September 17,

I did not hear the call to prayer this morning. 👍🏻 This is the second day in a row! Yay for me!! Jeff unfortunately had but thankfully went back to sleep for a bit. Anyway we got up and around by 0630. We were planning on one outing, but changed our minds for another venture. First though we had our Javas and breakfast at 0730, early for us but this was due to our original plans. We had requested banana pancakes, with the fruit. We loved the pancakes… they were more like a crepe, but denser. We were given a packet of honey each that was a nice change from syrup.

When we finished we went on our outing. We are taking in some temples around the town. The first temple was Pura Melanting. This is the top temple of this area and is known as The Prosperity Temple. We arrived at 0830, parked, and were directed to the tourist information center. We signed in and were given sarongs… I was given a sarong to put on and Jeff’s sarong was put on him! 😂 Jeff made a donation of 30,000 IDR, or $1.81. There was one large family group right before us. They seemed to be Indonesian and they were all dressed ‘to the nines.’ Their family group must have been four generations- maybe they were here for a blessing(?) They all stopped on the first landing of stairs going up, so we went ahead of them. We had the top to ourselves before they came up… well except for the monkeys, and there was quite a number! We went all the way up to a smaller worship area, and then came back to the main worship area.

The family was sitting in here having some kind of a service. We stayed to observe. A man in all white – not the orange of monks we are familiar with – was speaking/chanting from a pulpit of sorts, sprinkling water, tossing blossoms and ringing a bell. The family was all just sitting, listening. A lady at the main altar area was shooing off monkeys from what appeared to be offerings they had given? We did not see this part. One monkey did sneak in and took some of the offering before the lady noticed him. When the man finished, the lady then came over to the family. She sprinkled each one of them – even the little toddlers – four times. They received the sprinkle in their hands and seemed to smell or gesture of drinking it until the last- fourth, sprinkle. The given sprinkle was placed upon their head. Once everyone had received the service was completed. The family all got up and left, stopping some for pictures. The lady put the offering in a lock box in front of the altar. It was interesting.

We got up to leave now. There were more people who had come in, most with guides. We took some pictures, going out. We returned our sarongs and got into our car. We went to another temple. Getting back to it required driving on some one and a half lane roads. There were actually more grape vines back here! The second temple, Pura Kertha Kawat, was much smaller and actively being worked on. So we just took a couple of pictures and loaded back up in our car. As we were leaving we saw a little stand, they had a sign advertising Kansas American Blend!! It was for cigarettes, but it was a shocking surprise to see it!

We now turned around and went back to the main road. We went to a last temple, Pura Pabean. We have passed by this one a few times, but decided to finally visit. It is hemmed on the ocean on one side and the road on this side. It is also up on a small elevation of rock. Pretty dramatic! Anyway, we parked and walked up to the Tourist stand to sign in. I had put on my own sarong. But Jeff needed one. This temple also required a sash. So I added the sash as Jeff was being “saronged” up. Jeff gave a donation of 50,000 IDR, $3 (he did not have smaller change). We walked up and took in this temple. It is very over the top colored. We went down to the ocean little temple on the back(?) side, and then left, returning the sashes and sarong.

We went back to our place and chilled out. Around 1230 we went back out for lunch to the Ode Resto. Jeff had Grilled Tuna with a chili sesame sauce; sauteed carrots, cabbage, & green beans; and potato wedges. I had Ayam Betutu- which is chicken topped with a chutney-type mix of lemongrass, herbs, and onions (to name a few), served with urab (which was green beans, bean sprouts, and coconut mix with a tangy-salty sauce); sambal matah (which is a “raw” or uncooked salsa-type pico); tomato; fried peanuts; and rice. I also had a pineapple juice drink, and Jeff had a beer. It cost us – with a tip – 212,000 IDR, $12.79. We also booked a cooking class for Saturday.

We left and spent the afternoon and evening at our place. We had a snack supper of Blue cheese with crackers, and peanuts. We also had a surprise visit from the daughter(?) of the owner. She tried to explain the situation of Mady’s brother’s wife. She’s still in the hospital and they don’t know what is wrong with her, she may be transferred to a larger hospital. Anyway, she said the breakfast will not be served tomorrow – which is not a problem – we replied. We also verbalized our sympathies and prayers.