sea of Sand"

Valley Overview from the Top of Mount Bromo

Steep Climb to the Top

I did my best to describe what it was actually like at the summit in my video...

Mount Bromo's Caldera

Mount Bromo's Caldera

Rashidah & I at the Summit

Mount Bromo

The Circle of Life

Our trek to and from Bromo took the majority of the day and left us exhausted. The remainder of our trip was much more relaxing. With Ribka as our tour guide, Rashidah and I ventured throughout Malang and its surrounding area. These are several of the highlights...

Rashidah at the Milk Store

I need to provide a little context for this picture. Milk and the majority of diary products are limited in Indonesia and those that are present are lousy. Thus, an actual Indonesian diary store that produces worthwhile milk is treated as a monument. The shop had both yogurt and milk beverages, and yes I both tried and enjoyed the apple and melon flavored milks.

Milk Store's Menu

Museum Angkut "Transportation Museum" Located Outside of Malang in Batu,

The Hungry Kitten I was pleasantly surprised to learn had pretty good western food, which is always a challenge to find anywhere in Indonesia.

I had a wonderful time in Malang. It may not be a mandatory stop for tourists, but it has character and some big hitters. Heck, I was able to see one of the most geologically unique formations in the world.

Special thanks to Ribka and her friend Raisa. You both were gracious hosts and generously drove Rashidah and I all over the place during our stay. We are incredibly grateful!

Ribka, Rashidah, & I