Kucing makan saiban

(The cat has eaten the offering)

Saiban is rice deposited on a piece of banana leaf.

On a hot morning, I spy one of the many roaming feline munching on it. Dogs are welcome to it too, as are chickens or any bird flitting by. They're all parts of creation, though it's debatable whether crocodiles are. I spend a few days in Darwin after Bali, hence that comment. Maybe the gods of creation were in a bad mood that day. 

This is what the Hindu population of Bali (from Sanskrit 'Bali-dvipa", island of offerings) is about, a twice-daily ritual for keeping balance and harmony, for protection, to appease demon spirits. And I would too if I lived close to active volcanoes, looming grey and mighty out of the haze.

With Desi, a young woman in Sideman, I plait 'canang sari', an other type of offering : tiny baskets made of  palms, fastened with thin bamboo strips and filled with flowers. 

She is astonished to hear that, where I come from, most people don't worship at all to any god or gods whatsoever. The look she gives me says it all. She can't comprehend such spiritual poverty. So, she shows me... she does my hair, dresses me up, sarong, sash, throws a gold woven scarf over my shoulder, loads me up with a tray of offerings and incense sticks and off we go, kneeling, spraying drops of water on the flowers, laying them in the house temple, on every nook and cranny, in front of the main door, to ward off evil spirits... even the garage has its altars.  A twice repeated daily occurence.

Bali's hinduism is laced with animism. There are casts but no untouchables. Negative emotions are bad karma. Like a boomerang, they'll hit you back. There is courtesy, kindness, a real sense of care, of sharing.  Spirituality is in the bones of the Balinese, Willow tells me. An old American lady, she's lived here for a long time and is convinced that western influence is just skin deep, that local people value their tradition. She may be right though it's difficult to believe it in places like Ubud or Kuta, overwhelmed, from June to September, with western visitors whose materialistic 'values' permeate, infiltrate the Balinese culture, not for the best. There must be a balance somewhere, for the local population to reach comfortable living standards and not lose the culture that, with its dramatic landscape, makes this island so unique.

The enchantment hasn't waned since my first visit BC (Before Covid). The same magic, this light energy, is still alive and it's like meeting an old friend, whose grace and smile I didn't know I missed.

Every day, anywhere I stay, coast or hills, I make new memories, intent in savouring every moment, the escalating dawn serenade of an armada of roosters, an enthusiastic continuo to the busy whistling of birds, the crash of waves in the distance, the peal of gamelans for the Hindu call to prayer at 6am, the heady fragrance of a loamy, black earth, a whiff of incense, the swish swish of twig brooms on the tiles : people here are up early, before the heat strikes. The evening cocktail is a heady mix of dusty baked earth, frangipani, jasmine. Roosters have hardly stopped. A ballet of swallows swoops above fields and temples and it is the evening Hindu prayer. In mixed communities, it echoes in turns with the calls from the minarets... Night is the domain of geckos, crickets, a frog concerto in the rice fields. 

My favourite activity is waiting for the sun to rise and set, gold, copper, silver, on the sea, on fields, behind hills, when the heat is just a memory or a promise and the air on the skin is soft as silk.

'Being' feels more important than doing and, indeed, I have the time to just 'be'. I've never felt compelled to tick a list of 'must-dos', skim the sights, buy sarongs and laze on the beach, though the latter has its well-appreciated place. I relish chance encounters and listening to people's stories, the sound bites of destiny, tales of life and its sudden twists. I practise Indonesian daily on duolingo, take advantage of long drives (no public transports to speak of in Bali) to learn numbers and key sentences with patient drivers. 

And what have those last 4 years had in store for my Bali friends?

                                                                        Saba's black sand beaches

Petra and her grown children, Santhi, Dewi and Rama, have moved from Casa Coolio, where I stayed last, by a deep gorge of the river Petanu, to its mouth, close to black sand beaches, in the residential area of Saba Beach. They have recreated there a magical garden and a welcoming, open house. 

Petra (second from the left above) is dedicated to improving the life of those who struggle in poverty and to promoting a more balanced, ecological environment, whether it is community-based disaster management with the IDEP foundation, or garbage disposal and recycling (an issue in Bali), as well as promoting sustainable housing designs or, more recently, launching the first steps for UBI (universal basic income) in Bali and creating games for adults and children with an ecological theme. Links below for more info. A good read!

https://www.circlesubi.id/stories

https://www.ecogames.net

I don't think I have ever seen anybody work so hard. So much so that her children decreed that, in their new house, her office had to be separate from the living quarters. 

They're kindly giving me time to land and sleep off jetlag. I'm invited to practise Yoga in the pool in the morning (and God, am I stiff...), to lead a 'Do In' activity, to swap treatments with Dewi who's into healing and plants and is a caring, beautiful soul and...get ready for the wedding!

 

Yes. Carmen and Bobby, whom I also met BC, partners for 10 years, are getting married at the end of August.  The wedding venue is on Gili Trawangan and it's a bloody long way from France. But why not stay a month in Bali and continue on to Australia and spend, at last, a good amount of time with my daughter Gwendoline at her new home in Sydney? I accept with joy, touched to have been invited to their special day.

The Gili islands (Trawangan, Meno and Air) are off the north-east corner of Bali and can be reached by boat from a few Bali harbours, mainly Padangbai. No cars are allowed there, nor are motorbikes, ubiquitous anywhere else in Indonesia. The islands echo with the tinkle of bells, the clop clop of horse-drawn carriages and the gliding of bicycles wheels on sandy lanes.  

The busiest island, and the most touristy one, Gili Trawangan, has enough facilities to accommodate the 150 guests. If you want to party, by all means, choose the east and west sides of the island, replete with homestays, bars, restaurants and hotels. And if you want peace (and I do), there is plenty of delightful accomodation in the centre, far from the madding crowd. For total tropical paradise and for sauntering down the the beach and snorkel with turtles (a moment of utter wonderment), Gili Air and Gili Meno are tops. 

This is not just the most beautiful wedding I have ever seen, on the sunset beach with Bali's Mount Agung against amber skies, it's a joyful, fun and relaxed feet-in-the-sand celebration among quite an international and colourful crowd. I meet a pearl-diver with a kind sense of humour and an archetypical Aussie accent and his bubbly yoga teacher wife, an Australian Balinese princess, a big-hearted Maori couple, another from the US, relatives of Bobby's from Java, Carmen's 'rellies' from Australia and a gaggle of South-African gentlemen firmly ensconced by the open bar when I go there for a white wine refill. 

Traditional drummers set the initial tone for a multi-religious celebration, Hindu, Christian and Moslem.  When I leave, a bit unsteady on my feet (the white wine) around 1am, yelps of glee and the sound of rock and pop classics fade away slowly in the peace of the night. 

Carmen and Bobby's friend, Neil, in the most hilarious (slightly tipsy) speech celebrates how 'these guys can make anything happen, make the impossible possible'. And they do. With care, heart, and a keen sense of detail.

They planned the wedding themselves, with the help of Eira (below) and Carmen is thinking of starting a business organising Gili/Bali weddings. They can only be unforgettable. The link below gives you an idea of what they can do...

https://gili-islandswedding.com

Back to Saba for a few days and for the full moon, a traditional time for a cleansing ritual. We head off, Jecko, Rama, Stefan, Dewi and I to a little temple by Ubud, where there is not the ghost of a single tourist and nobody local either. I'm loath to give its name but this blog isn't read by many so there isn't much chance of hordes descending on Suradayu, a humble place of worship, at the bottom of a valley lined with terraces, where a clean well sings. Like all Bali temples, its walls are of warm ochre, topped by intricately sculpted dark grey stone and statues. Sarongs are worn, Canang saris are deposited, incense is lit and we immerse in the clear, cold waters to clear off the past.

On the return trip, we sing along to a classic rock play-list. I feel part of the family and tell Dewi so. 'Of course!', she smiles. It's heart-warming. When one travels, not to feel like an outsider is to be treasured.

A word about Bali traffic. It's never fast : dogs will cross the road just under your wheels, chicken will chase each other across, ducklings will waddle through, motorbikes will zoom past, right, left and centre. like a swarm of hornets There will be potholes. Angels are kept on their little winged toes to keep everyone safe.

Below : my route around Bali for the month. 

Even angels fail and, in Sideman, my next stop, I meet one French lady with crutches. Another one has a leg decorated with a number of dressings. They both limp. Motorcycle/scooter accidents. That comforts me in my resolution not to rent one of those vehicles. This really is not the place to start using one. 

Sideman lies in the hills, where farmers still use traditional methods for market gardening and the production of rice. In Bali, everything grows well and fast in the rich volcanic soil. This village feels prosperous, clean, sorted, rich of its own life : silversmiths produce unique jewellery, weavers make cotton cloth threaded with gold, kids in uniform walk back from a cheerfully painted school, protected by Ganesha, market stalls do a steady trade. 

My days follow a routine... walks in the coolness of dawn, breakfast with pancakes, fruit salad and Bali coffee, duo lingo lessons, diary and reflecting where my steps will lead me next. As the sun reaches a hot peak, my main focus is finding a place with a swimming-pool. Now, there's a tip : I only can afford a modest homestay but hotels will let you use their pool if you order a drink and even offer you fluffy towels. Not so in more touristy places, mind.

After a nasi goreng or a mie goreng (fried rice and fried noodles, cheap, staple food)and a 'kecil bintang' (small beer) in a local joint, I try my hand at weaving (2 mm progress in one hour, really not for me) or the making of Canang sari (see above). When I leave Milla homestay, named after the young lady below, I know everybody in the family and the goodbyes are heartfelt. 

A note about Balinese names... children are named in order of appearance in the family. Gede, Putu, Wayan, are first born, Kadek is the second, Komang, Nyoman, the third, Ketut is number 4. A bit anonymous, wouldn't you say? Ah but another, individual, note is added : for instance, my friend Ketut is also named Apel because he was the apple of his parents' eyes.

Sideman is a genuine place that hasn't yet been too invaded by tourism. Thank you, Gwendoline! It was a good tip. Mount Batur is nearby and those more dynamic than me tackle its slopes to watch the sunrise. It does look steep.

While traveling, I keep my ear to the ground, keen to follow informed advice. Dewi, who does know me well, has suggested a visit to Jero Mangku Yudi, chef and creator of Dapur Bali Mula (the traditional Bali kitchen) and high priest of the village of Les, on the north coast. I believe this needs another blog as there is only so much I can write in this already pretty dense account.

I heard a lot about Lovina and most of it not so good. Situated plumb in the middle of the long north coast, it is the first place in Bali that was developed for tourism and it has a grabby reputation. I have chosen a homestay for a night near Aling Aling waterfall ( It is stunning and well worth the hike if you go early in the morning before the paths get trampled) and there I have to ask, more politely than I feel, for a change of room. The only time ever in Bali and quite uncharacteristic of the usual care and kindness.

But the homestay in Lovina, with its carved painted shutters and doors, 5 minutes away from the beach, from an arak mojito under the parasol, from evening swim and dolphin trip, is an utter Balinese delight. Komang, the owner, tells me how he had to sell everything during covid and live on his savings and how slowly tourism is starting again. I heard that already from Yohan, owner of Absolute villas in the centre of Gili Trawangan, who started to build his hotel in 2017. Then came the big earthquake in 2018 that destroyed just about everything. 2019 was a busy season and then Covid hit. Pretty discouraged, he wonders if he'll be able to continue. Kadek, the lovely lady of Tiara homestay in Pemuteran where I head to next, had to work on a farm with her husband during the pandemic in order to survive. They joke that they got much thinner and fitter. People who were very poor had help from the Indonesian government but not for those owning a car, a hotel and considered rich enough, even though tourism, non existent during covid, was their only source of income. 

A word about Lovina dolphin trips. They're ridiculously busy and I was feeling for the poor animals, surrounded by boats zooming to where they were frolicking. However, our very cool skipper, reggae guitar player and singer, was just skirting respectfully and it was magic... 

The Bali north coast is very dry. On the long drive to Pemuteran, I spy many empty riverbeds. There is water from the mountains, though but, ah! I understand! It is diverted in irrigation channels, called subak, for rice paddies, for drinking water, for market gardening. All over Bali, in ditches along the streets of villages, water gurgles freely and happily.

So, in Pemuteran, I meet again Kadek and Gede (yes, number 2 and number 1) who had two more little girls since BC.

The two new villas in their homestay have air-conditioning, a must as this already dry coast is suffering from a heat-wave. 'Panas, panas'(hot, hot), a toothless old man tells me as I amble past him on dusty back lanes. 

Every day, I pass a mynah in his cage who greets me with a bird rendition of the traditional greeting in Balinese: 'om swastiastu'. 

Every day, I trudge up the hill for the slow explosion of sunrise over the sea.

Every day, I search for a farniente-worthy place. 

Every day is a joy.

I become a regular at multi-starred Pondok Sari hotel, where, for a coffee or a smoothie, the swimming-pool and beach sun beds beckon. A waiter with a sense of humour at one of the little warungs where I eat dinner, gives me an alternative reply to the usual 'Apa kabar?' (how are you) greeting. I try 'Masi hidup' (still alive) on a very serious Pondok Sari head honcho behind his desk. He laughs so hard I promise myself I'll try that one again. 

Before this trip, I decided I would treat myself to a special weekly outing and I can't resist a snorkelling expedition to Menjangan island, an hour chug-chug-chug boat ride from Pemuteran. A protected national park, it is an enchanting small green dot on emerald seas, surrounded by a pristine reef. It warms my heart to report here that I have never seen so much fish and so many corals, even healthier than last time, in 2019. I find Nemo, hidden in an anemone. A green turtle glides past. The small boat contingent (all French : they've all suddenly come out of the woodwork from Sideman onwards) is silent with wonder on the sail back.

I wish to spend a bit of time reconnecting with Apel's family and he's so happy of my wish to stay in his village that he finds a room for me a few hundred metres from his house. Eling guest house in Kemenuh is new, comfy, has air-conditioning and isn't in booking.com or on any platform. It's also in the middle of of the most lush, most verdant, rice paddies. So, every evening, it's mosquito repellent time. There is a kitchen and a communal table made from an enormous plank of teak. What a magnificent tree if would have been... Because I'm on my own, the owner leaves with me a half-wild dog who had her puppies under the banana tree. She doesn't let herself be touched but every time I appear, she pads towards me and stands watch. Bless her. 

Apel is a very talented carver and those three days are under the sign of traditional sculpting. Sumampan/Kemenuh is home to well-respected artist collectives : at Gunung Sari, a young man, whose favourite goddess is Suraswati, the goddess of education, is keen to instruct me on the different kinds of wood used in their workshop : crocodile wood, indigenous to Bali, a soft, clear wood, with a bark like a crocodile skin, ebony from Africa, very expensive and often replaced by ebony from Borneo, mahogany, bi-coloured yellow-flower hibiscus wood. I admire a fragrant head of Buddha carved into warm ochre sandalwood. 

                                                                                            At Gunung Sari

I'm lent a bike and, discover Sumampan waterfall, churny and muddy from recent rains on mount Batur and feel part of the community, greeting people as I cycle past. Apel and Wiwik, his wife, invite me to a restaurant. I will be taken to a local shop for a couple of sarongs, to local warungs, introduced to his neighbour, Mangku (a priest) with whose children I spend a couple of fun, shrieky, giggly hours in the pool of Apel's new house, which he built during Covid. 

Thank you, Apel, Wiwik, for giving me a real sense of the rich, friendly, welcoming, close-knit, Bali community.

Time for goodbyes... and Sanur, with its long golden sand beach, the surf breaking in the distance on a reef, its new promenade, its fancy sea front hotels, its surfing schools and avocado and egg breakfast specials is probably the best transition between Bali and Australia.

It's only a 30 minutes drive from the airport where my flight to Darwin awaits. On the last day, I wander to the beach where the sun rises golden in a cloudy sky, wooden boats like pond skaters on still waters.

Grace, kindness, care, openness, harmony, may you stay with me.

Tips :

To go around Bali, use the Gojek and Grab apps. It offers rides at the back of a motorcycle and cheaper taxis. In more remote communities, this is not possible and you really want to give local people a chance. Try and share a ride with other travellers for a cheaper fare. 

In Gili Trawangan, Absolute villas, plumb in the centre and within walking or cycling distance from everything, is quiet, very reasonably priced, with a a beautiful pool and sustainable ethics, though ecology-aware customers have complained about the absence of toilet paper. There is no problem using the traditional Indonesian water spout to clean oneself and a few more trees still standing. Yohan is a professional diver so follow his advice for swimming with turtles. He knows good people.

Pantai Karang in Gili, beautiful, comfy, friendly, with a small pool and really close to the less busy north coast of Gili T.

Milla homestay in Sideman, a simple, welcoming, weavers' place, offers weaving lessons, traditional Balinese massage and the making of Canang Sari.

Krishna cottages in Sideman, is a bit more pricy but will let you wander in and use its pool, situated in a lush, landscaped garden where you can lounge and enjoy the best food I have eaten in Sideman.

Kubu Elsa Bali in Lovina. Very Balinese in its decoration of sculpted painted shutters and doors, has a big pool and is only 5 minutes from the beach. 

Tiara homestay in Pemuteran. Harmonious, comfortable and welcoming, a bit on the edge of town, in agricultural surroundings but within walking distance of everything. They will organise trips to Menjangan island and have an excellent contact for Balinese massage.

Eling guest guest house in Kemenuh Sumampan. Perfect location if you want to enjoy life in a village community and, if it is what rocks your boat, only a 30 minutes motorbike ride from Ubud, its yoga classes, gurus, shops and western restaurants, without actually being in it. 

Apel's smiling Buddha