Western visitors can be horrified on discovering our workers in the gardens on a Sunday. The day of rest! What a rigid, Christian attitude.

Here in Bali, there are many holy days.  Today, for instance, is the Day of Money. You are not allowed to spend any money today.
All the workers have taken the day off. They are paying to money in the temples, using the ancient Chinese money, coins with a hole in them, that have become a vital part of prayer here.

There are many such days in Bali, and they more than make up for working on Sundays. Further, they are different in each village, or Banjar which is the local term for the ruling Council. This means that we may get half the workers once day, and the other half another.
To further add to the delightful confusion, the protests compute the special days using their complicated charts.  They have ten concurrent calendars. Naturally, this causes plenty of argument and they can decide on a holy day perhaps a week before hand.
While this may cause havoc of you are trying to run a restaurant or factory, we take it in our stride and enjoy the uncertainty.

REX SUMNER

Chairman Royal Spice Gardens