Night before Nyepi in Seminyak Bali

Seminyak is the center of expat activities in Bali. Sunday was another beautiful sunny day with one exception, Nyepi, the Day of Silence was looming and for people used to creature comforts within easy reach, it was a time to plan ahead. No one is going to starve in a 24 hour period, but judging by the loads of groceries being bought at Bintang supermarket, you’d think people were sailing to Africa. Popular items seems to be fizzy drinks, Bintang, meat and vegetables. Bintang supermarket closed at 10pm giving shoppers plenty of time to sort themselves out. Circle K was also open late as were certain bars on Jl. Dhyana Pura.

Seminyak folks gather at the junction of Jl. Seminyak and Jl. Dhyana Pura around 7pm. Pura Desa Seminyak is located right there and after hundreds of Balinese locals have attended ceremonies there, the fun stuff begins. At important places such as junctions, elaborate offerings are placed to keep evil spirits at bay. Ogah ogahs, the giant mythical monsters are designed to scare the evil spirits away from Bali all at once. When the evil spirits return the next day (Nyepi Day), people must make every effort to stay inside, make no noise and generally give the evil spirits the impression nobody is home. Some ogah ogahs are in line with Balinese mythological creatures, others have a more modern twist. Many are funny and some quite amazing, for the fact they seem to defy gravity. After a couple of swings up and down the main street, accompanied by much cheering and high spirits, the ogah ogahs are taken down to the beach and burnt.

Lights were off on some main streets last night, but some gangs in Seminyak were fully lit, until early this morning. If you stay in a villa a pack of candles is a very handy thing to have at this time of year.