We were pretty much spent after that, and Agus’s wife (poor thing) had been car sick since this morning. Trudging back through 2 hours of twisty mountain and countryside roads, we made it home before nightfall.

As the religious leader of the temple his father once led in ceremonial duties, Pak Suwamana showered & changed when we got home, then led a quick prayer ceremony at the family temple. It was my 3rd blessing of the day. Can’t have too many of those, right?

The prayer lasts about 15 minutes. No one knows which is older, the tree or the temple here. Perhaps they are the same age. I asked about some of the symbology I’ve seen in Hindu structures, namely what looked to me like a swastika. The Hindu cross bends to the right, and is a symbol of purity. The Nazi swastika was a borrowed symbol, and bends to the left.