nyepi - day of silence...

i had every intention of spending nyepi updating you on our silent day however it was so silent and still that not even the internet was up and running - so that plan went straight out the window. instead we spent the day reading, swimming and watching dvd's on the lowest possible sound level.

i realised that nyepi was kindof a big deal a few weeks before we left as we had planned on going to the gili islands this trip however were not able to get back to main land bali the day before, on or after nyepi. plus accommodation places were either closed or fully booked and not accepting checkins on tuesday 13 march. so what is nyepi all about?

nyepi is the balinese "day of silence". its a hindu celebration that is unique to bali that goes from 6am to 6am the following morning. no noise it permitted, no light in the evenings. it really was an amazing thing, for in bali there are constant sounds of life at every second of the day. be it motorbike horns, dogs barking, chickens crowing, birds or geckos singing, building tools, laughter and chitter chatter - you get the point. there is never a time where things stop, but on nyepi everything stops and you cant leave your house, hotel or compound.

the eve of nyepi is a huge celebration where local villages parade ogha ogah's which resemble demons and bad spirits. the idea is to burn the ogah ogah's the night before nyepi, so that when bali is silent and still the next day - they island literally becomes invisible so the bad spirits and demons will go elsewhere.

with soph and pete in toe we hit the town to watch the parade of local villages bring there ogha ogha through ubud to the football grounds where they were all on proud display. below are some pictures of the event, as you can tell, it was a magical event that we were so honoured to be part of.

pics. a mix of ogha ogha, local villagers enjoying the parade, the of-age bartender and us spectating.