The next morning I woke up and took a photo of the view from the back of my room which looked better with the flash off and then I recorded my front door and walked past the elephant structure with its daily offering as I passed the monkeys and made my way past the orchid to the reception area where I met Agung Rai who was going to take me on a morning tour and so he recorded me and pointed out the rice fields to me before we drove off to one of the neighboring villages where a girl was going to school. as the road lay ahead with views and these structures as we headed off with jungle-like growth by the side and a stream below along with rice fields and many views before we arrived at a temple for the community and noticed these two girls walking off to school with reflections in the rice field as more children headed off to the school and we saw a rice field that was in the process of having seeds germinate with school children approaching and the reflection being impressive and so the kids and the rice field where I posed in front of the reflection led me to pose with the school children and then alone and even in the rear view mirror as we saw the ducks in the water who are part of the rice process (think fertilizer) and there were still more reflections with a local house and reflection and a man working on his rice by hand (as they do it here) and then we were at the school with this symbolism and these grounds not to mention the rules. The children were cleaning the school yard as I admired decorations and language instruction and the omnipresent Mickey and Minnie as I peeked into the classroom and noticed the blackboard as these friends were getting ready for the day as were these even as the cleaning continued with a student who was still waking up as the scenes at the school and the rice field opposite gave a good representation of life in the villages near Ubud while the girls cleaned and the man planted his rice seeds and Agung watched the scene that was very familiar to him even as the two girls carried out the brush they had gathered and more cleaning happened to the school grounds as more kids arrived and the photography continued when a mother and her 3 kids arrived and she posed with Agung even as children walked across a path in the rice fields to school even as the workers tended their areas so that this was what the children would see as they approached the school and I noted the hallways as more children approached more work went on in the fields and this was the planting at the school before I re-entered the school yard and spent time with the children

and then went to watch the brush be put into the drain before a final return to the school. Next we went to the local temple which was by the rice fields and consisted of many inner structures with offerings some of which were carefully constructed as I went up the stairs to enter one

and see the offerings after which I toured the other chambers including myriad offerings after which I posed and saw some goddesses and handed my camera to Agung who took photos of me before we prepared to leave the temple

pausing to look out on the rice fields which benefit (or so the locals believe) from the presence of the temple and more offerings and artwork and some unique offerings leaving the grand structures and this carved stone and the throne-like structure with its detailed mask as I admired many of the stone carvings and after a few more photos including the television and final structures we drove on past a man in his rice field and another and then captured the rice fields in their broader setting as this man was planting his seeds with egrets in the background as we drove on to the next village where we entered a family compound and explored the many structures sparsely furnished meeting a mother and child as Agung took pictures of me exploring

before we said farewell to the mother and child and drove on to a place where the village women were taking their offerings to the temple. We drove past scenery and architecture and came across a rice field ready for harvesting and so I posed and we observed the morning dew on the leaves. Somehow, we were trespassing a bit here as there was a conversation in Indonesian that seemed to result in using paying a few bills for the privilege of taking the photos. We went on down the road where I admired this woman walking with her wares on her head

and the man bringing his wares

and taking them to his house and then this woman carrying her things on her head. Our next stop was at this banyan tree which was a gathering place for the village and I captured a rooster of which there were many joining the dogs as guardians of the houses not to mention many interesting structures

including these protectors of the house and many thing of beauty

before returning to the banyan tree which, like the village, was a community of smaller parts including the cock on the roof. Moving on, things were carried on heads as this man worked in his yard and while traveling along I took this picture of my sarong and my shoes as we approached a rice field ready for harvest and a local preparing to do so. We also came to the village laundromat and after this view we passed some children drawing at their home

and then an offering by this waterfall and at the top of the steps was this rice field with this view going down where I sat for photos and then walked to more photos and then walked back to see this fruit hanging in a tree with these bags protecting the low hanging fruit from animals and saw these coffee beans as we looked out at a view and then drove past these structures were this cock was being prepared for a fight. We continued on and came to this house where the matriarch had prepared breakfast but before it could be served, she needed to leave out food (in many directions) for the animals to eat keeping them in harmony with nature. Ahead were ducks on the road as food was placed for the lower animals (insect) to share in the family breakfast even as a neighbor approached and we drove past this structure and then stopped to see pineapples growing as we stopped in a tiny village on a narrow street and I walked off to explore and see the fruit hanging and then I sat on the front stoop of a house which caused the dog to bark in protest and then we observed the ducks on the pond as life in the village continued

and after a last look at rice fields we stopped at the Ubud Palace where Agung posed and then I did.

Back in town, structures were being created for the cremation that was about to happen including this multi-tiered one and the animal which would serve the first cremation and then these structures for the second and the bamboo that would be used to carry the structures which were being completed and this one. The structures were representative of the caste of the person who was being cremated. Back at the hotel, I posed with Agung and then headed to breakfast where this was the menu and my fruit croissants with jellies, my coffee and omelet topped off by watermelon juice. Once home, I went through the arch to my room for a rest.

Soon it was time to return to town to see the cremation but began by noticing that they have Kumon here as well and made my wall into town where one of the cremation structures was and another and so studied the structures

and the crowds gathered to watch as the parade began led by this musical accompaniment

with the second structure being pulled by a large number of men all of whom fit into the bamboo structure created for that purpose. Each cremated person was in their animal and each also had an additional structure like the tower. Together, these defined the caste and life of the person. The carrying was lowered and then restarted and so on they went with the crowd following including banners and women with flowers on their heads as the people carrying the structure occasionally went in circles (so to cause the evil spirits to lose sight of the cremation) and the women followed also in circular pattern as this rod was brought out to raise the utility lines so as to avoid an electrical issue and the parade continued as the tower that needed a higher utility line came out. These structure used to be even higher (often up to 30 meters) before electric lines made it impossible to go to these heights. as the assembled watched and the procession continued

and so I focused in as photos of the deceased appeared and the group prepared to lift once more as the next body arrived

complete with dancing women and attachments to the structure where a holy man was and its own music as the motion continued and needed to be recorded as movies ../../../Sabbat/2012/10.23-11.02.12SingaporeAndBali// ../../../Sabbat/2012/10.23-11.02.12SingaporeAndBali// until we arrived at the cemetery where the structures were studied and often climbed upon as music played ../../../Sabbat/2012/10.23-11.02.12SingaporeAndBali// and structures continued

with another of the deceased exposed as groups did the relevant preparations (many of which were beyond my scope of understanding) and the music played on ../../../Sabbat/2012/10.23-11.02.12SingaporeAndBali// to set the tone and the secondary structures were put together though the structures with bodies in them were separated with the holy men climbing aboard to do further preparations (involving sprinkling of holy water, dealing with organs, ... ) and the structures were admired before the first fire was set and raged

and smoke arose from the fires.

Stepping aside, I noticed these coconuts on the ground together with this more traditional (for my way of life) tomb. I noted what was left in one burnt structure as the support structure was lying flat before being prepared for incineration after which I walked towards the center of town stopping to admire these stone cuttings and ending at the Kafe at ARMA for lunch which began with a beer to deal with the heat accompanied by nuts and eventually followed by a second. Then I had this salad and accompanying spring rolls. Later, dinner was partly a repeat of food I had had earlier with beautiful cone of rice and curry followed by dessert