Travel Porn:

Ubud, Bali, Indonesia

          There are a few stereotypical vacationers who visit Bali, Indonesia. First you have the Aussie surfers who spend their days in Uluwatu and their nights in Kuta. Than you have the Eat, Pray, Love girls who are on a quest for enlightenment in Ubud.

           From everything I heard about Ubud before I visited I expected to not like it. It sounded way to familiar to the hippie town of Paia on my home island of Maui. A bunch of privileged upper class white people going to fancy yoga retreats, staying in exclusive villas with infinity pools, drinking wheat grass and doing the hippie twirling dance. If you’ve seen it once, you know exactly what I am talking about! I was raised by these types of people. I was spending my weekend on communes with sweat lodges and naked people. I reserve the right to say these people irk me and I usually do my best to travel far far away from them!

            So how did I find myself in Ubud to have taken this weeks dose of travel porn? While I was in Indonesia I read on one of the couchsurfing message boards, a wealth of local knowledge, that the Queen had recently died and that there was going to be a giant cremation. These ceremony typically take place three months after the death as giant preparations have to me made. Firstly, the healers of the area decide the day based upon when the barrier between the two worlds is thinnest so the spirit can move easily between the them. Secondly, a giant cremation tower and cow need to be hand-made and decorated! The tower for this cremation was over three stories and the cow weighed more than one ton!

          So, where in Bali was this to be? Ubud, of course! There was no avoiding that place for me. I love a spectacle and the Balinese are so graceful and fancy with their religion that I couldn’t resist going to the Ngaben, Balinese cremation ceremony, for the Queen! In my fourteen months of RTW travel this day was one of the highlights. Nothing I have witnessed comes close to the drama of a Ngaben. If you are every lucky enough to be in Bali at the same time as one of these events I highly suggest you watch!

Have you ever witnessed a religious ceremony that was such a spectacle you couldn’t help but be in awe? If so,where?

Alexandra Pucherelli

Alexandra Pucherelli is a Maui native who is flirting with adventure and shenanigans one country at a time. She is an island Girl, hammock lover, travel writer, gin drinker, lover of cheese, travel photographer, and daydreamer. A full time nomad since April 03, 2011 and is sharing her musings, budget, and frolicking tips with you. She is bad with learning new languages but FLUENT IN FROLICKING