Bali hi!

We have surfaced from Southeast Asia and have crawled ashore on Bali.

We were in mid-winter in Southeast Asia and the weather was very warm and dry but the temperatures were just shy of unbearable.  Somehow or other we crossed the equator and arrived in Bali in mid-summer aka the rainy season.

a view of the volcano from the beach near our hotel

This is the slow season in Bali for a couple of reasons.  When I mean slow I am not referring to the pace which Balinese move.  I don’t think I have seen people who move slower.  It is like all the turtles that died got reincarnated as Balinese. 

The first reason is that the majority of their tourist comes from Australia.  Australia is just heading into summertime so no one has a reason to come to Bali.  How many people go to Hawaii or Mexico from Canada in mid-summer?  None of the sane ones do.

The second reason is the humidity. This explains both the slowness of the business and slowness of the locals. The boundary between the ocean and the air is a bit blurred right now.  I think I saw a Russian submarine drifting above the hotel two nights ago but it was New Year’s Eve, so I am not 100% sure.  One of the things about humidity is that it is a very small step from water in the atmosphere to water falling from the atmosphere.  You go from feeling wet and sticky to being just plain wet very quickly.  We have had thunderstorms daily and they are spectacular.  There is lightning followed by thunder with no perceptible gap.  I think that means the lightning is right here, right now which is NOT a comfortable thought.

The Rain in Bali.  This is the road outside our hotel.  Notice Telen's feet are not visible.

High humidity brings other problems.   They are called flies.  These flies are not biters. They are annoyers.  They land on you in tickly little flocks and, I think, drink your sweat.  Unlike mosquitoes, which love Telen, these flies seem attracted to me. Flies love the smell of excrement or dead meat.  So the flies are both annoying and very uncomplimentary.

I am mourning the loss of my newfound sexiness.  In Southeast Asia women found me to be attractive.  No one really knows why.  Research is being done.  Here in Bali I am just one of a myriad of old, overweight westerners.  It is demoralizing when you discover that your attractiveness is no longer to women but to flies.

Our first experience with the beach here was not good.  The water was full of garbage.  It was mostly plastic bags but Telen did come across the seat from a car.  The water here is almost body-temperature and to have plastic bags with undisclosed content floating by is just creepy. Apparently during the rainy season garbage come down the river and empties into the ocean and, if the current is right, it drifts to the beaches.  After that I was thinking that we might change our plans but I was willing to give it another try.

Our first visit to the beach.  There is lots more of this in the water.

The next day, when we went to the beach, it was immaculate.  I am not sure how.  The water was clean and the jetsam on the beach was gone.  I have this image in my mind of a horde of Balinese sweeping along the beach picking up all the garbage and hauling it to the dump up the river… 

Bali is one of the richest provinces in Indonesia thanks to tourism.  It is certainly a contrast to Southeast Asia.  In Southeast Asia it was rare to see anyone who was overweight – other than myself, of course.  Here it is not as common as in Canada, but it happens.  We also see people wearing glasses and having braces on their teeth.  Both of those things are way too expensive for people in SE.

Balinese people are very warm and friendly.  They always want to chat with you and one of the first question is “where are you from?” and second one is “how many children do you have?”  They ask questions that we, in our cool and distant society, would consider invasive.  They do it with such charming smiles and such warmth that it feels more like they want you to be their friend rather than being nosy.  They don’t seem to put on a façade like we do at home.  They let you know how they feel rather than pretend everything is “just fine, thank you”.

At the New Years party, put on by the hotel, the staff was having a better time than the guest.  All of us stiff westerners were sitting properly in our chairs trying to loosen up by drinking loads of booze. In contrast the hotel staff were singing and laughing and “groovin’” to the music.  They were relaxed, sober and unselfconscious and very obviously enjoying themselves.

A young soft-spoken Scot that we met, named David, asked the band if he could play some music with them.  I thought, “Oh great – someone who thinks he is a great Karaoke singer is going to get up there and do a cringe-worthy Frank Sinatra song”.  I could not have been more wrong.  David transformed into Elvis and the audience transformed into a swarm.  The whole audience stormed the dance floor and the staff was frenziedly pulling tables back to make room.   I could see the band looking at David speculatively and thinking that maybe they should have played that kind of music initially…

So far Bali has shown us her moist side.  The humidity is high, the rains torrential and the perspiration is continuous.  The ocean is warm and wet but so is the air so there is some ambiguity about which one you are in.  However, she has also shown us a hint of her beauty as well – the lush jungle, the sandy beaches, the magical evenings and the unique culture.  The bugs, the bats, the frogs and the flowers all add a feeling of the exotic. 

Ok, maybe not the bugs – they just add a feeling of crankiness.

Telen writes:

I managed for once to stay awake for the New Year’s midnight gong because the Balinese sure knows how to celebrate.  For 2 days before New Year’s Eve, we watched workers setting up an elaborate stage near the back of the hotel dining room, along with all the special lightings and stage decorations.  The evening started off with a buffet, featuring a roasted suckling pig (an Indonesian specialty).

The Suckling Pig.  Notice the resemblance to Rand?

Then, the entertainment started.  We were treated to a number of traditional dances accompanied by a dozen musicians playing various Indonesian instruments.  I really enjoyed watching these dances even though I did not understand most of the symbolism.

Rand demonstrating how NOT to do traditional Balinese dancing.  

  Later, another band came on stage, playing western music.  The lead singer had a very beautiful voice but the songs just did not seem to arouse the audience to get up and dance…until our Scottish friend Dave played Elvis!  After midnight had arrived, we heard lots of fireworks outside.  Indeed, it lasted for a good half hour.  Apparently fireworks are very cheap here.  The locals just love them whenever there is an opportunity.  Interestingly, I read that on Bali, there is a festival or celebration almost every day somewhere on the island since there are many Gods in Hindu culture.  One of them is called Nyepi, meaning a “day of silence”.  Nyepi is the Hindu New Year, usually falls some time in March.  For 24 hours from 6 am to 6 am next day, the entire Bali population observes silence.  There will be no work, no traffic on the streets except for medical emergencies.  People would fast, meditate, and reflect.  Use of electricity is kept to a minimum.  Tourists are to stay in their hotel rooms that day.  For 2013, Nyepi will be on March 12.  Thank goodness we will be gone by then!

Good-bye to Southeast Asia

We have finished our Southeast Asia journey.  What an incredible trip!  Southeast Asia is a part of the world that blows you away with its beauty and breaks your heart with its history.  It makes you smile, makes you laugh and makes you cry.  The people are unfailingly warm and hospitable with beautiful smiles and yet some of them live in conditions that are appalling.   We walked by a store in Siem Reap and inside we could see the family sleeping on the floor yet a little girl came running to the door with a brilliant smile to say “hello”.

Laos was everyone’s favourite country.  Although it is land-locked and has no sandy beaches often associated with tropical destinations it was stunningly beautiful.  From our “cruise” down the Mekong River, to our trip through the mountains it blew us away.  The people are more laid back and it was nice to have someone wave at you from across the street just because you were there. 

Anyone know of an elephant Chiropractor

Vietnam had personality.  And coffee.  Oh…. the coffee!  Hanoi was frantic and abrasive with narrow streets and everyone loved the sounds of their horns but it was funky.  Ho Chi Minh city (aka Saigon) was having a serious identity crisis but it had great energy.  Hue and Hoi An were more laid back but still had that good ol’ ADHD feel.  Over indulgence in that incredible coffee…

The quiet streets of Hanoi (Horn oi?)

Cambodia broke my heart and healed it.  We saw beggars there for the first time and we saw sights that were incomprehensible.  We also saw the sweetest kids in the world and Angkor Thom and Angkor Wat.  We had Christmas in Siem Reap with tons of laughs and a feeling like we were amongst friends.

The incredible kids

Angkor Wat on Christmas morning

Bangkok was shabby and Thailand itself seemed tawdry compared to the rest of Southeast Asia.  Having said that, the food was marvelous!  The people?  Southeast Asian- lovely smiles and great warmth.

The standard of beauty in Southeast Asia is something that puzzles me.

 In Thailand there is the “Lady-boy” thingy.  They even have their own beauty contest.  Lady-boys confuse me.  What is their target?  I cannot be straight men – they look like women but have a penis.  Gay men?  They have a penis, but look like women.  Straight women?  Probably not – same problem.  Lesbians?  Uh, uh – the penis thingy again.  In the Thai language you have to add a word at the end of your sentence to identify your gender.  If you are a woman you finish your sentence with “Ka” and if you are a man you finish your sentence with “Kop”.  I guess gender isn’t always obvious from strictly visual clues.

Counter-intuitively women find me attractive here.  Again, this is confusing.  Where else in the world is an aging, overweight, bald man considered hot?  One of the things that seems to be considered sexy here is my pelt.  I have caught women staring at my fuzziness and, in some situations, staring is quickly followed by touching.   I am used to having my fur stared at, there is a certain horrible fascination to it, but it is more often followed by nausea rather than touching.

Petting the Neanderthal - a favourite pass-time in SE

Having said that, it is common to see very attractive young Southeast Asian women in the company of old western men.  This is, I think, a good thing.  It works for both parties.  The women are looking for someone with money to look after them and their potential off-springs whereas the man is looking for someone who is devoted to them and will look after them as well.  Apparently having “white” babies is a very good thing.  It was interesting to see how even hardened security guards, customs officers and police will stop and make goo-goo eyes and smiles at white babies

You cannot talk about Southeast Asia without talking about Buddhism and War.

Buddhism is an integral part of the society.  It seems reminiscent of Europe during Medieval times where the Christian church had so much presence that it figured into everything that people thought and did.  Buddhism seems to have that same presence there.  When I spoke to other amateur artists they were all very keen to draw or paint Buddha and that seemed to be their only subject.

I told them, “No!  I will not pose for you!”

Buddhism does not seem to have the power structure that the Christian church does.  There are no huge hierarchies or attempts to control the population.  The monks go into the monasteries voluntarily and can stay as long as they want and can leave any time they wish. 

Buddhism, to me, seems to make the most sense of any religion in the world today.  It seems more like a philosophy where the goal is enlightenment.  However, like all religions, people use it for their own ends.  

Buddhism today is, I think, not exactly how Buddha wanted

The people of Southeast Asia are not warlike. They have been victims of the “Game of Thrones” indulged in by America, China and Russia.  I think the sculpture in the center of Phnom Penh of the gun with the barrel tied in a knot says it all.  So many people have died horrible deaths there from the interference of the aforementioned power-hungry countries and continue to do so thanks to unexploded bombs and crushing poverty.   These are not soldiers but are innocent victims like women, children and non-combatants. 

Lack of education, corruption and poverty plague these countries.  They are all interlinked.  Education is supposedly free but because the teachers are paid so little you have to pay for each of the lessons and you cannot pass unless you pay again.  For people that have little enough it becomes a terrible burden and often that expense becomes secondary to food.  It is not uncommon to see new cars driving around but apparently those belong to government officials who get paid huge amounts of money and drain off extra as well.

My mind keeps returning to my little sweetie in the village and I wonder what her life holds for her.  Is she going to end up worn out and worn down like the ladies in the village - looking 70 years old when she is 40? 

I keep wondering what I can do to make her life better.

Telen Writes

Visiting 4 countries i.e. Thailand, Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia in a month has been an intense cultural experience for me.  Unlike Rand, my genetic makeup means that I blend in easily with the locals until I start to speak.  I therefore was not as “popular” with the locals, especially the women, as Rand.

Having seen the devastations in SE Asia from wars, colonialism and political conflicts, I conclude that all people want in life is to live in harmony with each other.  Wars such as the Vietnam War and the Pol Pot regime did more destructions than good.  The gentle and kind spirits of the people in these countries impress me.

The culinary experience has been most flavorful.  Having taken a Thai cooking class in Bangkok and a Vietnamese cooking class in Hoi An, we now are more confident to prepare our own Thai and Vietnamese dishes at home.  The food has been delicious.  A lot of the ingredients are produced and purchased locally, and this means FRESH.  Rand and I both feel trimmer in spite of never having missed a meal.

Sharing Christmas dinner in Siem Reap, Cambodia with 13 other group members was a lot of fun and filled with international goodwill.  I am not sure how but there was a roasted turkey, cooked to perfection.   We even had a “secret Santa” gift exchange.  I certainly felt blessed.

Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia are developing nations, with the usual issues such as illiteracy, lack of clean water, high infant mortality rate etc.  I certainly witnessed some of these issues in the villages we visited.   Yet, the cultures are rich and I sense a pride in the people.

We have just arrived in Bali now to “chill out” and to reflect on our fascinating experience.