In Reply to: Things to do in Ubud for a 2 night stay? posted by joandtim on Friday, 28. January 2011 at 16:17 Bali Time:
Near Ubud there is the Moon of Pejeng and the White Herons of Petulu, I am planning to visit both, here is some info for you...
(Note this has been cut and pasted from web sites, sorry for copyright breach but can't remember where from!)
Moon of Pejeng - a highly revered and ornately sculptured 2 meter long drum known as The Moon of Pejeng, which is regarded as Indonesia's most important Bronze-Age antiquity. Shaped like an hourglass, this beautifully etched drum is the largest single-cast piece in the world. The history and origins of the Pejeng Moon are a mystery. Most scholars date it to around 600 BC. It size and shape are similar to ancient drums found in North Vietnam, but the motifs are in different style. The 2000-year-old bronze drum is 73.5 in (186.5 cm) high. The diameter of the mantle is 43 in (110 cm) and that of the tympanum is 63 in (160 centimeters). Its presence on the island of Bali is still one of science's unsolved mysteries.
According to Indonesian folklore, the moon was transported across the evening sky by a celestial chariot with wheels that shone as brightly as the moon itself. One night a wheel came loose and plummeted to Earth, landing in a tree in the village of Pejeng. Its glow illuminated all of the surrounding area. This was very irritating to a thief who saw that the light interfered with his nocturnal pursuits. So he climbed the tree and urinated on the wheel, extinguishing its light. Immediately the wheel exploded, killing the thief. Then it fell to the ground. There is a break in the base as a result of the fall. The people of Pejeng found it and enshrined it in a high pavilion in the Penetran Sasih Temple, thereby keeping it safe from profane eyes and hands.
The White Herons of Petulu. - The greatest spectacle happens at around 5pm, when huge flocks return to their nests after foraging in the surrounding rice fields. On the edge of the village, expect to pay a small "donation" to the community for the privilege of strolling down the one street and admiring the avian manifestation. According to local legend, the egrets first appeared here in such large numbers after one of the worst massacres of suspected communists during the troubles of 1965. This led local villagers to believe that these birds are the souls of the slaughtered, and ceremonies to that effect are still held today. You will be asked to give a donation just before reaching the roosting area. No one knows for certain why the herons and the egrets have chosen to make their home in Petulu, though locally it's claimed that the birds are reincarnations of the tens of thousands of men and women who died in the civil war that raged through Bali in 1966. Many of the victims were buried near here, and the birds are said to have started coming here only after an elaborate ceremony was held in the village in memory of the dead.