Funeral Procession video.

Balinese Funeral in Ubud Indonesia from Rory Seiter.

Fly fishing at Tanah Lot, Bali, Indonesia

Today we headed up to Tanah Lot. The temple sits on a large offshore rock which has been shaped continuously over the years by the ocean tide.

Tanah Lot is claimed to be the work of the 15th century priest Nirartha. During his travels along the south coast he saw the rock-island's beautiful setting and rested there. Some fishermen saw him, and bought him gifts. Nirartha then spent the night on the little island. Later he spoke to the fishermen and told them to build a shrine on the rock for he felt it to be a holy place to worship the Balinese sea gods.

The Tanah Lot temple was built and has been a part of Balinese mythology for centuries. The temple is one of seven sea temples around the Balinese coast. Each of the sea temples were established within eyesight of the next to form a chain along the south-western coast. However, the temple had significant Hindu influence.

Pura Batu Balong

Pura Batu Balong

Tanah Lot

I made my own offerings to the sea gods (and fish) in the form of clouser minnows. I didn't get any takers, but fishing with Hindu temples looking on either side of me felt pretty cool.

Fly fishing in Bali.

I rented a boat for a couple hours and it was quite the experience. I had a blast.

I fished and we surfed near the runway of Denpasar International Airport. The runway juts out into the ocean and it is neat to see the planes taking off and landing so close to all the action in the water.

Here is my "captain". He looks bored because he can't understand why I wouldn't want to jig, bottom fish, or troll today. 

 I made him stay close to shore where I could see the reef. When he realized what I was doing, he took a nap. He probably thought that I was crazy. I doubt he has ever seen fly fishing in his life. He was happy to make a few bucks nap for the afternoon!

Nope, I didn't catch anything, see any fish, or get any hits.

Pura Uluwatu

We drove out to Pura Uluwatu. It is perched a couple of hundred feet above the ocean and has a great surf spot below.

Uluwatu is also known for its mischievous monkeys. They have grown fat stealing people's belongings and trading them for treats.

Around our Ubud hotel.

I took all of these pictures near our hotel.

There are lots of ponds with lotus flowers in them.

One of the two infinity pools.

This leads to the temple.

The rice fields after draining.

Rice fields during flooding.

Water drops on rice.

I finally found someone fishing.

Whopper!

Home made fishing rods!

East Bali.

Pineapple stuffed coconut crusted chicken.

Taman Sari Temple. With a lot of fish.

An offering.

Fishing boats at Kusamba.

Still haven't done any fishing, but we head to the coast tomorrow. There is some big surf headed our way. Sounds like fun!

Funeral procession in Ubud, Bali.

We found this large bull and tower being made a few days ago. We asked the people making it what it was for. The explained that a couple of people in the community had died, so they were putting the bodies in the tower and carrying them to the cemetery in a few days. They close the roads and everyone seems to be involved so when someone dies they wait a few days to see if anyone else will die. They can't cause this ruckus every day of the week.

Ubud monkey forest adventures.

I don't know what to say about these pictures or these places. The rice fields are amazing. Seeing everything being planted and harvested by hand looks incredibly tiring. Most things are carried on the head.

The monkey forest was a lot of fun. My dad stepped on a monkey's tail and it wanted to kill him. The monkey would walk beside him showing his teeth looking ready to pounce until a "park ranger" kinda guy showed up and yelled at the monkey. The monkeys know to respect the rangers.

 This cheeky guy pretended to be my friend until he put his hand in my pocket. He wanted cash like a smart monkey. I grabbed his hand and slapped him. No, I did not spank him. He bit my back and ran away.

 These women were carrying bricks (on their head) to a house that was being built. We found a walk that  intersected a couple of rivers and had stunning views on either side. There are lots of artists cottages, yoga retreats, and ex pat houses.

Balinese silver beads.

Today's adventures consisted of searching for silver beads. We drove all over Bali looking for the right people to buy beads from. Earrings, necklaces, all kinds of finished jewelry is available at wholesale prices. We had lunch in Sanur, a tourist surf town. I still haven't seen the ocean, but apparently we were very close. My rod was in the car, but still hasn't been out of its case.

Sate lilit for dinner.

Ubud, Bali. Day 1.

I don't know how many days I have been traveling, but arriving felt great. We got to our hotel around 3 in the morning and were up at 7 ready for breakfast. Fried rice, an egg, some shrimp chips a toast started us for a long day of adventures. My Dad has known Wayan, our guide, for over 20 years. Before Wayan met us we wandered through the town of Ubud. The town was still asleep at 9am and we quickly realized that it was more known for it's nightlife than the arts and crafts we had heard about. Once these cool villages become discovered and highlighted in a travel book, they all seem to instantly crank out pizza places that play Bob Marley and offer drink specials and "ladies night". We called Wayan immediately and asked him to get us out of there.

Along the way we say many arts and crafts shops that were not in fact in Ubud. They sold all kinds of things!

We stopped for lunch at one of the highest spots on the island. We ate at the super touristy Lakeview Restaurant overlooking Lake Batur. Down below there are traps that Wayan told me hold "carp like" fish. People prefer to fish in the ocean because the fish taste better. But you could find a wife here in the country to take back to America if you were so inclined.

Declining the option for a local wife, we next headed to Pura Tirta Empul or the Temple of Holy Water. The god Indra's forces had been wounded in battle, so he pierced the earth creating this spring to revive them. 

Now all of these people bathe here and take some of the water home in jugs. We were here during the full moon which is a reason for the whole village to arrive and pray.

Offerings are made to the gods. Incense, flowers, food, lots of things are in the offering baskets.

Offerings are brought in on large baskets. The rice is blessed and handed out. People press the rice and holy water to their face.

The more rice, the more blessed?

For our last adventure, we headed to Goa Gajah, or the Elephant Cave. There are demons carved on the outside and a Ganesh on the inside. There are marks where the cave was expanded by hand. All impressive as it was built in the 9th century.

Dad hopes the demons are still working!

Where has January gone?

Still messing with Photoshop. I feel like I can keep playing on it forever and never learn it all. We swam for the first time in a bout a month. 400 warm up, 200 skips (swim, kick, IM, pull, swim 200 each), then a push up ladder (25 swim 10 pushups, 50 swim, 8 pushups, etc.) 200 non free, 200 cool down. That made me feel out of shape!
My fly box is getting set up for Bali:

The weather has been freezing and we have been able to let the dogs out on the water: