New Year's Eve in Bali

Panorama Hotel in Ubud, Bali, holds a New Year's Eve party every year. Last year, I arrived jet-lagged and my photos reflected it. This year, I was so well-rested that I did a bit of dancing, and even led the Limbo line. (No photo of me doing that, of course!)

Being Bali, the decorations are an interesting mixture. Bali is primarily Hindu. Many tourists are Chinese (the Buddha) or Christian (the Christmas tree).

This year's celebration included a local rock-and-roll band, playing old standards as well as current Indonesian "Dangdut" - pop music.

Panorama is proud to have several guests who return every year.

They were presented with small gift baskets as a token of appreciation.

In spite of a thunderstorm (or maybe because of it!), there were a variety of other guests, too.

From the very young,

to the young-at-heart,

to those using wheelchairs (Panorama is one of the few restaurants in Ubud without steps to climb).

Some dancers were Competitive Ballroom quality,

others a bit more free-wheeling.

Conga lines with restaurant and kitchen staff...

Limbo with both guests...

and staff.

As you see, a real melting pot (or salad bowl?) of nationalities, races, ages, religions, sizes, shapes, and abilities.

Ogoh-Ogoh - Bali's Answer to Mardi Gras?

Bali’s Nyepi Day - March 19, 2007, marked the Balinese New Year. The exact date of Nyepi varies slightly each year, as it is based on a Lunar calendar.

On the day before, each village displayed Ogoh-Ogoh. These are papier-mache "statues" created by the young men in the village. They are mounted on bamboo platforms. In the late afternoon, you’ll hear firecrackers and small cannons made from bamboo. And around sunset, there is an island wide parade of Ogoh-Ogoh to transform negative energy and drive off the evil spirits.

Nyepi Day itself is a Day of Silence. Having driven off the evil spirits, everyone must now stay quiet for 24 hours (sunrise 19th to sunrise 20th), so that the spirits will think everyone has gone, and there is no one left in Bali for them to bother for the next year.
Businesses are closed, except for hotels. No cars, buses, or motorcycles will be on the roads. And Bali is supposedly the only place in the world where the government shuts down the international airport for meditation & introspection! Balinese stay in their family compounds, dedicating an entire day to introspection and spiritual cleansing. The entire island becomes quiet. There are no cars, no tv's or loud radios, no lamps or fires and no airplanes overhead.

Women walking down the village street to make offerings in the early afternoon.



Here are some Ogoh-Ogoh.



The amount of creativity is amazing!


As is the detailed work.


Youngsters ready to lift their Ogoh-Ogoh on a bamboo platform.