Balinese day life

Business hours

In Indonesia, as in many other Asian countries, there are no statutory shop closing times. There are thus no restrictions on the energy and enterprise of individual traders. Many shop keepers, particularly in areas frequented by visitors, are open until late in the evening, giving their customers plenty of time for shopping. On Sundays and public holidays, however, many shops are closed.

Normal banking hours are Mon. to Fri from 8 am to 2.30 pm and Saturday from 8 am to noon time. Chemists are daily open from 9 am to 7 pm. Exchange offices are open from 8 am to 8 pm. Shops are generally open from 9 am to 8 pm.

Festivals, ceremonies and public holidays

It is impossible to visit Bali without seeing a festival of some kind. There is always a birthday, marriage or cremation ceremony somewhere on the island. Asking around will help you to locate one of these festivals. Just driving through the small villages will bring you to one or another ceremony. According to an unofficial estimate, there are well over thousand festivals on Bali in the course of a year. 

Here follows a list of fixed an movable holidays on which ceremonies and festivities are held:

Markets

All over Bali lively and colourful markets are held daily. Their primary purpose is to sell the agricultural produce of the area, but they also offer visitors picturesque subjects for their cameras. The best time to visit a market is in the morning, preferably early in the morning around 6 am. That is when all the local people come to shop and the meat and fish is very fresh. Later in the day as the heat comes up is when the aromas can be unpleasant. In the cool of the morning, it's just a pleasure. The market bustles...jammed with people and its full of great photo opportunities.

Rooster fights

Rooster fights is the national sport in Bali. Cockfighting is a very important part of Balinese culture. The Balinese can't understand an attitude that doesn't accept this ritual – to them a rooster is as dead in the kitchen as after a cockfight; besides cockfights are staged as a religious duty, as a sport that gives an opportunity for a little gambling and as a way to provide food for the next day, especially on nyepi.
Cockfights are organised events staged and planned independently by each banjar (cooperative societies of people who assist each other in planning & arranging village ceremonies, etc. There are various banjars in each village).

Each cock has a vicious steel blade about five inches long and sharp as razor attached to the right foot in place of the natural spur which was cut off. When both cocks are ready and betting has been placed, the beating of a small gong signals the fight to begin. The cocks, held by their owners, are provoked against each other and released. In a cloud of flying feathers and a round lasting only a few seconds, suddenly the two cocks stop and stand motionless in front of each other, both steaming blood, until one staggers and falls dead. The winner usually still pecks at the corpse and if wounded it is healed and often lives to fight many battles. A cock is disqualified if it runs away at the beginning. When a cock is wounded and still considered it can go on fighting, its owner gives it strength to go on with special massages, blowing his own breath into its lungs. If both refuse to fight, they are placed in a basket together where one can't avoid being killed.

As well as Nyepi, cockfights are staged on other occassions, such as in the ricefield. Elaborate rituals & offerings are made before work is done in the ricefield. After the holy water is obtained from the holy sources, such as Lake Batur or Basakih, a feast is given in honour of the divine guests. Dances are held and the water sprinkled over the fields and common canal, then more offerings given so that the water will flow through the proper channels. Water is then let in to flood the dry prepared soil, members of the village subak (cooperative water board) meet and take vows not to steal water from another. The land is again cleansed with another offering to the evil spirits and cockfights are staged to satisfy their thirst for blood.

Street life

Most of the people literally live on the street especially in the cities and towns. Most of the houses are open compounds. Enjoy sitting down and talk to the locals to understand how they live. In rural areas, you'll find farmers working in the middle of their fields.