Besakih

The oldest palace in all of Bali. The mother temple. An hour away from Amlapura by scooter. My friend Made Nanag offered to take me there. Funny story, but I first met Nanag three years ago on the beach here at the local fishing village. He is a driver for one of the local businesses. Three years ago, one afternoon I was meditating on the black sand beach. I had my eyes closed at the time, just taking in everything and trying to just be in the moment. I could feel someone around me...it's funny how you notice that energy. You just know that someone is there. I opened my eyes and there were two little children in front of me. Like two deer in the headlights. They were only 3-5 years old. But they were so curious. As soon as we made eye contact, they ran away to there father...Nanag. So we started talking about meditation and where I was from. Three years later he catches me on the same beach meditating. He just came out of nowhere. He immediately remembered me, and we talked again about meditation. I told him I wanted to go to Besakih, and with an hour we were on the road.

Getting to Besakih by scooter is alittle rough..but it's cheaper than hiring a driver. I love the feeling of being on the back of a scooter. It's so freeing. I am definetly going to purchase a scooter when I get home. On the way to the temple you get to see less touristy villages, tons of rice fields saturated in green, and the weather drastically changes. It's cooler, wetter, and the sun is not out all the time. It likes to play peek-abo. When we arrive to the temple we purchase some offerings for prayer and I immediately put on my sarong. There is a proper way to put on a sarong, but I always let a local show me how. It's really sweet. It's like being 5 again and your mom has to help you put on your sneakers.

This temple is big. It's the oldest. Every descendent on the island belongs to a clan, which has a smaller temple within the mother temple. Whenever there is cremation, the family of the clan comes to the mother temple to get holy water for the ceremony. No matter where you live on the island, you still come to the mother temple to get holy water for this ceremony. As we walk up the temple steps, each layer of the temple is designated to a god...shiva, then the highest...Brahman. Inside the temple we pray, then sprinkled with holy water, and annointed with rice at the temple and throat. I pray for everyone I can think of. All of you. My friends and my family. After that we headed to the very top of the temple. Brahman. Where I got a chance to meditate with Nanag, and pray again. This time, it felt much more from the core. We were blanketed by a nice layer of mist, being watched by a holy man, and had the audience of dogs and chickens. It's funny how the chickens and dogs are allowed in such a holy place....but then again, it is the order of nature. Animals, land and man must all somewhat co-exist.

After being haggled by some sad faced girl for a post card...(Besakih is after all a big tourist destination and the locals know this)we headed home. I was exhausted. The extreme change in temperatures and all the wind, made me exhausted. I was ready for a nap. Said goodbye to my friend, and then passed out in my nice warm bed under my mosquito net. It was a good day. I love Bali.