To Ubud....

Komang comes to pick us up and head to Ubud, making some stops along the way. He knows about a very special celebration in the village of Bugbug just north of Candidasa not far from where we are. At this village they will be celebrating the symbolic union of a king from their village that married a queen from the village of Datah a very long time ago. Every 40 years they symbolically unite and with each village taking turns coming to the other village by foot 40 km away through mountains and rice fields. The village of Bugbug prepares for the other village's visit by sacrificing many pigs which they roast and bring to the village center as offerings. They decorate the roasted pigs and also make many dishes with them that are presented as sacrifices but then eaten in celebration. When we come into the village we see the men roasting pigs and people bringing them in on motorcycles from their homes. Men and women are wearing their sarongs and temple dress. There is one area where the men are hard at work preparing food/offerings. They are shucking coconuts and finely chopping many vegetables and spices for the dishes that will not only be used as offerings but will also feed the visiting villagers. They are cutting fresh pig here as well and making sausages and perhaps other pork based recipes.
Representatives from the village of Datah which was the queen's village carry representations of their family temples on large bamboo structures that are carried by a large group of men. Others are also in the procession some of which are possessed by spirits (of ancestors?). Hundreds of people have come from surrounding villages as well as from Datah. The procession comes through the temple and through teh main street of the village and then through the interior of the village, out to the main road leading to the village and back into the main street of the village heading back towards the temple. The whole time the men carrying the structures may chant, run up and down jumping and shaking the structure. We are told that the spirits come and possess them or the structure and they react in this way. We are there from about noon until 7:30pm. Most of the time waiting. We also went into Candidasa for lunch at a beautiful seaside restaurant. At the village we met people. A woman even let me carry her baby. And these little kids were being big hams for us, singing or posing for pictures and really excited to say "hello".
We head to Ubud. As we come into town it seems we had imagined something different. Less touristy. Mom says its like Coconut Grove and it is. We get to the hotel and aren't happy with the location so go to another place that is just perfect, Periwati hotel and book for a couple of days instead of the original 4-5 we were planning on staying there and decide we'll go back to Sanur after Ubud.