Bali - The Ramayana Dance

The Ramayana is a great Hindu epic that is loved all over South East Asia. The full story is massive, and told only in episodes. The most popular episode tells the story of Prince Rama, his wife Sita, and his brother Laksmana.

They are banished from their kingdom and wandering through the forest. One day, while hunting for deer, they are tricked by the evil Rawana, who kidnaps Sita. With the help of the mythical Garuda, and Hanuman - a white monkey general, Prince Rama eventually saves his wife.

Everyone in Bali loves this story, and even at tourist shows, there are sure to be Balinese in attendance. Hanuman is everyone's favorite character. Animals in Balinese plays are allowed more freedoms than human characters. This is true in both the dance and the performance.

As a result, Hanuman is usually performed by the most creative actor. I've seen actors play Hanuman as a comedian, as a swashbuckling adventure hero, and as a ladies man. Every performance is different. Because Rama and Laksmana are seen as idealized personifications of beauty, they are played by women. This often confuses tourists, who can't keep track of the characters. My advice is, don't worry about it. Read the plot line before the show, then forget about it. Once the show starts, watch Hanuman make his jokes, enjoy the costumes and dances, and listen to the gamelan. Try to see this dance at the Puri Saren Agung in Ubud. It's staged once a week, and it's much better than the performances at hotels in Kuta. Get there about 45 minutes early, bring something to drink and food to munch on, and sit on the carpet right in front of the stage.

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Bali - The Legong

My favorite of the Balinese Dances, the Legong is a palace dance that features the prettiest young girls. The dancers used to be (and sometimes still are) hand picked by the local prince.

Gorgeous costumes and an array of eye, shoulder, hand, head, hip, and foot movements dazzle us. No part of the costume or the dancer is wasted. Flowers jiggle. Balls swing. Material sways. Eyes dart. Fingers part. And the feet arch and curl.

Every time I see the Legong, I discover something new about it. And every dancer brings a unique perspective to the dance.

Don't misunderstand me.
The Legong is not slowly seductive, like the hula.
Nor is it an explosive celebration, like the Tahitian Dances.
And it's not stately, like the Japanese or Korean dances.

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BALI - The Barong Dance

The Barong Dance is a powerful battle of good and evil.

I don't mean that metaphorically. The dance is actually a battle. The Barong costume is sacred, imbued with the soul of the Barong. It performs a kind of exorcism every time it dances.

The dance is, to us, an entertaining show; full of humor and action.
To the Balinese, also, it is an entertaining show. In addition, it is an opportunity to keep the cosmos in balance. The Barong battles the evil Rangda.

There is a story line to the Barong dance, but really, at it's heart, it's the Ultimate Grand Prix Wrestling match between two heavyweight champions who never go down.

This is one show that the Balinese always watch.

In addition, Barongs will do solo dances. The best Barong solo dance I've seen was in Ubud, during a festival. Two Barongs danced, trying to top each other, until one came out and did a comical version of the fan dance. This is particularly remarkable when you consider that the Barong has no hands. He had to handle the fan with his feet!

He picked it up, opened it, fanned himself with his left foot, fanned himself with his right foot, then continued his dance.

In one Barong story line, a princess is kidnapped by the forces of evil (backed by Rangda) and must be saved by the forces of good (backed, of course, by the Barong).

The Barong and Rangda do battle in a number of scenes building and building to a climactic scene when a number of warriors surround Rangda with knives and attack him.

Rangda uses magic to force the warriors to turn their knives on themselves.

This is when things get interesting.
It's hard to tell what is going on here. We can see the performers stabbing themselves, sometimes very hard with these knives, but the Barong's magic protects the warriors.

At the tourist shows, performed everyday, we can see that some performers are not stabbing so hard. However, there are those who seem to reach a state of fervor, or 'trance'.

These guys really get into it, but don't draw blood. As the show ends, some don't stop. Only when a priest intervenes with holy water do they stop.
At festivals, it's not uncommon for near-riots to break out, and for audience members to go into trance states.

Real, professional anthropologists and psychologists have spent time trying to explain this, and they've failed.

So I won't bother trying.
In the end, neither side wins. They fight to a draw, because there is no good without evil. Both are needed in the Balinese Universe, for balance. It is a great show, though...

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Is Money Wasted with Medical Travel Insurance?

Sometimes, insurance policies can be very confusing; maybe because they come in different types. The different types determine the insurance coverage and in the case of traveling abroad, you need to secure travel medical insurance.

This type of travel insurance covers those expenses that have something to do with medical reasons. You see, when you go to a different place, you can encounter changes in climate, weather, surroundings, and many others. This often causes illnesses and diseases that require immediate medical attention. You can then acquire certain medical costs, dental emergencies, and surgical costs which can be very costly especially if you're in a foreign country.

If you're a wise individual, you will focus more on how you're going to handle your expenditures just in case there is an emergency situation that involves medical attention. Try to imagine yourself without any travel medical insurance and then you suddenly get sick. You will find yourself paying as high as $50,000 for emergency conditions. That is big money you're throwing so if you don’t want to end up wasting money on some emergency situations abroad, make sure that you secure a travel medical insurance first before you leave your home country.

If you have travel medical insurance, you will not need to pay for the emergency situations because the insurer will settle the expenses pertaining to the emergencies. You can't predict what's going to happen while you're walking in the park or simply eating in a restaurant abroad. Hence, you must be prepared at all times.

When you try to conduct a search online, you will be able to obtain a long list of insurance providers. Some of them are just new in the industry while the others are already well-established. A good thing though is that with a lot of insurance firms competing with each other, you can easily find one that offers high rates for a settlement amount.

Now, some firms insist that clients pay different amounts of premium pertaining to the insurance. Others consider the age of the individual applying for the travel insurance as it may be the basis of the policy's amount.

All insurance firms make advertisements regarding their insurance policies like the multi-trip travel insurance policies. Even if there are hundreds of advertisements out there, the purchase of the policy will still depend on the individual's decision.

Most insurance firms have official websites where they can advertise to the world their insurance policies and their services. This will make it easier for them to reach millions of customers from different places. This is also a great advantage on the part of the customers because they get to enjoy the discounts and savings because most online insurance firms sites maintain low overhead costs.

When there are so many insurance firms competing for travel medical insurance, you can expect to find good offers in terms of the coverage. So just be diligent in your search because in no time, you can surely find a good insurance provider that can sell you an outstanding travel medical insurance that you can afford.

If you haven't purchased any travel medical insurance yet, now is the time to look for the right one online. Don’t waste your money by traveling without any insurance at all. Secure your life, secure your travel – get a travel medical insurance. This is not a waste of money and that is a guarantee.

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