I pick up on the day I rode my bike from Ubud to Goa Gajah (see earlier entries).

...After I rode up to Goa Gajah I just had to push my adrenaline levels to the absolute max! As if exploring the jungle and a strange cave weren't enough I got back on the road (which would have been ok if I was going the same speed). Eventually I made it to the turn off to Yeh Pulu. Before I knew it I was riding around the poverty stricken ghettos of Bali. Yet, even in poverty they have an interesting system where the family or several families lives in a compound and attempt to help each other out as much as possible. A co-op of sorts. Its actually quite intriguing once you get past the stray dogs and roosters running around. (We're still having to come to terms about the rooster living outside our bungalow that crows every two hours throughout the night).

I asked a few directions by grunting and pointing while trying my best Balinese accent yelling out "Peas Pulau? Kija Peas Pulau?!" Well, somehow it worked and I ended up in the right spot. Of course I was immediately greeted by someone who wanted to show me the story of Peh Pulu. This guy was a heck of alot nicer and much more smooth about getting me to hire his services. I figured I'd let him walk with me for awhile before I told him to get lost. He was genuinely nice and I figured I'd toss him a few bucks for the effort. We got to the first section of Peh Pulu which turns out to be a long bas relief carving dating backto the 11th century. Its unique in that it is not religiously centered in its motif but shows some kind of Balinese history.

The first panel was about 10 to 15 meters long. The carvings changed every feet feet and showed different scenes. I can't really remember what the guide told me they were all about. If I remember correctly the first carving shows a man gathering holy water for some kind of ceremony. This is followed by a carving of a house with an old person peeking out the door. Its kinda hard to see it in that pic. Notice the priest is waiting outside. I'm not sure if for what reason but probably to get the local Hindi religious tithe! The next carving is about a man with a hatchet or some kind of rice paddy tool. Its hard to see. Looks like he's just trying to show off his big handle to the local femalia! This is followed by God only knows what! It looks like some kind of neolithic Jabba the hut. I can't remember what the guide told me. All that was just the first half of this really long set of carvings. If you aren't bored yet I'll show you the rest. Otherwise, skip to the next paragraph. Here's a shot of the next half of carvings. Again its fairly long. The first carving here tells some kind of story about those damn Javanese horsemen who wised up to the good looks of the Balinese women and decided to come and catch a few. The next is pretty cool though it barely fits the frame. Look to see three men battling with some kind of animal, probably a wild bore. I was hoping for a wild whore but pig is all they had back then. This followed by (yes, I'm almost done) by an interesting carving of which I forgot the meaning. There is one guy at the top gathering holy water and some woman sitting nearby. A sacrifice maybe? I doubt it. Oh and check out what is supposed to be a frog at the bottom. Here it appears they've caught their dinner. And finally we get to the last carving that I can't for the life of me remember its meaning.

Now comes the fun part. At the end of this tour my guide has somehow made himself very hard to part with by exciting my imagination about old carvings much more than I did yours. Then he tells me about a rice temple somewhere "out there" and points to the local rice paddies. I hadn't yet really been out to any paddies. Plus, I felt genuinely safe enough trusting this guy to take me somewhere and NOT kill me. Off we went. Putu turned out to be a really great guide. He made a point of stopping quite often just to take in the view. I could tell he felt a some pride in showing me his country "the real Bali!" We hiked up the terraces for a nice view before continuing our walk. Being out there in the middle of nowhere (with no other tourist in sight) was really quite a thrill. I felt almost like I was in some kind of movie. You'll love this scarecrow. About now people started to back out to work the paddies since they rest if they can when its really hot. I asked Putu how rice grows and where it comes from since I'm sure they don't whip it up in the back of Peking (on Atlanta Highway!)

After about an hour walking and checking the place out we finally ended up at the great rice temple. Ok, so it wasn't so grand but it was a very spiritual place and served its purpose well. Apparently, there are these little stone houses on pedestal where twice a year they bring stone god carvings from all over the island to celebrate the harvest. There were other special buildings in the compound but were reserved only for holy men. What really caught my eye though was this AMAZING frangipani tree that twisted itself up and out of the compound. I wish it was a better picture. Putu said it was a very sacred tree and it had to be at least 500 years old. The frangipani blossom is very important to the Balinese and I grabbed one of its blossoms on the ground (for Amanda - I had to have something when I came back with a cool adventure!) We left after a little photo opportunity and headed back to my bike. And by the way, that is NOT a skirt! Its a sarong and is required religious garb if you want to enter the temple! Plus, I make it look GOOD!

On the way out we saw a few more people working the paddies. Did I mention how beautiful the Balinese are? Even out here where people are dirt poor I passed this woman who smiled at me with a movie star set of teeth and incredible smile. This is fairly common here and if only Amanda was part Balinese I might keep here around! Ok, ok, just kidding. I better not go there. Anyways, since I wasn't short for time we took the long way around which included a hike down to the river past this bamboo bridge. Again I was amazed to see how the Balinese made a living. People were there cutting sandstone blocks by hand and then carrying them up virtually vertical steps in the rock with those blocks on their head! I could barely carry myself up those steps without falling off! Look at all the stone she carried up!

We hiked up to Putu's house where he showed me (and tried to sell) several of his wood carvings. What a talented guy! It seems to be norm over here to be able to carve amazing things out of a block of wood! I declined since I didn't have much cash, didn't want it, and needed to have something to give the guy for taking me around! I felt bad because I only had about 85,000 Rp on me (about $9 US) but found out later that he made out well despite the huff and puff. It was a great experience though and I would have definitely given him more if I'd had it.

Next time we briefly visit Gunung Kawi! Not quite as cool as the rice paddies but hey, what can you expect from 10th century carvings? Oh, and I did NOT delete the picture of Ganesh from Goa Gajah if you're interested. This is the original staute carved in the 1oth or 11th century.