When we got to the bottom of our road this morning we had a great photo opportunity when an old pickup truck with 2 men stopped on edge of our narrow road to deliver over 1,000 baby ducks. It was like the old Clown Car gag with the never ending clowns pouring out. The back of pickup had 4 huge crates resting on the top edge of truck bed. Underneath this area was also filled with ducks. “Ducks Galore”!!!!! Ducks were pushed out onto road with some landing on their feet or on their back. After payment exchanged hands for ducks, they were all herded up our steep road to the rice paddies.
Gede, our driver, picked us up for snorkeling at the beach 45 minutes away. We had to work our way past the cremation float cite. They had added more decorations to top of tower. They will carry these huge floats down main street to the cemetery which is about 4 football fields away. This is where they will cremate the body tomorrow. Some people had already started parading down the street in costume (in between dodging motorbikes and cars) to make their offerings.
We finally made it to beach and it too windy for snorkeling so a couple of Gals just took a dip. Due to waves being so rough and the high tide left no beach to sit so we rented on bamboo lounge chairs and enjoyed the Balinese Strait and went for a Balinese lunch on the 2nd floor of restaurant overlooking the ocean. I had grilled eggplant slices on rice topped with peanut sauce. Delicious! So much better than my over-cooked duck from last night.
From there, we stopped at the oldest Temple (1000 years old). Small and quaint. Onward to the Pura Goa Lawah (bat cave temple) which has thousands of bats and smells like bat urine even from afar. You do not enter. The pythons love the bats.
Driving back to the Villa in Ubad, we passed the cremation tower again which had all the scaffolding down and positioned with the huge bull in front. The decorations are dazzling. This funeral is for an 80 year old man who was part of the royal family and also an ambassador who lived in Holland with his Dutch Indonesian wife for years . They expect thousands of people at funeral processions tomorrow.
Wish us luck, as we have to all have a shower before 9 AM tomorrow and make sure all of cameras, phones and I-Pads are charged as the electricity and water is being turned from 10 to 4. It seems that the town has to take down the electrical wires as the cremation tower and bull are too tall to pass under. This should be interesting!
