Off we go to South East Asia: Galungan in Bali. It's their biggest celebration of the year!

Bamboo poles ( panjor) ready to be decorated. It's amazing what the Balinese will do with these things over the next few days.

Holidays in Bali are like hockey games in Canada - you can bet there is one playing out somewhere, on some level, nearly every day. Part of the reason for this is the incredibly convoluted Balinese calendar system. To begin with, the entire year is only 210 days long, so annual holidays occur with a frequency of about seven months. Imagine a birthday every seven months! Then there is the fact that there are one- through 10-day weeks running concurrently, with extra days thrown into some of them. Each day is assigned a value, and there is some complex metric which must employ many brahmins full-time to figure out whether the consequent value of particular date, based on where it falls in these ten different weekly cycles, is auspicious or propitious enough for the celebration.

One of the bigger holidays, and one that we were lucky to be on the island for, is Galungan. It is actually the first day of a 10-day long holiday, with each day having its own name and ending on the final day known as Kalingan. The holiday marks the triumph of good over evil, and begins with much traffic to and from the temples by families of locals dressed in their traditional finery. It is believed that the spirits of ancestors and gods descend to Earth for the ten day period, and the rate at which offerings are proffered rises accordingly.

The most obvious symbol of the holiday is the panjor, which is a long bamboo pole that is decorated elaborately and installed at the right hand side of the entrance to each family compound. The thinly tapered ends of the poles are bent to hang over the street, and from their ends hang offerings. At the base of the pole is an altar, which is stuffed with offerings for the gods and ancestors every day. The ridge of decorations that runs up the back of the panjor is meant to resemble a dragon's back.

The holiday is like a mix of Christmas and Halloween. There is much family time, and people generally return to their home village for at least the first few days of the holiday. Throughout the holiday, generally in the afternoons and evenings, gangs of young boys take the barong costume out of storage and accompany it through the streets with small bands of drums and gamelans. The barong enters peoples' homes and businesses, which is considered to be good luck, after which a member of the band hits up the occupants for a donation. It is an exotic form of trick or treat.

We were glad to be on the island, as it was in an extraordinarily beautiful state and the local population was extraordinarily happy.

Decorating the panjor seems to be the job of the men. All the decorations for this beauty were being made by hand from various grasses and palm leaves.

We are impressed with the detailed work that goes into creating a panjor.

This one is waiting to be erected as the ceremony date gets closer

This fella is putting the finishing touches on his. We like the use of natural and biodegradable decorations the best.

An incredible amount of work goes into these and considering they are left standing for just 30 days it's a pretty significant expense for a family. Some spend around $500 for theirs.

It's fun to drive around the villages on a motorbike and see what each family has created.

The locals are especially happy to have us ask for a photo as they are very proud of their creations.

Watching the installation of a panjor is fun as they are very tall and it takes a few people to make sure the electrical lines don't get knocked down in the process.

A Sanggah cucuk or "throne" for the gods as they come down to earth. There is one of these at the base of each panjor and gets filled with offerings for the gods.

So charming

This street had 100% participation which made for a great photo.

Neighbours, friends and family all help with the installation of each others panjor.

They are so delicate and lovely. We feel so lucky to be here at this time of year.

Everyone is dressed in their ceremonial best and are headed to their local temple. The man on the right is off to the cock fight at the temple.

The men always wear white when they go to the temple. We were a little shocked to see this guy drive away with his whole family on board and only one hand free for the handlebars of the bike.