Monday, 17July06

Highlights: Gua Gadjah, Gunung Kawi, Tampak Siring, Tegallalang, Kuta beach

$15 bucks got me a driver and guide around the surrounding area for 5 hours today. How great is that? We jumped on the back of his scooter & took off for Gua Gadjah, the elephant cave.

This Hindu cave dates to the 8th century, and is a place to meditate & pray to the gods. I’m still a little confused about Hindu tradition and the number of gods, but as I heard it today, Hindus believe in 1 God, with many symbols representing his many sides, or qualities… as expressed in the images of Vishnu, Brahma, and Shiva,,, among hundreds of others. The 3 main Hindu gods represent fire, water and air,, as well as birth, life and death,,, in an order I can’t remember at the moment. Each is also represented by a specific color. Consequently, every Balinese town has 3 main temples, each honoring one of these three (Vishnu, Brahma, and Shiva). The monotheism vs. polytheism thing gets confusing here… but I’ll take their word for it,,, Balinese Hindus believe in one God, but celebrate him with several different names. Got it.