This morning
over breakfast the owner of the guesthouse informed us that he and his family
would be performing a ceremony in the garden later that evening. His sister was
suffering from breast cancer and they were praying to the gods to help make her
more comfortable. He invited us to join at 7pm if we wished; asking that we
wear white clothing if possible.
En route to
our spot at Taman Selini beach I decided to walk up to a glass hotel visible in
the distance. I knew that once I sat down I was done for the afternoon, so
figured a wee bit of exploring was called for. Ambled along the shore and
watched all the fishermen untangling their nets. The glass hotel consisted of 4
little bungalow rooms made of driftwood, bamboo and sandblasted glass (named:
Villa of Rock, Rain, Flow and Mist); designed by a Japanese artist. The area
was deserted and looked slightly unfinished in places; perhaps the builder ran
out of funds before completing the complex or maybe it is only open during the
peak tourist season, who knows.
There was
even a swimming pool which was encased by a larger pool that was filled with
fish and coral; so you could swim and be surrounded (yet separate) from lots of
colourful tropical fish. It was quite eerie wandering about. I met Robin casing
out the place as well, seems we both had the same idea. I was curious to see
what it looked like inside and so, not seeing any signs telling me to keep out,
I found a door that I could open and enter. Inside one of the bungalows was just
a massive driftwood carved bed and light stands. We wondered if the place had
ever been open, it was impossible to tell. Stumbling across to reception we
checked out the kitchen that had massive refrigerators all chained shut.
Curiousier and curiousier.
Rest of the
day was spent...yip, you guessed it, alternating between the bakery and the day
beds by the beach. Hey, we’re consistent!
Me, Jenny,
Francois and Robin opted to check out the Hindu ceremony at the guesthouse. We
waited by the garden which was bedecked with blankets on the grass surrounding
a small fire. After twenty minutes there was no sign of any people so we headed
to reception. We could hear a lot of chanting and singing coming from the
owner’s house (which is separate to the guesthouse). The guy on reception
wasn’t sure what time they would finish and come out to the garden, so we
ordered a beer, sat down and prepared to wait in the dining area. No sooner had
our drinks arrived than the owner came out and informed us that they would be
making their way to the garden – typical!! We all looked very sheepish as I can
imagine it didn’t look great with us and our beers. He said we could join once
we had finished our drinks. Awkward!!
After
downing the drinks we headed to my veranda where we sat watching the ceremony
from afar. The entire family were sitting in a circle around the fire and the
sick sister was lying on her side adjacent to them all. Lighting a sacred fire
is a key part of many Hindu ceremonies. It is done to evoke the God of Fire,
Agni, to bear witness to the ceremony. In addition to that there was lots of slow,
repetitious chanting, waving of arms and the continuous knelling of tiny bells.
As the ritual progressed it got more and more upbeat, the pace of the bell
ringing intensified, and the chants and claps got more uplifting and
energising. All and all it lasted about
40 minutes. Looking back I reckon the owner just asked us to attend out of
courtesy as they were making so much noise in our accommodation area.
Once the
ceremony wrapped up Francois and Robin called it a night. Jenny and myself
headed off in search of food and to catch up with the rest of the group if we
could find them. After checking out
numerous establishments along the main road, neither Jenny nor I could find
Tony, Lu and Geoff so we stopped off at Casa Kita for some pizza. After
ordering our food Jenny spied three familiar silhouettes passing by the front
of the restaurant. She hopped up and went to hail them. They had already eaten
elsewhere but came to join us for drinks.
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