I have just returned from another three weeks in Paradise!!
While there I had the great pleasure of meeting a couple of "Pommy Bastards" from Adelaide who made a great holiday even better!!! One day at the pool Kev asked me "What would you say to people to make them want to come back to Bali?" I have given it some thought - Only my thoughts, but hey it may invoke some memories for those who have not been back for a while!
LEAVING BALI
************
As I sit on the plane ready for take off in an aisle seat, another passenger
>arrives to sit next to me in the window seat! I start to chat with him but
>as we take off I say "excuse me can I lean across you and look out of the window
>and please forgive me if I cry because I always do!"
>
>I look down at the the airport buildings and wish I could just say STOP the
>plane I want to GET OFF! Then as we ascend I look at the beaches, the palm
>trees and the warm haze and I feel a loss I can not describe!
>
>How am I going to survive the next six months till I return to this island
>paradise which already has so much of my heart?
>
>What am I going to miss? Everything but to name just a few things-
>
>The roosters crowing through the night, don't they know when it is morning?!
>The Ghecko Ghecko Ghecko call - is it a 'Kuta Ghecko' 5 times or a 'Legian
>Ghecko' 6 times?
The beautiful Offerings with Frangipanis etc not to mention the occasional strange cigarette for the gods!
>The calls from the little children on the street "Mummy" and seeing the
>smile on their face when you buy them an ice-cream or give the 2000rph.
>The smell of Sampoerna Cigarettes
>Kamu Cantik Sekali (You're very beautiful)- No one says that to me in
>Australia!!!!
>The serenity on the faces of the Balinese at their ceremonies, why do we
>have so much and still can't gain that same look?
>The sweat dripping off me, but hey who cares I don't have to wear
>make-up and flash clothes and they still think I'm lovely! Work would think
>I was sick if I arrived like that!! But hey this is Bali and they only see
>the person that you are!
>The beauty of the rice paddies and people washing in the river, women with
>baskets on their heads, the simplicity of their lives.
>The guy who shouts my name across the street when he only met me 8 months
>ago when he made me a bedspread! I travel every day in to the city on the
>same train with the same people and never get so much as a word!
>The friends you make with other great tourists that have not lost the faith!!
>BINTANG - What a super drink even for me, a woman who only drinks the Amber fluid in Bali! How
>refreshing.
>The fabulous restaurants where we can eat a magnificent meal for a fraction
>of what it costs in Australia.
>The love of my Balinese friends which just grows and grows with every visit.
>It used to only be me that cried at the airport and now they struggle too!
>But as they say "Why you cry "Me no die and go to Cemetry - You are coming back!!"
>
>WHY OH WHY ARE AUSTRALIANS STAYING AWAY FROM BALI WHEN WE ARE THE COUNTRY THE BALINESE LOVE SO MUCH? I HAVE NO IDEA BECAUSE SO MANY OTHER COUNTRIES IN THE WORLD ARE STILL THERE?.MAYBE OUR PRESS HAVE A LOT TO ANSWER FOR. I WILL BE BACK THERE IN MAY AND I CAN
>NOT WAIT!!