Bali: Rural life


These are cheery Balinese cows, in their little shelter about 50 feet from the beach. All the cattle we saw were these smallish red ones. There are little huts all up and down the precipitous slopes of East Bali, and I think they just move the cows to the ones with the lushest grass every day.

Here’s a fairly common sight, a barefoot person carrying fodder up or down the road, presumably to be fed to goats, cows, or pigs. Two loads of fresh weeds balanced on a pole. This looks like a young man toting the stuff, but we saw old men and women doing it. too.
Bali may be Hindu, but it is definitely not vegetarian. The people feed the animals, who feed the people. They eat beef, as well as pork.

This is the entrance to a newer house along the rural road in Amed. There was a lovely wooden door in a green exterior wall, left open so I could peer inside and see a pretty pebble-paved path and a statue of Ganesh. This seems to be the architectural style, to have an open gate with a deity looking out. Sorry the vine obscures Ganesh’s trunk.

Here is a simple family temple compound, on the cliff overlooking the Japanese shipwreck. It’s a little neglected – needs new paint, and the offerings scattered on the ground are probably a week old; usually they are fresh and green, replaced at least once a day by the family, so maybe this family was on vacation for a week. Anyway, if you look closely you can make out a cat in the little shrine on the left. It had been sitting there happily sheltering from the sun, but when I approached with my camera it departed, so it’s mostly a gray shadow.

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