From Thailand to Indonesia

In Thailand we visited two cities: Chiang Mai (in the North) and Bangkok (in the South). Now we have moved on to Bali, but before you hear from this place, I'll tell you the ten top things about Thailand:

1)Riding elephants, watching their show and playing with tigers
2)Eating good food – both Thai and international
3)Getting two tailor-made dresses
4)Shopping
5)Meeting Sak, Tueng Tueng and Nan, who I went to Hald with:

6)Getting a perm
7)Seeing she-males and prostitutes first hand and being checked out by them (okay, this wasn't really fun, but I need to mention it because it is so far from my daily life)
8)Ordering pizza to our hotel room and watching an American film. We got a glimpse of the Western world that it's been so long since we've been in
9)Visiting a nunnery of Buddhist nuns and learning how Thai women also can live ascetic and shave their heads and eyebrows
10)Learning some phrases in Thai. Here are some:
- Sawat di ka: good day/hello, goodbye (said by woman) Sawat di krap (said by man)
- Kapkun kha: thank you (said by woman) Kapkun krap (said by man)
- nung, song, sam, si, ha, ho'k, zet, bad, gao, sip (Ok, I know this isn't the correct spelling, but it means 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10!)

After 11 days in the “country of charm” I have come to Bali, an island in Indonesia. This is the last country on our study tour, but I will go to the Philippines on vacation for one week before heading home. The first thing that struck me as we came to Bali, was the heat. Thailand had been quite cold, surprisingly enough. On the airport I saw people dressed in fancy costumes, which apparently is the normal clothing for the Balinese people. My impression is that they are smiling and friendly, perhaps more than in Thailand!men in their national costumes that are worn everyday

Here are some pictures of the Balinese landscape.Rice fields and palms right next to each other. Beautiful.

It didn't take long before we also noticed the beautiful green nature, with rice fields and palm trees right next to each other. By the road are also scary-looking statues to symbolize bad spirits. Although Indonesia is the World's most Islamic country, Bali's main religion is Hinduism, and a quite special Hinduism, in fact.

Everywhere you can see a canang (pronounced “chanang”), which is an offering to the spirits. If the canang is on the ground, it is offered to the bad spirits. Often in front of houses, to keep the bad spirits away. If the canang is higher up, for example on a table, a shelf etc, is is for the good spirits, to welcome them and keep them happy.

one canang for the good spirits, and one for the bad

Another important thing with the Balinese Hinduism, is the holy water. They use holy water in offerings, to cleanse themselves etc. We got to see some people bathing in this to purify themselves.
cleansing themselves in holy waterpraying

The first town we've been to in Bali is Ubud, in the North-East. Every afternoon we heard clinging sounds of instruments – basically drums and cymbals. The music increased in volume all the time, and at times it was difficult to talk because of the sound. Here we lived in bungalows, and had our breakfast on the veranda.
our bungalowour view over the rice fields from our hotelStine, Maria and Margrethe M after a nice but late girls night

To study the Balinese Hinduism, we visited some temples in the town Ubud.Maria, Tone, Stine and Margrethe V. Notice the dress-code: in all temples in Bali it is not necessary to cover your shoulders, but you have to wear a sarong.on the way to the temple there were many shops.On the way to the temple.Levi from a bird's perspective.One of the temples we visited in Ubud.
students in front of the temple.Maria and Stine in the temple. In front of the second temple: Minda, me and Margrethe V.Giving offerings to the spirits Giving offeringsA Hindu priest with a cup of holy water which he gave those of us who were interested in getting a Hindu blessing. This was not for me.Liv Randi with rice on heir forehead.The three Musketeers in front of the famous Tanah Lot temple.Delicious fruit
This fruit, called “snake skin fruit” was delicious! Speeking of snakes, being in Bali has made me a bit crazy:
Margrethe saw the big snake and was disgusted and scared, just like me. But I convinced here to help me hold the snake. Three words can describe how we felt this: adrenaline, fun and fright.Margrethe screaming: TAKE IT AWAY!After we had held the big one, we got to hold a small one by ourselves. This was a piece of cake after having had the enormous one around my shoulders and seeing its head turn towards me.Margrethe holding the small one There were also bats there, but we didn't ask to hold them...

When we came to Kuta, one of the most famous towns in Bali, we visited an orphanage and a prison. Apart from this we went diving in one of the nicest places in Bali. We saw a turtle and many fish.

This is Stine and me, giving the "okay" signal.
I just love this sport and I'm looking forward to diving again when we come to the island of Gili Trawangan. This is where we'll end our study with an exam, a party and an evaluation. And then my trip goes to the Phillipine Islands for the Easter holiday, before heading home to Norway! :)