Travel Blog: Bali (II)

Date 2010-10-08

Today I was greeted by what seems to be endless rains, following last night end episode where blockbusters of water poured and poured. It was unexpected last night, but the timing couldn’t be more right, 21:12 when the water started to trickle down, first soft and tender, soon bursted into laughter.

Hour before I was just finishing dinner with my old friend, back in the day of dorm in campus area. She had left to settle in Bali about a year ago, and now she had a healthy amount of information that I could use. Rather from googling, which I find sometimes rather bland, I got a first account from a mouth of a friend, which also satisfied the need for interaction with a humane being.

She had been the one who suggested the place where I currently lived, Dua Dara, which the name doesn’t indicate the sereneness of the place, but I had found very nice and quiet, and now she accounted about Bedugul, where I had thought had a lush of old greens, about Jimbaran, where people usually go for seafood, Kintamani, Sanur, Ketewel, which I found very interesting, not to mention about the name, but it is the place where group of harmonic dancers and singers usually gathered and performed.

It was too much to do them all, I had decided to come back here again to finish the others. For now, I am eager to anticipate the Festival of Readers and Writers 6-10 October, which is nicely coincided with my coming here. This festival, which is currently in its seventh year, is an annual international event where readers and writers from more than 30 countries gather to mingle and to share their experiences and ideas.

Finishing my breakfast, yet another toast and egg, hurray, I am ready to pack my things and head for the shuttle bus to Ubud. Ubud, here I come!

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I am fresh from the cold shower, gosh, it’s already 23:00, and recounting the string of fabulous events that just ended for today, and will be starting anew tomorrow!

I arrived in Ubud nigh in the lunch time, my stomach already craving for fillings, but I held it a little longer, and decided to hit the festival first, after a quick booking ofa room, another number one just like my room in Kuta, I hiked a motorbike, courtesy of the inn-keeper, and headed to the festival.

Already there are many people lulling around carrying the band of the festival, a distinct-coloured paper band. I quickly found me ticket pass for 3 days to come, and booked a workshop, but alas, apparently I was few months late, so I had to bade good bye to workshop until next year, and had to find alternatives to fill in the days, which turned out to be moot thought, because soon I was hooking from one venue after the other and felt that I should be attending all!

I would like to mention especially about Etgar Keret, short-stories writer from Israel, which had apparently received various international acclaims. Etgar, to which I believed everyone in that venue agreed, is a very talented writer, a story teller, that easily captivates you to the very end, which is not long, his shortest beings only a few paragraph, but to such a degree which he weaved and entangled into such inspiring experience.

The other venues were such wonderful experiences, that now I know why Bali has been attracting so many souls into her arms, the open arms of an island that welcomes various dynamics, be it beach boy, club guy, writer, sculptor, singer and just name your stuff.

I can’t wait for tomorrow!