A packed weekend – Part 2 (Saturday)

On Friday the Rektor of the University invited me to travel with him to Gianyar in eastern Bali to collect his daughter after a training placement in the city's hospital.Gianyar was once a centre of royal power, priestly knowledge and training, and a centre of the arts.  It is not on the usual tourist list, but it is famed as the source of Bali’s best “babi guling”, or spiced and glazed roast pig.  This alone was worth an outing. 

Before we could travel east we drove south along crowded roads, past tourist-mecca Kuta and Jimbaran, the home of fresh seafood, to the vicinity of Pecat, almost as far south as you can get in Bali.  The small peninsula which hangs like a little knob beneath Bali is geologically very different to the rest of Bali.  It is also very dry, and seems to have little in common in appearance with the rest of Bali.  The landscape was parched, dusty and brown.  The lush greenery of most of Bali is lacking here.  The trees were sparse, shrivelled and dried up.  The local building bubble burst and large, partially constructed buildings were common.  It was if I had been transported to another place.

 

Dr Nayandra, a practising psychiatrist, made a house call to visit a Balinese family and discuss treatment options and how to deal with mental illness in a community which still takes a traditional attitude to such conditions.  Shoes off, we sat on a traditional “bale”, or small, open sided pavilion, in the family compound.  The main buildings were constructed of the traditional Balinese red stone with light coloured stone surrounds decorating the doorway and windows.

Eventually we headed north, then east across the edge of Denpasar, the capital of the Province of Bali.  I noticed some new, high platforms being used as bus stops.  Soon I saw what they had been built for – Bali’s first public bus system.  The “Sarbagita” system began operations in late August, and is experiencing a few teething problems.  The 15 large buses are too large for some roads, and the community is not used to using public buses.  The name “Sarbagita” is derived from the cities it serves.  Denpasar, Badung, Gianyar and Tabanan.

The bus stop platforms are almost a meter above the road surface because of the high entry to the buses.

One of the 15 new Sarbagita buses (note the high doorway)

Photos: http://blog.baliwww.com/bali-news-events/30816

After turning off the highway east we travelled along narrow country roads, seeing farmers threshing rice, and past fields where the major crop was tobacco.  In places trays of shredded tobacco leaf was spread on large trays along the side of the road to dry in the hot sun.  Whilst I have seen tobacco growing before, I had not seen chopped tobacco drying like this.

Chopped tobacco drying in the sun beside the road

Soon after these sightings we caught up with slow moving traffic and were then waved on by traffic police who had closed the road to Gianyar.  With nowhere else to go, and no turn-offs we travelled northwards  The major disruptions to traffic were caused by local ceremonies, including at least 2 large cremations.  The day was obviously an auspicious day in the Balinese calendar, and good for cremations.  For an hour and a half we crawled on, north through Ubud and then southward past Goa Gajah (Elephant Cave) which was also crowded.  Once past Goa Gajah we were finally able to pick up speed and travel on to Gianyar.

We collected Dr Nyandra’s daughter much later than expected and went to the main street where street vendors displayed and served a variety of local dishes, but it was babi guling which attracted us.  This famous dish is the traditional Balinese way to prepare roast pork.  The pig is stuffed with mixes of local spices, rubbed all over with turmeric, and continually basted while it is slowly roasted over an open fire. 

A beautiful, crispy-skinned babi guling.

A whole babi guling looks spectacular, and is wonderful to taste.  Until now I’d just had small pieces which were not much more than taste samples.  This meal of babi guling, with a generous serve of crackling and also local sausage, was unlike anything I’ve had before.

After a meal of new and unusual tastes (well, new for me anyway) we returned to Dalung, taking a different route so we avoided the obstructed areas, and we soon home.

In the evening I attended the wedding banquet of Koko and Melly who held their reception on the University oval.  Last year I was pleased to attend 6 weddings, but this was my first for this year.

Last year, and again this year I was both intrigued and amused by the traditional cutting of the cake.  But usually it isn’t a cake, but a large mock up, towering high above the bridal couple who go through the motions of "cutting it” with a real sword.

Two young girls in traditional costume provided a dance which even after seeing several times, I still greatly enjoy for its charm, grace and movement.

At the reception were several of the University staff, including guests Maria and Nyoman.  Maria is a charming colleague from the University.

After the usual formal photos with family had been taken, several of the groom’s friends joined him.  This was the most unusual wedding group photo I’ve seen – the friends were wearing football shirts, and displaying "United" football magazines for the camera.

The newly-weds with "United" supporters displaying magazines.

After the reception was over I returned to my room, ready for bed after a long and interesting day, with several "firsts” for me – Bali buses, drying tobacco, babi guling, first wedding for 2011 and first football magazines at a wedding.

Paul in Bali
September 2011