Faces of Bali

Tanah Lot
Participants of Melasti Ritual
Every year aound March Balinese will perform the Melasti ceremony. On that day the Balinese villagers will purify their deities known as "Pratima" with water.
The villagers will dressed in their finery (in white) & carrying long-poled umbrellas, proceed in lines and proceed towards a souce of water, either a holy spring or the sea.
In this walking procession the women will carry with them offerings of fruits, flowers & sweat cakes. The men will carry the sacred family deities on bamboo litters. On arriving at the source of water the "Pedanda" (High Priest) will pray and ring his small bells. The men carrying the litters will rush their sacred statues into the water to wash them in order to symbolically purify them.

Sanur





Mdm Melly St. Ange, President of Bali International Women's Association

BIWA). She is standing for election to Indonesia's Parliament as a candidate for Partai Democratic in the forthcoming elections in April, 2009

Sanur Beach


Satay seller operating a stall at the cross-roads between the Sanur market & the beach. His satay is of the type popular in Madura, an island off Java. The sweet black sauce is quite similar to the Chinese thick soya sauce, not the typical Indonesian/Malay peanut sauce cooked with chilly/curry paste.

Faces of Bali

Denpasar, capital of Province of Bali

Wayan Wana

Tour driver. He drives tourists all over Bali using his Toyota van

Matahari Bungalows, Legian Street, Kuta

Anom

He is a bell-hop working in Matahari Bungalows, Legian Street, Kuta

Matahari Bungalows, Kuta
Endrawati

She serves as a waitress in the restaurant of Matahari Bungalows, Legian Street, Kuta, Bali

Sukawati, Gianyar Regency

Weavers of coconut leaves

The girls are weaving coconut leaves to make them into trays to hold offerings or canangs which are placed everywhere by the Balinese Hindus.

The offerings are to appease the deities & ward off evil spirits.

The offerings consists of flowers, sliced bananas, rice, fragances, bamboo strips etc.

Matahari Bungalows, Kuta
Wayan Sugiri

He is one of the waiters in the restaurant

where guests are served thei breadfast from 7.00am to 10.00am daily.

The restaurant faces a swimming pool with a bar island & surrounding the pool and the restaurant is a luxuriant Balinese garden. Alongside the rooms are a long line of fruit trees, including jack-fruit, avocado, star-fruit, mango & other common Indonesian fruits.

Faces of Bali

Gang (Alley) Bedugul, Off Poppies Lane II,
Off Legian Street, Kuta

Putu

She is the owner of Putu Shop a clothing store located in Bedugul Alley

which is one of the narrow alleys off Poppies Lane II.

Resto Lounge & Tapas Bar, Buta

Stilt Dancers
On certain evenings there will be a dance performance by stilt dancers in front of Kuta's Resto Lounge Tapas Bar. The Bar is situated next to most prominent landmark, The Bali Bomb Memorial with the names of 202 who were killed. Across the street (Jalan Legian, Kuta) is site of Sari Club which suffered most casualities when three bombs were detonated at about 11.05pm one at Sari Club, another at Paddy's Bar opposite Sari Club (now the site of the Memorial) & a third at the US Consulate in Denpasar where there were no casualities.
At present the site of Sari Club is a motor cycle park. It appears to be semi-abandoned.


Banjar Temen, Susut, Bangli Regency


Father of Murtika, the owner of Sai Land which operates a small-holding cultivating spices, coffee & cocoa plants.
He is pounding roasted coffee beans.













Banjar Temen, Susut, Bangli Regency


Girl roasting coffee beans.
She is roasting coffee beans. The roasted beans after they had been pounded in powder form will be sold from a small shop very closed by.
The shop also sells roasted coffee beans, cocoa powder, tea leaves as well as a number of spices & traditional medicine.








Tampak Siring, Gianyar Regency


Young devotees at the Temple of Holy Water
The two boys are taking a rest after prayers at the Temple of Holy Water (Pura Tirta Empul) one of six most important temple in Bali.

The head-dress worn by the two boys are often donned by Balinese men most of whom are of the Hindu faith.

Close by Pura Tirta Empul is the late President Sukarno's Istana Negara palace which on top of a hill which overlooks Tirta Empul.