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This is a tale of intrigue, of incredible fortitude, amazing logistics, performed with incredible skill. It is a tale of a man inspired by Hindu scripture, a tale of a Hindu priest, a dancer, a philosopher. Furthermore it is a tale of man fascinated with the suffering of the Pandawas, with Gambling, cheating and rivalry borne out of sinful behaviours. For this is a man that can through graphical portrayal immortalise the Hindu calendar, bringing sense to the Gregorian calendar through graphical images. For this is a man who constructed perhaps the world’s first ecological habitat and he did this in the course of 15 years only completing the task at the grand age of 75. For this man was a true visionary perhaps, paranoid maybe, but a genius most certainly. I promised an exploration of Bali and that I shall deliver, for today I will take you on a journey which starts from the port of Benoa. just a tad south of Sanur. Benoa is the port of Bali where the majority of Bali's comings and goings emanate from. Today we took the good ship Bounty across to the island of Nusa Lembongan. The trip was billed as a mini cruise the Bounty is a large yellow catamaran type that you can easily find being used as a fast ferry, it has 3 decks, two of which are covered and have a small sun deck to the rear, the third deck has shade but is predominantly open to the air. It is a fun ship if you like, one that will take you on a journey to a tropical sport inspired fun packed day, this is a trip that will exercise all of your senses physically as well as spiritually, one that requires you to be alert to all the magic of the Balinese province of which Nusa Lembongan is part of. This part of Bali whilst being part of the overall Indonesian archipelago remains staunchly Hindu in its belief and spiritual customs As you arrive off shore to the small enclave of Nusa Lembongan, the Bounty navigates to its mooring station, an off shore jetty of incredible proportions, for this jetty is no ordinary jetty. The jetty sits alone in the Indian ocean about 100Metres from the shore line, it is parked like a small man-made island, an off shore theme park of amazing size and configuration. This Jetty is a haven of fun, packed full of experiences as it has amazing proportions, it has pontoons, a restaurant, a natural pool, it has a water chute, a high rise diving platform. It has further jetty's in which to canoe from, to banana boat ride, and to connect with glass bottom boats or to reach out to an off shore diving platform which will anchor just overhead an amazing coral reef. For here you are provided with a snorkel mask and flippers so that you can snorkel and enjoy all the vibrant colours that these tropical seas have to offer, you do this right overhead a coral reef so you are sure of a festival of colour beneath your very person. For the more serious the good ship bounty will provide an air cylinder, together with a support vest for the deeper encounter along this coral reef. I should add at this juncture that the whole experience is expertly supervised with dive areas marked and perimeters set. At a time convenient to you a banquet awaits you back on your own tin Island, floating out at sea. As you finish lunch you are then allowed to venture towards the island itself and here you are, like so many places on Bali, greeted with the mysteries of a bygone era and historic customs that have been bestowed on these people by their gods. The beach is of white golden sands suitable for a perfect bask in the tropical sunshine; the seas are warm and amazingly clear. As you depart what appear to be a wartime landing craft exiting straight onto the beach of Nusa Lembongan from the front of the craft. Here you make your way to several waiting old tin Mitsubishi vans of some serious age on their side, they even had what I would call stick shift. For these trucks are there to take you to the Gala Gala house. First a little about the Gala Gala Inspiration which inspired the visionary Pak Made Byasa For this Gala Gala was created from the story of the Pandawa which in part is not unlike a Hindu Kane and Able for this is a story of the Pandawa and Kauravas,. The Pandawa were brothers (Yudhisthira, Bhima, Arjuna, Nakula and Sahadeva) born of royal stock had it not been for the self imposed exile of their father due to an accident which killed the royal sage and his wife. The five brothers in total, although there was a 6th son who was brought up by their uncle, this son was Karna born the first child of Pandu. Pandu handed off his son to his brother as he forced himself into exile. The five were born after their fathers exile and lived in blissful ignorance of the existence of their older sibling. The brothers, whilst the sons of Pandu they were born of his two wives Kunti and Madri. After the untimely death of Pandu, Kunti brought the Pandawas back to the kingdom Hastinapura, where as children, the Pandawas and their royal cousins the Kauravas often played together. Bhima a Pandawa was always at loggerheads with the Kauravas, particularly the cousin known as Duryodhana who was of insecure disposition, jealous of nature and easily manipulated by his maternal uncle. Duryodhana refused to accept the Pandawas as being of his bloodline and felt that they were a threat to the Khuru dynasty, he only had hatred for the five brothers and plotted with the support of his uncle Shakuni to kill them to be sure of his clear path to the lordship of the Kuru Dynasty. Over time this fostered a fierce rivalry between the two clans so much so that a great war flourished between them, a war which came to be known as the Battle of Kurukshetra. As part of this battle the brothers five unknowingly fought their oldest brother Karna, prevailing in the battle. A sort of cohabitation was created by a partition of land with the barren worthless parts of the kingdom given to the 5 brothers who then made a great success of their inheritance. However, they were duped by trickery through the art of loaded dice losing all of their land to the cousins forcing them once again into exile, living in hiding in the forests around the kingdom, they constructed caves in which to hide, forming a base in which to plot their return by force if need be. For it is this story that Pak Made Byasa used as a reason to embark on a hidden life for he spent 15 years constructing a series of underground caves using only a hammer and chisel, he built a living area, dining, kitchen, two bedrooms, a well which provided a constant stream of water, a bathroom and a meditation chamber. The construction took 15 years to conclude where there is a cave carving or relief that indicates the completion of the cave, for here he carved symbols of an elephant, gate and turtle which in the Hindu calendar (Tahun Caka) has the following meaning - human: 1, elephant: 8, gate: 9, turtle: 8. When combined this is 1898, which is the Hindu calendar year of 1976. These caves are in existence today and can with your guide be explored to your hearts content. 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