Travel Sketch: A Bit of Bali

::Watercolor and Pencil::
~April 22, 2009~

Aahhh you should come and visit Bali last month. Three big ceremonies (Galungan, Kuningan, Nyepi) were held in succession in only three weeks time. Many Galungan decorations such as tall, curved bamboo pole called Penjor were planted on each side of literally EVERY roads created a festive yet serene air every time you drove pass them. Pecalang (polisi adat - tribal police, is a group of men from Balinese local village that acts as a police, they DO have the right to stop the traffic for ceremony) were everywhere. I always love to see what uniform they wear, you know, as every village has its own Pecalang uniform. They always wear sarong (which is always looks the same for every village. A sarong is a sarong afterall) and a shirt (now, that's the only part where every village can get creative with their own village's logo and everything). For me, only at that time of ceremony is Bali really reveals something other than its commercial face. It was somewhat magical.