Everything is so FRAGILE. there’s so much conflict, so much pain. you keep waiting for the dust to settle then you realize this is IT: the dust is YOUR LIFE, life going on. if happy comes along, that weird, unbearable delight that’s actual happy — i think you have to GRAB IT while you CAN. you TAKE what you can GET. ’cause it’s here and then it’s …. Gone
-Kitty Pryde
ASTONISHING X-MEN (Joss Whedon)
Arrived in Uluwatu early on the 23rd after enjoying Tropical Talk Radio, a new podcast by the people that created the Lifestyle Design Business podcast. I always find these shows very inspiring, their main message is to quit your job and take action and it’s good to know that it is possible to have an alternative to the traditional working model if you are willing to get your hands dirty.
Checked into a homestay around Padang Padang, the beachside location near the surfcamp of the same name, in the afternoon. The room was basic and spartan, with shower and clean sheets, in the evening though the weird moth like creatures which were milling about the door had metamorphosised leaving big piles of wings lying around either side of the door.
The next day around 6am I headed down to Padang Padang surf camp to find little had changed apart from a new two storey sleeping quarters in the corner of the block where the equipment shed previously stood. The infinity pool, hammock area and gazebo were the same but best of all Koyok, Putu and Stefano were still around and so was Steamy, who was currently having a short ‘time out’ for a minor infringement which occurred a few days ago. After saying hello to the other guests , who looked worse for wear after a big night out the previous night I met with the boys and said hello again to Ina. I wondered whether I would be welcome after our antics on the last stay and the continuing mayhem wrought after I left by my Australian mate Simon but I think she was okay, particularly after the post I wrote after my stay which the camp linked to on their website. We went down to Bingin beach at 7 for a surf on mid range waves, due to the tides we would be staying at the beach for 4-5 hours as there would be no point coming back in the afternoon, this would go on for the next couple of days.
Bali has a nice routine of religious and spiritual rituals, first of all there is a sweet waft of incense in the air close to the offerings that are left for their deities. The religion is mainly Hindu, but a very unique version of Hindu which borrows from previous beliefs and traditions (as most religions do) like a spiritual potpourri. Also there are beautiful carvings and statues all over the place in the shape of the gods, and one is always coming across small banana leaf packets of fragrant flowers that are left as tribute to the friendly deities and appeasement to the angry ones. When hiring a motorbike to get around Padang Padang I was surprised to find one strapped to the front forks of my bike, I would assume this was to keep the road rage gods away while weaving in and out of traffic around the carparks. The Hindu calendar dictates we are now in the age of Kali-Yuga, the final age. This is symbolized in art by a one legged cow, it begins in the first age with four legs, the next on three, the next on two until we reach this age. Hindus believe that the world renews again after the fourth age, an the universe has been renewed over and over again. A good analogy is that the age of the universe is the same as if a man walking past a mountain were to gently brush the mountain with a silk scarf how long it would take for the mountain to be ground down, which is a bloody long time. The age of Kali Yuga is also depicted by the God of Destruction and Renewal, Kali, wearing a necklace beaded by the heads of the other gods. In his left hand he holds a sword, in his right a flower, symbolizing rebirth. Given that Christianity turned from a pagan fertility ritual (the deity dies at the beginning of Winter to be reborn at Spring) it’s not too far a stretch if you’re into that sort of thing.
On Christmas Day the groups split into two with the beginner team going back to Binging and the more experienced going to the internationally famous Uluwatu break, just underneath the temple. Last time I came to Bali I never got the chance to surf here, so to come here on Christmas Day was a fantastic present for me and I had a great surf and enjoyed every moment.
Bucket list item crossed off.
Ina organized a Christmas lunch for everyone and I was kindly invited, it wouldn’t be the same without some sort of feast so was a really nice touch which was enjoyed by myself and all the guests. In the evening everyone made their way to Single Fin, a new bar which was open at the top level at Uluwatu where I we partied the night away with Steamy, Putu, Koyok and Marduk and occasionally set of some fireworks that had been procured during the day. With the prohibitive cost of alcohol in comparison to everything else in the country I didn’t fare as badly the next morning as some of the guests when we went to Seremban for the morning. Seremban was breaking really big and at this stage I was surfing quite well, had a fantastic day out there before calling Erta and organizing a ticket to the Gili Islands for the next day, packed my things and jumped in a cab for a last night in Bali before I resumed my Divemaster Traineeship to be completed early 2012.
Earthmans' Walkabout 