Hi everyone,
Well, last night if you had been a fly on the wall in our hotel room in the Monkey Forest Road you would have known we were weird. We were watching cremation videos on YouTube till quite late.
The reason for this is that we went to the Royal Cremation at Peliatan on Saturday. They had DRONES flying around the cremation tower, so we think there might be a video coming up. There is already a 9 minute one there, but only from a bystander.
So, in preparation, last week we went to Klung Kung fabric market again. Nyoman our hotel driver and friend supervised the buying of my sarong. I didn't even bring one this time. Nyoman had STANDARDS and he picked a range of $35 hand woven ikat sarongs from Sidedmen that I should choose from. No, he is not on commission. He said it is competitive, and Balinese women spend more than that. I guess he didn't want me to let the side down. It is a dark turquoise shot with cyclamen pink and it is beautiful. I have a cyclamen pink sash. Next time a new kebaya.
So long since I have worn a sarong, I had to get assistance getting ready! We got dropped off opposite the palace at Peliatan about 11 am. First we photographed the tower and the bull. Nine merus. We were allowed to go in to the palace. There was dancing going on, and a band just finished I think. We hung around and took photos and tried to stay in the shade. OMG it was hot.
The royal women were dressed in black kebaya said, mostly with red sashes or perhaps orange, and some of those colours in the sarongs. I never SAW such kebayas! Short sleeved kebayas are around, but these were something new to me. A Balinese friend at the hotel said that these were the LATEST fashion. The tops looked bare, or off-the-shoulder. They had flesh coloured transparent fabric, some with black lace motifs here and there. Some others had backs low like a bathing suit almost with gold swathes of lace.Some of the women wearing these fashionable garments were young; others were 60-plus. And with stilettos.
Surprisingly the procession began pretty much on time soon after midday. Oh boy it was hot. It took off at quite a pace, and soon we were lagging. It was soooooo hiot. I was half-hobbled with my sarong sticking to my sweaty ankles. No wonder we couldn't keep up! Now I have seen the video, I see that they were pretty much running. How did these elegant women in th fashionable kebayas and stilettos (and corsets I bet) keep,up? Tougher than they look.
We followed the procession from the palace at Peliatan, up the hill to the cremation ground just round the corner in Jalan Raya Ubud. We didn't stay for the rest. Smoke was already drifting. We were too hot. We spotted a taxi driver and were soon back in the pool. Then we fell asleep.
Unfortunately my friend got heat exhaustion and was sick for a few days. I must also be tougher than I look.
Wendy