17/01 /2001
  Ubud - BALI
  S 08°30 E 115°15
  +37

Late sleeping, consisting breakfast with papayas and bananas, a cup of tea, and here we are for a long exploration of Ubud. 

City of arts, we meet artists who paint in wide-opened places or under verandas. Then artisans who work on wood, stone silver, gold... creating works in an out-of-time atmosphere.

Vale, Aleko and Arya walk barefoot in the rice fields and lose themselves in the villages nearby. Marco and Maya train for negotiation with vendors of any kind. Theo and Gedé look for a mysterious thing called 'gighi-gighi'.

A quiet day in Ubud.

 
In Paris, Johannesburg or elsewhere, I often meet street musicians. Here, a young guitarist, there, an old man with an harm. I listen to them with pleasure, and sometimes, I even record them on a mini-disc to keep that instant in memory. When I walk with my guitar, one glance is enough to gig in the middle of an avenue, in a bar or on a front door. This morning, I even tried to play a song of the Rolling Stones on a xylophone ! (Aleko)

Balinese music is based on a traditional instrumental complex named Gamelan. It can be composed of 4 to more than 50 instruments. Unlike some other Asiatic musical forms,  it sounds very nice to any ear used to occidental music. The main instruments are: Gangsa, similar to the xylophone, the drums Trompong and the small gongs named Kemplis. The gong 'Kebyar' is the modern and the most wide-spread form of gongs, constituted of 25 musicians.

In Bali, music, dance and theatre are three forms of art really bound to each other. We believe that images will never be able to replace the magic, the mystery and the atmosphere of these places of artistic celebration.

 

I Know you ... You are the Nomads"

Yesterday night, after we have put on-line the Journal, we went to have a good meal, well-deserved. At midnight, in Ubud, it seems there are only dogs eating, horrible bastards chewing rubbish. But in the far, we can hear good reggae music; we enter in the Putra's Bar.

Inside, bodies mix under a stage with 'Rasta' musicians. We scan the situation: white boys dancing closely with young Balinese girls, old Australian women sticked to young gigolos, and a bar where are slumped very drunk people.

Suddenly, a guy comes towards us, with a red jacket and long blond hair. Putting his hands on the table, he quickly looks at us and says: "I know you, you are the Nomads".

Fred, a French, had recognized us from the site!

 
We will go in Denpasar to attend the ceremony of Cremation of one of the most powerful men in Bali. Then, we'll discover your decision on the Voting Results...
Guide our next steps, insert contacts & info on   IWorld