Bali Long Weekend Part 2

Waterblow / Musim Pasifika

The next day Pak Dewa picked us up and then suggested a change in order for the day. We had given him our plans and he used his "local knowledge" to fine tune it for the best experience.

The waterblow was pretty hard to find, but on the plus side, we had a nice long walk on the beach to find it. The first actual sign was a tiny one and we were nearly there already. The sign is that horizontal board nailed to this tree.

We actually depended on Trip Advisor comments in order to locate the waterblow overlooks. Thanks to the people who wrote how to walk there. This statue was mentioned in the helpful directions.

Just a few warnings about viewing the waterblow:

Once at the overlooks area there were two viewpoints. One was blocked but many folks were out there already so we quickly ran out, snapped a couple of photos and then rapidly retreated to the other view point which was not blocked. Way, way off in the distance in this photo is our hotel. It's the orange roofed building in the distance, across the bay.

What an interesting vending machine. Drinks rated from acid to alkaline!

We are fortunate that we are not considered foreign tourists at all museums. Because we live here we get to pay a reduced entry free. You just have to ask and show your VISA. Yay!  At many places, however, we still have to pay the foreign tourist rate. Boo hoo.

The Musim Pasifika is not a very large place but their website says they have over 600 artworks and cultural artifacts. It was very interesting and I wish photography was only allowed everywhere. It was allowed only in two of the galleries. Several galleries covered various European painters who spent time in and painted in these islands.  In another gallery, a 19th century painter named Raden Saleh Sjarif Boestaman (1811-1880) was highlighted.  Of Arab-Javanese descent, he is considered the first modern painter from the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia). He spent about 20 years away from the islands studying in several European locations.  Some of his paintings were once displayed at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. Studying a lion tamer's cats led him to incorporate wild animals in his paintings. That was something new and probably made him famous. While in Europe and after returning to the Dutch East Indies, he painted nobleman portraits. Apparently he made a good living as an artist. Here is the house he built on his return!

Here are a few photos from the "approved for photography" gallery which was labeled "Premiere Art of Vanuatu and Pacific Islands."

Ritual masks from Vanuatu.

From the Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea here is some shell and teeth money. (B comment- don't ask where the teeth came from).

Ritual puppets from Vanuatu.

Since we were nearby, we stopped for a look around at a well regarded shopping spot. We didn't stay long. Souvenir shops, restaurants and somewhere further away were high end retail stores. We did get to see one of those places where fish give you a pedicure! yep, you put your feet into a tank with water and fish and they descale your feet, etc. The customers sit out front of the shop so other potential guests can see how it works. It was fun to watch but it must be ticklish.

Here is an interesting photo from along the beach. Photographer's shadow on the lower left.

Bali is famous for kite flying. Here are a couple of guys with a very large kite on a scooter. It's so long the front can be seen in the front passenger window.

 Here is a kite flying team, all in red, coming towards us.

The black specks in the sky are the best I could do in attempting to capture kites in the sky. I needed a better lens ! We saw so many kites in the sky. Fun! Keep in mind these kites are the size of trucks! They are 10-15 m across , fly many hundreds of feet up, and require a team of 15-20 people to manage.