The Balinese Red Dragon

The Red Dragon has arrived in Bali for the summer break and is enjoying the delights of his favourite haunt.  I’ve received a couple of emails from him, and with his permission, I’ve posted them here.    DB

………………Had four action packed days in Candi Dasa exploring and getting in touch again with this amazing and most peaceful environment. The highlight for me was a fishing expedition in an outrigger canoe.  My mate Reggie and I trolled the magical east coast of exotic jungle and gigantic volcanoes for several hours, watching the sunrise over the towering volcano, Mt Agung, which is truly monumental in size and shifts and changes shape and colour all day.  The Balinese believe it is magic volcano and the Gods live there and I believe it too!   Then, we took our Jeep to some amazing places on along the coast; plenty of wild monkeys, coconuts, bananas everywhere, tiered rice paddies and ancient villages with stunning ocean views as the back drop.  Eating eating!

Where we were staying on the east coast town of Candi Dasi – the Temple Garden (run by Reggie’s Aussie old girl friend), the hotel is extremely cheap but amazingly tropical and beautiful; I would love the abundant tropical flowers and orchids growing everywhere. Daily, I sat in the shade of the coconut palms that line the shore and watched the azure blue ocean and the local fishing fleet in peace all day from my deck chair, smoking cigars and thinking little.  Your thinking slows down here under the spell of this magnetic island.  I  also really love the snorkelling amongst the coral reefs fascinated by the teeming varieties of very colourful tropical fish.

It gets hot here too but with two big differences: the constant and steady cool sea breeze keeps it always pleasant and the humidity is also low because it is their winter here.  I’ve just come back from three hours at the beach.  The early morning hours are really the best for the beach.  Not so many people and you can do the walking before it gets too hot.

Many people of all different nationalities are out too, so it’s a parade of colour, beach fashion (and the lack of it) and some hot looking girls and guys too (but I don’t look much! LoL).

I really enjoy seeing the Muslim, Javanese families come down to the beach for the first time.  They are usually in large family or social groups.  The girls are covered from head to toe in the most colourful and fashionable clothes.  You can see they love the sea because they get very excited and take lots of photos.   Sometimes they ask me to be in the photo cause they haven’t seen too many odd looking westerners like me before.  Sometimes the girls will often go into the ocean fully dressed and with head scarves on too.  They stare at us hardly-dressed westerners with amazement (and probably disgust)…some Western girls barely have their genitals covered.  On the whole, I find the westerners very coarse and unattractive compared to the Balinese and Javanese who are, light, fine-limbed and deeply tanned.

I love swimming out through the breakers about 100 metres and then swimming up and down the beach in absolute peace looking back at the land and the clouds…its absolutely one of the best things on the  planet I like doing.  The water is always warm so you can stay in for as long as you like.  Then I stagger up the beach and dry off in the golden sunshine of the early morning.  Later I go up to my favourite Warung (café) in the shade of the palms and have coffee, Asian porridge and some pure freshly squeezed juice (usually mango, guava or a coconut).  Later, I head back to the hotel for a shower and doing as little as possible, just hanging out by the pool reading and listening to music and swimming, swimming and easting.

Today and for the next three days, is one of the main Hindu ceremonies for the Balinese who worship Hinduism and not Muslim like neighbouring Java and the rest of Indonesia.  Most of  the shops are closed which is good because it is so quiet and peaceful and all the Balinese are dressed in their best ceremonial costumes.  Temples big and small litter the landscape in all gardens, houses and in all public places and all are littered with food offerings to the Gods and lots of burning incense waft across the beautifully scented Balinese air.  There is also plenty of food in the offerings for the rats and the squirrels which are endemic to the place.   It is all very colourful, very interesting and very mysterious.  It is amazing to watch; the Balinese keep their culture alive despite the tacky tourism through their enduring religious beliefs and through the daily practise of their customs and ceremonies.

I negotiating to lease some land on the beach at Candi Dasi, a magic place on the east coast (I’ll send some photos later).  The house would be  two bed roomed apartment designed and put together by a friend, really cool and modern pad right on the ocean.  It would be very leasable but I intend to make it my home in the long term.

Zhang Qi

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