Don & Kully's World Cruise on Viking Neptune

Today was our second of three days in Bali, and we took a Viking optional excursion — “Nature, Tradition and Religion.” Bali is the only island in Indonesia that is predominately Hindu, a religion that we knew nothing about before this trip. But, through lectures on board the ship and the two excursions we’ve taken we now know just a little bit more than nothing. However, we have learned that the people’s faith is strong, and their faith and practices are part of their everyday life. A key facet of Hinduism is balance, balance between man, the spiritual and nature. Thus, the title of the tour.

Our first stop of the day was at the Bali Orchard Garden where we walked through a lovely botanical garden that featured Orchids.

I think the pictures tell the story.

Bali’s society is governed by an age-old four level caste system consisting of Brahmana – religious leaders; Ksatria -royalty; Waisya – merchants, craftsman, and government workers; and Sudra – farmers and lower-class workers. As a result, children take on the professions of their fathers and for craftsman this means skills/ “tricks of the trade” are handed down from generation to generation. We saw two examples of this today when we visited a Gold and Silver Works where jewelry is hand crafted and Yana Wood Carving gallery where we were able to watch skilled craftsman at work.

Our next stop was at a typical Hindu home. This wasn’t a museum, but an actual home. The properties are actually small compounds with a common layout. Here’s an example of a typical family compound.

These are pictures from the family compound we visited. Notice that the largest area is the family temple area. All of daily life centers around their spiritual beliefs.

After visiting the family compound we went on to the Batuan Temple, a Balinese Hindu village temple looked after by the residents of Batuan. Both men and women entering the temple are required to cover their legs with a “Sarong” or temple scarf. The good news is the temples have Sarongs to loan visitors. The detailed ornamental design of the temple buildings and alters is amazing.

Tomorrow will be our final day in Bali.