bali

After having left the never ending parties at Kuta, Daren and I headed west, towards Cekik, were a ferry would take us to Java in about 4 days time. This was difficult as Bali is a nice place to be. The villages we had left behind consisted of small brick houses with red roofs. The streets were filled with small stalls, selling food and anything and everything. Often the roads were lined with palmtrees or flowery bushes and as we rode by, we could see the people working the ricefields under huge strawhats.

This particular evening we stopped in a small hotel in the middle of the rice terraces. Infront of us they were streching down towards the sea and behind us, back up towards the vulcanoes that are towering over Bali.

  As night fell we watched the geckos on the ceiling, chasing insects all upside down. We could hear chanting and drumming, storytelling and bells from an ongoing hindu ceremony in a temple across the field.  We felt really lucky but actually amongst all the hustle and bustle of Bali there are plenty of old hindu temples. They are in the villages, in the bright green rice fields, along the roadsides and, most beautiful, by the sea on high cliffs.

We visited several: Staircases guarded by dragons or crockodiles (or elephants with big teeth?) lead us through a gate, framed by high towers. More staircases lead up to heavy wooden doors in which figures with animalistic heads seemed to dance and laugh amongst intricate flower patterns.

Above the doors sat another guardian. He had sharp teeth, like fangs, a large nose and spirally eyes, bulging out of his head. He would ward off evil spirtis. This tempel is sacred and we couldn't enter the main room. However the tempel was surrounded by yards and gardens, full of smaller towers and tables/seating areas with high roofs layered towards the sky. Many more statues stood amongst beautifull flowers and trees, guarding  the complex or showing bits of ancient history. All of them were protected against the sun by delicate Yellow and white silk umbrellas and scarves. A heavy smell of flowers and incense from offerings lingered in the air and whilst we were there, a man, all dressed in white, sat in the middle of the yard, infront of the main temple ringing a little bell from time to time.

These temples are built for meditation and contemplation and shure enough, as you step in you are engulfed in the smells, the silence and the ancientness of it all.  The outside becomes another world and i constantly felt like sitting just a little longer.

But that wouldn't have gotten us to Medewi beach, a layed back surfspot with perfect sunsets. And it wouldn't have gotten us to cekik were we meet two dutch women in their late 50s, doing exactly what we do, just as we'd decided we had a unique way of travelling, and lastly it wouldn't have gotten us to Java. So mental serenity, as it mostly has, had a price that we, just as we mosty wont, didn't want to pay. Were way to buisy to have any of that, and after an acceptably small amount of mental peace we headed straight on into intense heat, crowds of people and huge vulcanoes of Java.