Basics - The Rough Guide to Bali and Lombok - page 61

International Society for Travel Medicine US 1 404 373 8282, istm.org . Has a full

list of travel health clinics.
MASTA (Medical Advisory Service for Travellers Abroad) UK www.masta-travel-

health.com for the nearest clinic.
Travellers' Medical and Vaccination Centres

1300 658 844, tmvc.com.au . Lists

travel clinics in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.
Tropical Medical Bureau 1850 487 674,

tmb.ie . Travel advice and clinics across Ire-

land.
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FESTIVALS AND EVENTS
Religious ceremonies and festivals remain central to Balinese life and anyone spending
more than a few days on the island is likely to spot local people heading to or from
temples. Visitors are welcome as long as they follow certain rules of etiquette . Hindus on
Lombok adhere to the same customs. On top of these, an array of nonreligious festivals
are equally appealing.
Balinese festivals
Bali has a complex timetable of religious ceremonies and festivals both local and island-wide,
made even more complicated by Bali having two traditional calendars ; the saka calendar,
with 354-356 days, is divided into twelve months and runs eighty years behind the Gregori-
an year, while the wuku calendar is based on a 210-day lunar cycle. One of the biggest is
Galungan , an annual event in the wuku calendar. This ten-day festival celebrates the victory
of good over evil and the ancestral souls are thought to visit earth. Elaborate preparations take
place: penyor - bamboo poles hung with offerings - arch over the road. Galungan day itself
is spent with the family. The final and most important day is Kuningan , when families once
again get together, pray and make offerings as the souls of the ancestors return to heaven.
The main festival of the saka year is New Year, Nyepi , generally in March or April, the ma-
jor purification ritual of the year. The night before Nyepi the evil spirits are frightened away
with drums, gongs, cymbals, firecrackers and huge papier-mâché monsters ( ogoh-ogoh ).
On the day itself, everyone sits quietly at home to persuade any remaining evil spirits that
Bali is completely deserted. Visitors are expected to stay quietly in their hotels.
Every temple has an annual odalan , an anniversary and purification ceremony. The majority
of these are small, local affairs, but the celebrations at the large directional temples draw large
crowds. There are also local temple festivals related to the moon, some associated with full
moon and some with the night of complete darkness.