I thought I’d share with you some of the most beautiful things I’ve seen in the first few days being in Bali. They’re everywhere, literally. From my first step outside the Bali airport to my hotel, flowers are scattered on the grounds, placed on religious statues all over the city. Bali is rich of various and exotic flowers thanks to it’s biodiversity. Not to my surprise the Indonesian national emblem represents flowers. Flowers are integral to the cultural lives of Indonesians and local women can be seen wearing them on their hair. Wandering the streets of Ubud, I could see an array of ornate peace offerings and which are the first things I fell in love with. In these little leafy trays, colourful petals are placed with pieces of food. These pretty offerings are perched all over the city and could be as simple as a small and fragrant Frangipani adorning each and every step leading into a housing compound. Interestingly, they serve a deeper purpose than adornment. They are meant to appease and please the various gods and demons of Balinese Hinduism. Not usually an early riser but I had see the early morning traditional flower market in Denpaser. The flower market is certainly a grand, bustling and a colorful place. By 5.30am the market was already packed with tourists and sellers. Flowers are displayed in big baskets made of leaves while women sat behind them picking the petals from the flowers. I can’t say I have a favourite flower because they all looked so colourful and smelled so nice. The Water Lilly, Lotus, Lilly, Orchid, Frangipani, Ixora, Gardenia, etc. those are commonly found in Bali. They are naturally grown and some of them are cultivated and developed into flowers arrangement products.
More Bali posts to come 🙂
