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This then, was the problem. Confronted with a dizzy choice of once-a-year-only festivals, what to see? Well, for a kick-off, I wanted to see the Wayang Wong, performance at Mas.
Hang onl We've struck one of those weird words again.

The Wayang Wong is big brother to the Wayang Kulit, or shadow puppet play, which is Bali's answer to the Punch and Judy show, but much more sophiseicated, despite the fact that part of its great charm for the Balinese is the slapstick and bawdy humour the buffalo hide puppets often indulge in.

Now, while the Wayang Kulit puppets, as their name implies, are made from skin, and caper behind a screen - usually until the small hours of the morning - the Wayang Wong show is played by human "puppets". A group of men, dressed in ornate masks and costumes, present one of the classic stories, but during daylight hours and in full view of the audience.

Having been no end baffled by the Wayang Kulit, I was keen to get to grips with a Wayang Wong performance - more or less on the principle that maybe you don't care for beer, but who knows whether you'll enjoy champagne until you've had a lash at it. So, come Kuningan, the Wayang Wong was a must.
Second on my short list was the Chalon Arang play. I'd had a tip-off from a usually reliable source, as they say, that this bloodcurdling drama, which centres around the struggle between the kindly Barong and the kinky Rangda, would unfold, before lunch, in a village nearby to Mas.

That more than took care of the morning. In the afternoon I planned to streak across country to catch the Godfight at Pak Sibali, a little village on the far side of Klungkung.
How then to fit in the Holy Springs bit