2022
Made it! Back in Bali!
22 October 2022
I’m here! A little dazed by the contradictory feelings of unreality and familiarity! Slowly taking it in that I really am here again, amidst the frangipani trees, with all the sights, smells and sounds (tweeting birds and the occasional roar of a motor bike at this early hour). Fittingly, I am taking up exactly where I left off - at Peneeda View Hotel, the place I spent my last couple of days in Bali in 2019. It’s slightly “sad and tired” after the Covid years but its rice barn-shaped bungalows with modern interiors decorated with a collection of basketry, suit me just fine. A warm welcome from Pak Kaji with whom I have been communicating. (BTW, it is always better to go directly through the hotel email when booking, not via Booking.com - the hotel gets the full amount and charges the proper rate and one can establish a personal connection with the reservations guy.) There are a few guests here but it’s far from full - and they have lost most of their magnificent collection of musical instruments, now donated to Bali’s music school.
Liz is very excited to be back too - has a long connection with Indonesia through her legal aid work with refugees, but this is her first Writers Festival. She is an Indonesian speaker too.
Was a long day’s flying yesterday – the day not all spent in the actual plane! 5 km of walking in airports clocked up on my phone app - and that does not count the two hours of standing at Sydney Airport and 1.5 in Bali’s cavernous terminal, with its four separate queues. So much for the special over-60s/disabled Immigration queue. There were so many “priority” passengers who’d paid for a fast run through, as well as crowds of other young people (??) that it took 45 mins to get through that queue! But something to be grateful for - in Sydney after an hour and a half in the Garuda check-in queue, an officer in Security saw me staggering - (or perhaps it was the look of horror and exhaustion on my face when I saw the length of the queues there) and steered me and Liz into the fast queue reserved for airline personnel. What a relief! But I must note, for those following my physiotherapy saga, that all these months of exercises (read “torture” - strapped to the rack with 6 kilo weights attached to limbs) have paid off in that I coped much better with all the standing than I have in the past!
Wonderful reunion with Pam and Roger from Hobart last night (guess where they too are heading?) - the first G and Ts of the trip, then a sunset kilometre stroll down the coast path to a favourite restaurant right on the water under the magical shapes of ancient frangipani trees. We all chose ikan bakar- crunchy grilled fish with Balinese sambal. Perfect reintroduction to the local cuisine. Crowds of tourists in all the places we passed, both at the five-star hotels’ dining areas and the ones on the beach. It’s as if the last two years did not happen. But if one asks the Balinese one meets, the stories are very sad.
Was a long day’s flying yesterday – the day not all spent in the actual plane! 5 km of walking in airports clocked up on my phone app - and that does not count the two hours of standing at Sydney Airport and 1.5 in Bali’s cavernous terminal, with its four separate queues. So much for the special over-60s/disabled Immigration queue. There were so many “priority” passengers who’d paid for a fast run through, as well as crowds of other young people (??) that it took 45 mins to get through that queue! But something to be grateful for - in Sydney after an hour and a half in the Garuda check-in queue, an officer in Security saw me staggering - (or perhaps it was the look of horror and exhaustion on my face when I saw the length of the queues there) and steered me and Liz into the fast queue reserved for airline personnel. What a relief! But I must note, for those following my physiotherapy saga, that all these months of exercises (read “torture” - strapped to the rack with 6 kilo weights attached to limbs) have paid off in that I coped much better with all the standing than I have in the past!
Wonderful reunion with Pam and Roger from Hobart last night (guess where they too are heading?) - the first G and Ts of the trip, then a sunset kilometre stroll down the coast path to a favourite restaurant right on the water under the magical shapes of ancient frangipani trees. We all chose ikan bakar- crunchy grilled fish with Balinese sambal. Perfect reintroduction to the local cuisine. Crowds of tourists in all the places we passed, both at the five-star hotels’ dining areas and the ones on the beach. It’s as if the last two years did not happen. But if one asks the Balinese one meets, the stories are very sad.
The sun is shining this morning but the weather forecast predicts 80-100% chance of rain every day in Ubud over the coming week. Lakes and landslides all over town last week. A friend of Josh’s sent this photo of Ubud. Could be very difficult to negotiate the festival under such conditions - hoping for the best.......
Later: Spent the morning walking along the coastal path in shimmering sunshine - then in the pool.
Gunung Agung is peeking through the clouds just under the tree branch
Gunung Agung is peeking through the clouds just under the tree branch
On the Sanur coastal path - a shaded part. With the inevitable Bali dog.
Now it’s time for lunch - not yet noon but my tummy says it’s 3 pm and I only had this glorious plate of fruit for brekky.
Greetings to all from Paradise!