I don’t plan my stories while I travel. I simply walk the streets, following my eyes, ears and nose; they always lead me to someplace new and interesting – when I do not get lost.
In this case, I was rather early for my next appointment and decided to take a walk on the streets of Jalan Raya Ubud when the sound of the Gamelan caught my attention.

I then chanced upon children practising the Gamelan and a Barong performance while donations were collected from the on-lookers.
A Barong is a creature from Bali mythology, representing a lion. A protector of people, you can find Barongs on the streets of Ubud, helmed by little boys with Balinese Gamelan music. 
I started photographing the boys and soon got to know the teacher of the boys, a man of many hats, Yande who happens to be fluent in Japanese as well! Talk about serendipity!
(Yande also drives and runs tours around Bali/ Ubud. Do look him up at www.balimemorabletour.com)

Sensing that I have a keen interest in Balinese music, we struck up a conversation and before I knew it, he invited me to his village where a traditional Barong Ceremony was happening that night.

I will speak more about the very interesting night I had with Yande in my next post, Night of the Barong.
In the meantime, enjoy the images of the Barong Boys.

Barong Boys

Open wide

Feet of the boys

The boys on the streets

Walking through the streets

Taking a short break

Posing with tourists

Some of the performers

Practising and resting

Boy and the Barong

Barong boys

Preview image for the next post:

Night of the Barong

Read: Night of The Barong