Lovina

After all it was a real little adventure. First I parked the jeep in a one meter deep whole beside the street. The car got stuck, wheels smoking when trying to get out backwards. Forward then was possible with Les instructing me how far I could go so that the other wheels didn’t get into it too. The way to Lovina then led over a steep pass coiling its way through narrow bends winding themselves around the central mountains laden with huge clouds. It was rather cold and grey. After a stop at the twin-waterfalls of Gitgit we arrived at the tranquil fishing village situated at the base of the mountain range. There was a beautiful sunset we could watch from the terrace of our cottage. Seven o’clock Sunday morning at the foggy palm fringed shoreline of endless green with its tranquil fishermen huts remembered me very much my first trip to South Thailand, when I went to that deserted island where I had been so frightened that time. We got onto a fishermen’s boat and left the black volcanic beach to see the dolphins. They were many but they didn’t jump much. So photos are very limited. But it was a nice experience to see them appearing on the calm sea and diving into the glassy water again, to hear them breath.

On the way back we were talking about the police and right away I was stopped by them because I turned right from the left trace (there were virtually no traffic signs or cars). He asked me a fine of 55.000 Rupiah. I told him that I know that even the red light is only 36. He said we were talking about the penalties for cars. I said I was doing so, too. Then he claimed that it would be more expensive in Singaraja than in Denpasar. I told him that I was a student at the “renowed” Universitas Udayana and tried to manage everything in Bahasa Indonesia - that works mostly. But he was persistent. So I asked a receipt. He said he didn’t have one. So I gave him 25 and said that it should be enough. “Okay Chris … then I have to confiscate the registration papers”, “Common, you can’t do that, Pak!”, “Ya, because you make trouble! We are an area of good traffic, you know”, “Okay, see, I made a mistake, so I have a problem. You don’t have a receipt for me, so you have a problem. Now, I won’t ask a receipt anymore and give you these 25 here, partisipasi, good for you and good for me! What do you think?” then he did what they always do, a little-lost, embarrassed smile, a few seconds of thinking about it, pretending it would not always be like that, and then big smile and “Okay, no problem, Chris, because you’re reasonable. Be careful driving, ya.” The corruption index of Transparency International ranks the country on position 133.

Driving home again led over the impressive pass, cool highlands, a “Stroberi Stop” café and plantation offering everything made of strawberries, Balinese villages on the mountain slopes and impressive views over rice fields, including risky traffic and the yellow reddish sunlight of a tired but satisfactory Sunday evening.

Paradise ill-tempered

A bad mood settles my mind already for a week. It began with my refusal of giving one of the beach-boys 10,000 Rupiah (which is around 90 Euro Cent) so that he could buy food. I did that because I was asked for money several times and was fed up. Later on I felt reluctant towards myself. Then my sandal broke, what constituted the final “killer” of day. It all made me angry, sad, unbalanced. Lesna rescued me that evening. We went out for eat (the bill was six times what the boy had asked) instead of me writing on an assignment. Also my health is not so fine these days. The Dukun, the traditional spiritual healer, had seen that I am suffering from something like an allergy against wind and cold. She told me what to eat and what not, to close the window of the car, not to use the aircon or fan, keep away from wind and so on. Also I was forbidden to surf. But I can’t let it. Bought a wetsuit. And it keeps very warm. Although the water is now rather cold you feel like sitting in a cup of black hot tea. I rode some incredible, beautiful waves this morning (first time with my hand brushing against the (small) wall), but yet I am sitting on my terrace now and feel somehow depressed. Soon is my birthday and I would like to see my family and friends. But I won’t. I don’t know what’s up exactly. Probably a cultural-shock down. Relating to the curve that psychologists have developed for this phenomenon it is now, after almost four months abroad, the right time for it occurring. And it is the wrong time for it occurring due to the fact that in one and a half week I have to go through six examinations. Tomorrow we are going to the north shore for the weekend in order to relax and to see the dolphins.

I didn’t find the boy on the beach. Yesterday then I met him exactly at the place my sandal broke. I gave him the money and we had a can of juice. He was happy. And me too.

Good to know ...

...finally that taking a photo with a professional digital camera in RAW format is much better than the largest JPG format! Shit. I will keep in mind for the future.


an impression from the way to Goa Gaja – a happy Buddha on the Hindu Brahman island

Days go by

Staying in Bali has already become something normal. Nevertheless there are always moments that remember me what a great place this is to stay at. The singing of birds, the colourful flowers, wind letting the palm-leafs rustle, the roaring of the surf, the easiness of the people, their smile, the smell of food, the sun at the beach and the rainforest in the mountains, and also the bustling life at that artificial tourist destination within the nature of this island. All those things make it the ideal place for life. The question remains how to get here with the objective to stay for long? Probably I will have to take the roundabout way via Vietnam or another place to stay at and work for my goal. I am leaving soon – on 20th of July. New challenges are awaiting me there, but I know I will miss Bali. Days go by and there is not much news to post. It’s those small things that make life here so good. For example that time here passes slower and that one does less forget about things which are really important in life.


A friend or just somebody who likes ‘AQUA’ bottles?

I spend much of my leisure time with Lesna. She is really a friend. Last two weekends we have been to Ubud, the monkey forest and to the Goa Gaja cave. Ubud is a handicraft village in the mountainous area around 45 minutes off the coast. The atmosphere here is very laid-back and it’s all green around. So is the monkey forest nearby. Fortunately its inhabitants are not as aggressive as the trained tourist rip off primates at Uluwatu, which had destroyed my glasses two months ago. Here they are just interested in making new friends or in plastic bottles. Goa Gaja, a few minutes from Ubud by car, is a cave that you enter through the mouth of a giant stone-carved demon. Its origins are unknown and the atmosphere in the rainforest on that cloudy day was somehow strange. We strolled along a small jungle path and washed our faces in springs of which the water is said to bring eternal youth. I am still not healthy and hope that it is true. This weekend I will go to the Dukun, a traditional healer. Maybe the woman can help me. I also met an acquaintance from Vietnam here. Several times I have visited Jens, a professor whom I had met in Hanoi last year, and his family at their villa in Sanur. They are really interesting, nice people. And the result of our meetings was that now we are commonly working out something on label designs for jam glasses for their upmarket brand. I am out very little. Do not really do a lot these days. But although it all got very much of every day life I enjoy the special quality of that place so much. And besides all these little pleasures, almost every day you have to grin on one of those typical “Asian” curiosities. For example this: I overtook this office-chair-scooter on the way from school and was so happy that I got into a small traffic jam so that I could overtake it again and take this snapshot of it. There are much more funny things here and I am thinking about to make a list or snapshot series to post here.


office-chair on the fast track