Bali

So I finally got a day off (thanks to the Fourth of July), and thus was able to travel to Bali, which is only about an hour's flight from Jakarta. My first stop was Sanur, a sleepy town which probably would not have been my first choice of places to go, except that there was a conference going on there which at the last moment I found out I needed to attend for work. This also meant I stayed at a huge international chain resort, also not my first choice but it was near the conference. It was one of those places which is a total self-contained world; you could be anywhere in the world and be there.

Fortunately, the conference was only one day, and in the evening and the next day I had time to explore. Unlike the rest of Indonesia which is Muslim and to a lesser degree Christian, Bali is predominately Buddhist and Hindu, and the signs of that are everywhere, from the "spirit houses" that one sees at nearly every building (they are miniature houses designed to give spirits a place to live so they won't inhabit the main building), to the little offerings of flowers and incense that one finds everywhere when one goes out in the morning, to the traditional costumes that people still wear for things like weddings (I was fortunate enough to witness one when strolling down a side street one night). All these traditions are still dearly held to, and are not just a show for tourists. It's one of the things that makes Bali feel special.

The next day I went down to Kuta, which is a huge tourist destination but still manages to retain that feel of something special. The beach is thronged with tourists, but also Balinese, who when they're not trying to sell you everything under the sun (cokes, massages, taxis, silver) are just hanging out and enjoying life, whether that's chatting or surfing or watching the parade of humanity going by. They tend to hang out in the groves of trees just behind the beach, rather than laying out on the sand to bake like us westerners.

Funny thing about taxis -- the world over, these guys tend to be the
sleazy ones. Besides hanging out all day and continually calling out to
people to offer rides, as if they can't believe you'd actually walk
anywhere, once you get in their car they're likely to offer you all kinds
of dubious things. "Need girl?" "No, just take me home thanks." A
rule of thumb with taxis -- always flag the ones that are moving, never
bother with the ones just waiting by the side of the road.

And speaking of dubiousness, I also had people come up to me and whisper
"marijuana," and even "want buy blue movie?" Just like New York in the
1970s!

Anyway, those things were more amusing than annoying. On July 4 it was
back to Jakarta, feeling more refreshed than I'd felt in a while. And now
I'm back in Aceh, listening to the sound of mosques all over the city
calling the faithful to prayer.