Well, that was a week I’m not unhappy to see the back of! Hopefully this next one will be rather calmer and more productive, there’s certainly a lot to look forward to anyway so I’m going to remain positive and optimistic whilst taking one day at a time.

I’m not going to bore you with a blog about the minutiae of life as there would be plenty of minutiae to bore you with! Instead, I’m going to go to the picture of the day, which has been chosen from some of the few slides I had time to scan today. It’s the end of an album, so you won’t be seeing any more like it for a while as its partner and next in the series is further down in the queue.

I took this shot in the town of Ubud on the isle of Bali, Indonesia in December 1994.

One of the many cultural delights of the island is going to see some of the variety of Balinese dance performances that you can witness at hotels, temples or theatres. This particular location is the Ubud Palace which provides an excellent backdrop for the dancers. It’s also right in the centre of town, which makes it very easy to get to. The dances vary from solo to mass performances, all of which are accompanied by a live Gamelan orchestra. The movements of the dancers are extremely stylized and choreographed, plus – they take years to learn. Many Western tourists don’t appreciate the art or understand the messages the dances convey and just enjoy the spectacle – which is OK as it helps fund these dance troupes and keep the traditions alive. I’ve always been impressed with the way the Balinese have managed to (mostly) make foreign tourism work for them without it subsuming their unique culture. I’ve many more pictures to add from Indonesia but the next batch will be from a country that’s culturally very different but that has some stunning scenery. Personally (out of the two) I know whose food I’d prefer, but I won’t knock some of the American national parks!

I’ve a favour to ask…
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