Welcome back Loren - You had me worried.  Glad all is well with you.

Please count this as my entry for Sunday.

The answer for Friday's question (#9) was Clifden, Ireland.

We had 13 entries and 13 correct answers.  Golly gee whiz ... you folks are smart! 

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(Speaking of Clifden ... Right now the Quiet Man is airing on TCM!  Watch it or be square!)

Clifden is seriously out in the middle of nowhere.  Which is good!  With the 12 Bens to the NE, the Burrens to the SE, and New York City to the West: it is hard to find a wildier spot in all Of Ireland!  The peat bogs and moors stretch on forever amidst scatterings of great rocky outcrops.  Off to the East lies the little crossroads called Maam Cross, you know: a wide spot in the road with a couple of petrol stations to water your car, and a couple of bars to water your soul!  This area is where they raise the famous Connemara Ponies.  So if you see a stout, mean looking pony stop and ask him if he is from Clifden town!  And it goes without saying that the finest and friendliest folk upon God's green earth reside in this area of Ireland!  Rush hour in Clifden is when more than 12 sheep decide to walk down the middle of the road together!

I decided to go to Ireland because I saw an airfare that was to good to pass up on and so off I went!  After deplaneing at Shannon Airport, I got on a local bus and headed west to wilds of Ireland.   I hadn't made any hotel arraingments,  but I knew that in Ireland all one has to do is pop into a local bar and the good folks will take care of you in proper style!  So, that's what I did!  Next thing I know the propietress of a local B&B was there to pick me up ... after making sure I had had my fill of Guinness for the evening, of course.  I only stayed at that place one night though since it was a little stuffy for me.  The next day, while downing a pint of stout, I inquired around and found out about a place that met my requirements:  a homey place with a peat fire where I could feel like a part of the family!  The Lady that ran the place was one of the nicest folk I have ever met.  Her family had lived on a small island just below the Sky Road for over 500 years!  The whole time I was there I was treated wonderfully.  We toured the 12 Bens, went north to Kylemore Abbey and bought trinkets from the nuns, went to Maam Cross Fair where the yearly pony sale was taking place, and spent many hours together in the bar drinking stout and playing darts!  Ah ... The Irish breakfasts were a thing to die for!  And the Dinners too!

OH!  I forgot the one thing I really wanted to mention: Peat fires!  When you first arrive in the countryside of Ireland you are greeted by the most strange and vile smell!  Yep, smoke from the peat fires.  But the strange thing is that after a couple of weeks you suddenly find that smell becoming a welcome sensation.  The smell of hearth and home and good companionship!  As I am typing this I can actually smell it's aroma ...

It says, "Stop on in, warm yourself, gossip a tad, and have a cup of tea and a wee plate of bisquits"   

Question for MONDAY 09FEB09:  (#11)   

( I was going to give two "dime guesses" to anybody that got this one right ... but since I have been informed that my questions are tooooo simple ... I have reconsidered.    )

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In 1996 Loren decided he needed a little South Seas comfort and spent a month resting in this “mystery Village”.

      A small village located in the Eastern part of Bali, 15km N from Amlapura, it is where you can see a very elegant Balinese Water Palace built for the holly spring.  To the northwest is Gunung Agung  Bali's highest mountain (3,148 m), which lies in the central-eastern part of the island.  Geologically, Agung is an active stratovolcano, and has had major eruptions in the past, most significantly in 1963.  According to the Balinese Hindu religion, Agung is the most sacred of mountains and is home to Bali's largest temple, Pura Besakih.  To the east lays Gunung Lempuyang an extinct volcano, which is home to the temple of Pura Lempuyang, also one of Bali's 7 sacred mountain temples.  Temple complexes are located at the base, middle, and top of the volcano and are accessed via the "Stairway to Heaven" which is composed 1700+ "steps".  The view from the village takes in a broad vista of rice terraces stretching away to the south toward the ocean.  This area of Bali is considered to be the most traditional part and is seldom visited by the normal hordes of  tourists.  Here, life is conducted as it has been for hundreds of years.  The Water Palace consists of 7 pools with various stone creatures that spout streams of water , a temple, and large grassy areas.  The complex is an integral part of the daily life of most the local residents.   
      Unlike most of Muslim-majority Indonesia, about 93.18% of Bali's population adheres to Balinese Hinduism, formed as a combination of existing local beliefs and Hindu influences from mainland Southeast Asia and South Asia.  Balinese Hinduism is a heterogeneous amalgam in which gods and demigods are worshipped together with Buddhist heroes, the spirits of ancestors, indigenous agricultural deities and also with places considered sacred.  Religion as it is practiced in Bali is a composite belief system that embraces not only theology, philosophy, and mythology, but ancestor worship, animism and magic.  It pervades nearly every aspect of traditional life.  Balinese Hinduism has roots in Indian Hinduism and in Buddhism, and adopted the animistic traditions of the indigenous people, who inhabited the island around the first millennium BC.  This influence strengthened the belief that the gods and goddesses are present in all things.  Every element of nature, therefore, possesses its own power, which reflects the power of the gods.  A rock, tree, dagger, or woven cloth is a potential home for spirits whose energy can be directed for good or evil.  Balinese Hinduism is deeply interwoven with art and ritual, and is less closely preoccupied with scripture, law, and belief than Islam in Indonesia.  Ritualizing states of self-control are a notable feature of religious expression among the people, who for this reason have become famous for their graceful and decorous behavior. 

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WHERE IS HE?


PLEASE:  REMEMBER NOT TO POST YOUR ANSWER HERE!!!!

(You still have until midnight PST to answer the previous question!  If you are having troubles ... don't worry ... each question contains several clues that you can use, in like a google search, which will lead you right to the correct answer!)

 

We are getting close.
I really hope I win that beautiful purse!

Count me in for Monday.

z.

  In for Monday!
    You mean to tell me we aren't playing for a chance to go along on Loren's next trip? 

I am in for Monday!

 

Entered for Monday (2/9/09)

Entry in.

   No trip!  Darn, I was fantasizing about palm trees and lagoons and sandy beaches and drinks with little paper umbrellas!   

Hey LB ~

I think after two weeks with no power and since I am the one that helped you come up with this idea that I should get 14 guesses on that dime ~ lol...

I deserve something people...heck, just give me the purse and forget about me guessing.  I think I did get in one entry maybe by Trace...heck, I might have been dreaming that I talked to her

I am in for Tuesday!

 

Hello all,

I got my entry in for Tuesday.

Dang... I thought the fix was all in?   

Wolfie was supposed to have rigged the numbers; Pmeek was going to provide the fancy drinks with umbrellas and "bendie" straws; tobby1 was in charge of the basket of travelin' vittles; and tharedhead was gonna purchase the Greyhound bus tickets to the 'gator-wrestling farm! 

Sorry, ping!  It is so hard to find good help now days!   

But!  There is good news!  Only two questions left!  And they are both so easy even a blind coon dog could sniff them out!  I know that I said that that this whole shindig would be finished by 11:59 pm PST Wednesday ... but remember that Saturday was kidnapped by Aliens.

It's up to you folks ... 14 days (and only 13 chances) or 14 questions????  Let me know.  The last question IS really easy!