Before the Bombs - there was Bali

It seems since my time in Paradise, I've run into a little string of bad luck. Friday, the bombs went off at the Ritz and Marriott here in Jakarta, and thus far all the experts are pointing to Jemah Islamiah, a terrorist group with a long list of past episodes here in the country, including past bombing in Jakarta and Bali which together have killed hundreds. By all accounts, since the last major terrorist incidents in 2005, Jakarta has seen massive upturns in security operations, and has by and large gained a reputation as being fairly stable 10 years after the birth of its democracy. Not anymore. I had some trouble getting in touch with the Canadian Embassy here (something, unfortunately, that would play out again when I tried to get Swine Flu information from Foreign Affairs) but luckily the UN took care of us well, and it appears that the situation in the capital has stabilized four days later. I haven't been out much (as I will explain), but when I have, I will admit I leave my apartment with a fair bit more caution and hesitation; the UN advises against going to all places frequented by foreigners, which means changes for my own arrangements.

Luckily, I haven't had much time to feel the trepidation. From Saturday to Tuesday, or so the doctor told me today, I've been suffering likely from a flu, combined with having had some bad food somewhere on Friday or Saturday. Needless to say, the only trips I made out were to get Gatorade and Pocari Sweat (not an attractive name, but a popular local ion drink) and to see the MD. And I have to admit that Canadian Foreign Affairs was really no help in providing info about swine flu - for that I had to look up the British NHS (the Brits always seem to have the "make the information accessible" thing figured out). Wasn't a fun time - though not having swine flu was a real bonus. Made it back to work by Wednesday, but since then my internet at home has been down.

But I can tell you what is fun - Bali. Hands down, one of the most fascinating Island paradises I have been. The island attracts thousands (probably millions) of visitors per year, and the funny thing is that different parts of the island have definitely grown their own unique "tourist" identities. Bali, I like to think, has a little bit of everything.

I started out for Bali on July 9, and was graciously hosted by Roger Galbraith and Elaine Lehto (parents of my dear good friend Evan) on the southeast side of the Island at Sanur Beach. The Galbraiths were there on a Queen's university reunion, with friends from Ottawa, St. John's, and Jakarta - all great people. It was nice having some Canadians around to catch up on the Dany Heatley saga, to talk law (with an Osgoode Grad, who knows one of the guys I studying in England with from MUN), and to share insight into about Indonesia (and to learn alot more about Evan, most of which I'm sure he would cease talking to me if I were to put it up here). The hotel I stayed at was right on the water, and was fantastic. My insight on this was probably coloured by the fact that for the first time since I arrived in May, I had BACON! Not "bacon" like they serve here in Jakarta (which, in fact, is beef jerky) but real, artery clogging bacon. I couldn't order the club sandwiches fast enough.

But Bacon was just one of the perks of being on the mainly Hindu island of Bali, where the culture and practice seemed vastly different from what I have experienced in Java thus far. I immediately noticed how clean the air tasted, and could actually tell that I wasn't hearing calls to prayer throughout the days I was there. Funny how those things start to synch up in your psyche until you notice when they are missing.

I spent three full days with the Queens crew, and was fortunate to travel with them down to Uluwatu Temple (the temple on the cliffs) where the raging macaques are known to steal your things, and the "cliff retrievers" will go and get them back - for a price. From our group, $50 got 2 pairs of prescription glasses back after the little fleabags stole them. I also was able to travel for a day to a little private, white sand beach that barely anyone knows about, near Candi Dasa (up the East Coast). This little place has a white sand beach, the length of a football field, and a couple of locals have set up huts where you can buy food and drink, rent chairs, and snorkeling gear for next to nothing. We took to the clear blue water, and swam out about 10 meters to the reef there and explored - perfect, undamaged marine life there - complete with a couple of sea turtles meandering by. And off in the distance, the mountainous islands of Lombok! Talk about postcard picture.

The nights over at Sanur were an experience as well. The place tends to be a little more highscale and quiet, and the pace of life slow on that side of the island, but as I took walks and explored the place on my own at night, I was alerted to the other side of Bali. Walking down the street, cabbie after cabbie would slow down, roll down the windows, and something roughly like this conversation would take place:

Cabbie: Taxi?
Me: No, thank you.
Cabbie: Girls?
Me: No, that's great thank you.
Cabbie: Pretty girls? Young - I have young too? They know many, many things.
Me: ...I need an adult!

Ok, so that last part was more like a wave off and keep walking, but you get the point. These continued all through the streets, until I decided to just take refuge in the hotel grounds every night.

On Sunday night, the Queen's crew headed off to Lombok, and I took off to Kuta Beach, directly across from Sanur on the Southwest side of the island. Going from Sanur to Kuta is like 0 to 60 in 2 seconds. There is a Ralph Lauren shop (buy 2 - 30% off!) every 10 minutes as you walk, a myriad of market stalls, every second person offers you "transport?" on the street, and you can get a full body massage on every street (quite nice, actually). The place also happens to be the Australian playground for young jocks and hippies alike, and the place is always brimming with life (one of the big clubs, shaped like a pirate ship, only stops serving at 6am). But its a chaotic set-up. The main streets have high walls, and if you get into them, you step into a real-life maze! Luckily I got my bearings quickly.

My first couple days in Kuta, I toured around on foot, made sure I got my "Western" food in and sampled the local brew. On the Tuesday, I put up for some Surf lessons, and I am proud to say, they held fast to their guarantee to have me surfing by the end of my first lesson (pretty fun - I definitely recommend giving it a shot). I also met an English guy taking surfing lessons too, who was halfway through a world-wide tour on his way down to Australia. Pretty good guy, we ended up checking out some of the Kuta nightlife that night (really puts any Canadian nightlife to shame, really... though by now the novelty of Indonesian cover bands playing 80s hits had already long wore off for me) and did a quick tour up to the Sacred Monkey Forest and Tanah Lot (the Temple in the Sea) the next day before I had to head back to Jakarta that night.

All in all, there is something about Bali that makes you leave fully refreshed and recharged. Touring the Hiindu temples, talking to locals about culture and traditional practice, and trying to wrap your head around a place that revolves almost exclusively on tourist dollars coming in can be mindboggling.

Unfortunately, even in Kuta I was reminded of the viciousness and the unseen victims of terrorist attacks here in Indonesia. On one of Kuta's main streets there is a memorial right in the nightlife district for the victims of the 2002 bombings which killed 200+ people out on the town, naming each fatality - including 2 Canadians. I remember I was somewhat daunted going past one of the main target bars, which has long since reopened. What struck me most though was talking to my tour guide on the Wednesday before I left, when he said the tourist industry still hadn't recovered and there still wasn't the same money coming in to Bali anymore to give people jobs. With last week's bombings, I can't help but feel that they are bracing for another downturn in Bali, especially considering the Australian government's "Do Not Travel" warning now put out.

To end on a lighter note, I did have an interesting run in with a prostitute on a motorbike, but I think I’ll save that tidbit for offline sharing.

Cheers for now,

Marc

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