Elephants, Huts, and Bats...Oh, My!

Riding an elephant! Doesn't everyone start out their day like that?

After a 10:00am meetup with our driver Ketut, we also welcomed the company of Putu, one of the main receptionists. She was going along with us today as our guest and guide. She has been Montana's main accomplice for planning our activities and is full of ideas.

As usual, when we got to Bakas Tours, we had no idea of what we were doing or where we were supposed to go. Every place is full of people milling around, but Ketut usually steers us in the right direction, giving strong signals about where to pay the admission. Putu had never been before, so she was as confused as we were. But, as always, we got our tickets and were pointed to the waiting area.

Before long, a couple of elephants came into view and we learned a bit what it was going to be like. The animals were led into a wading pond before ending up against the platform that loads people. Putu and LuRue got in the first seat aboard a female, and for about half of our 40-minute ride, Montana was behind us on a male. The elephant keepers were both from Sumatra...young guys who were tough and wiry. Montana learned quite a bit from talking to her guy...long hours and very little pay. But maybe a worse job was the one held by the middle-aged woman who had to come out into the pathway to pick up the dung after each elephant. It was definitely an experience and for a few rupiahs more, we got to feed our elephants a watermelon cut into chunks. It's quite an experience to feel the trunk take the piece from your hand.

The ticket included a Balinese buffet in a nearby dining hall for the three of us. It would take a palate more sophisticated than LuRue's to say whether it was really good or typical buffet food.

Next stop turned out to be a big surprise. We had been expecting a temple, but instead ended up at Taman Nusa, Indonesian Culture Park. The basic idea is very similar to the Alaska Native Heritage Center in Anchorage, but more to it. Besides some other features, it contains more than 60 traditional houses, some of which are hundreds of years old. They represent different areas of Indonesia. At most of the clusters of a specific area, there were performers playing instruments, or weaving, or doing a traditional dance...some type of typical craft. It was possible to walk into most of the houses, at least a couple of which were houses of royalty from days gone by. At the end of the loop, a museum had impressive displays of traditional weavings, batiks, and shadow puppets.

Since the hour was getting late, Montana and LuRue were speculating that the temple idea was out, but no...it turned out to be on the way back. As before when entering a temple, we were outfitted with sarongs so that we were properly dressed for the holy area. This time, the temple wasn't a building, but a tiled enclosure (no ceiling) facing a cave. Just outside the cave, a group of people were seated on the ground, praying. Putu explained that this is the temple for this area, but any Hindu is welcome to participate in the daily ceremony, which takes place late in the afternoon. Montana was interested in the inhabitants of the cave, but it looked like we wouldn't be able to see anything. Putu went to talk to one of the groundskeepers there, then led us to the entrance of the cave, behind a small building where we wouldn't disturb the worshipers. There on the ceiling of the cave, were thousands of bats, with individuals constantly coming and going, much like a bird rookery, but always staying in the cave. After dark, they would leave to find their meals.

So, after quietly observing several aspects of the Hindu ceremony and doing some bat-watching, we left and were back at the hotel by about 5:00. We have decided that tomorrow is a day of rest, although several possibilities kept popping up...we could do this, we could do that! Whatever we do, it won't be boring!