A Bali Story...


I first heard that Bali might be the island of my dreams when a co-worker told me about the sweeping rice terraces and the plethora of swimming pools - with cocktail bars in their midst! Although in the years I have been coming to Bali I have never actually had a drink in a pool with a bar in the center. Still, I have seen many varied and beautiful rice terraces - which still captivate me whenever I am touring God's favored island. 

I arrived in Bali for the first time in June 1990 and quickly made friends with long-term resident ex-pats. I met someone who produced silver jewellery - one of my long term fascinations - and was soon ensconced in a small Balinese house in a small Balinese village. Before I decided to 'go travelling' I had previously worked for several years as a research physicist for a very large plastics company. The job was one of those where the career ladder is varied and accessible to everyone but from my early childhood I was unable to understand why so many people seemed to live to work. Sometimes I enjoyed my job but mostly I suffered along with my fellows "Hanging on in quiet desperation" as Pink Floyd sang. After all, that was the supposed "English Way" and I am an Englishman…

After a short while I found that I needed a vehicle. My car in the U.K. was a brand new VW Polo but I wanted something cheap to ride round the rough roads and to take me to the furthest reaches of Bali without the fear that I would become 'stuck'. In the end I bought a 1963 Land Cruiser and despite it's age, lack of roof or doors (or maybe because of those) I really enjoyed driving around the rice terraces and the forests. 

Whilst I was working in plastics, I used to perform a mental exercise to try and 'sort out' the problems which I thought were part of my life. I would list all the things which were bothering me and see which I could solve. 

Problem: My car is breaking down too often
Solution: I will buy a brand new one on a credit scheme 

Problem: Generally I hate my job but I am too scared to leave it.
Solution: Leave the job - face my fears.

Problem: I am not trying hard enough to break into the music industry
Solution: I am obviously not driven and hungry enough to reach the level of success which I crave. Give up the quest for 'Stardom'.

Problem: I don't have a girlfriend at the moment.
Solution: I will give up trying so hard and find a place full of like-minded people so I have more of a chance to meet the woman of my dreams.

Problem: I don't seem to be happy
Solution:…
These were kind of questions I asked myself…

Most of the time I could see a way through to clear one or two of 'my problems'. Which represented a small tip of my perceived iceberg. Often I would find a solution which I would lack the confidence to undertake.

Bali changed that for me forever. I am not saying that I do not have problems anymore. I am not saying that Bali made me into a saint. But it was something about the way the Balinese accepted their Western guests with a smile and an approach to life which taught me that the things which worried me were not really important in the grand scheme of things. I was surrounded by people who were pretty contented living in simple dwellings and living uncomplicated lives. 

Of course I was still caught up in my own problems. How would I find a girlfriend to love and to love me? How would I pay for my next ticket to Singapore? What was I going to do with my life? What could I do to save the world? Of course I still used to try and solve things and sometimes a solution came to me which would seem to solve one or more of my 'issues'. 

In my daily life I would visit the jewellers of Celuk and Singapadu and marvel as works of art were produced from blobs of silver and a few stones. I would sit with the Bapak of the household and we would drink gritty black coffee and despite my broken Indonesian we would talk of life in England and Bali, the growth of the rice crops and the nature of 'it all'. I found myself in the company of an ancient people who seemed to have fewer worries despite having very little of the comforts we find necessary in The West.

On my days off, I would travel to places I had yet to see. I particularly enjoyed those secret beaches which have now been 'discovered' and the tiny mountain villages and the spectacular vistas afforded on the journeys up. One of my friends had a house on the side of Gunung Batukaru from where, on a clear day, one could view the whole sweep of the South of the Island. Truly a beautiful sight. Like a highly detailed relief map - although upside down of course!

One day I was driving through the rice paddies near my home, after a day doing nothing in particular. Maybe I had visited some friends, maybe I had been shopping - I forget now. The sun was shining, the green of the rice fields spanning the whole of the spectrum from almost yellow to nearly blue. It might have been just before sunset when the Bali light has the unique quality which has attracted artists for centuries. 

Now is a good time to see if I can solve my problems, I thought. 

And guess what ?

I couldn't think of a single one!

© Nick Burgoyne, August 2000

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