Terima Kasih, Indonesia, You're My Number One

Sunset view from Potato Head Beach Club

How I had missed girly girl time! In the early afternoon I got to the hotel where Marisol and Maja were staying, dumped my bag and immediately thereafter scootered over to Potato Head Beach Club where the girls were spending the day. After having been on my own for quite some time and later in the company of two (most fun and entertaining) boys, being able to do the girly girl thing was beyond fun. Posh beach club, several servings of the best cocktail I have tasted in my life, and GIRL TALK! Handbags, boys, pedicures and lots and lots of giggles.

Potato Head Beach Club

My backpacking experience has been great among other reasons because it has been so diverse. I've gotten to do the simple budget thing sleeping with bedbugs and showering with salt water one day, and later that same day enjoy a cocktail by the pool in one of the finest beach clubs I've been to.

I can think of worse places to be. Potato Head's refreshingly tangy ‘Kookaburra,’ with lemongrass gin and homemade vanilla sugar ‘lovingly muddled’ with fresh mint leaves and lime and layered with passion-fruit and vanilla foam is hands down the best cocktail I have ever tasted..

As if our Potato Head day wasn't enough we spent the following day at an even nicer beach club (if that's even possible), down in Uluwatu. Nammos is as exclusive as they get yet still preserving the authenticity of a beach club, located on a secluded beach isolated by the surrounding sea and rocks so that the only way to get there is by descending some 50 metres in an elevator from the top of the cliff all the way down to the beach.

Descending in the elevator to Nammos Beach Club, Uluwatu, Bali

Beach babes!

I've been trying really hard to decide which I like best, the very basic and authentic island beach feel of say Gili Air, or the getting pamper on a beach bed served one cocktail after another without having to lift a finger; and I don't think I can decide between them! Probably it's the balance of the two. It's definitely not option three, standing in the cold dark London winter under an umbrella waiting for the bus dreaming about the former two options. It's starting to seem to me like anything is better than being back in London. Should be interesting to see how I'm going to adjust to life once I'm back, which won't be long now. I still don't have a ticket back, should probably look into that soon.

Nothing beats a lunch like this

Marisol left to go back to Singapore that day and Maja and I "moved in" with one of her friends Birgitta, who lives on the island. And what a house she has! I no longer need to wonder what my dream house would look like if I got to design it; she has it! Spread over three floors half of the house is open plan as if it was a part of the garden (or the garden part of the house) and the other half whilst having four walls, still has floor to ceiling windows which for me are always a winner. The ground floor is completely open on three sides so it gives the sensation that the kitchen and the living room are a part of the lush green garden. Beautifully furnished with simple and big bold furniture and flowers I couldn't imagine a nicer place to come home to and/ or entertain people. The two guest bedrooms had floor to ceiling windows almost replicating the feeling of the same openness as you could feel in the living room - but with the added benefit of aircon and perhaps a bit more privacy. The master bedroom was on the second floor and on the third floor her "office" or work space (she's a fashion designer). I have never seen anything like it. I want it. Apparently her neighbour is thinking about selling....time to start playing the lottery for real.

My dream home. I want it!!

Maja diligently taking notes

Birgitta's maid took such good care of us not even the best beach club we had visited had managed to be as attentive as she was. Her cooking was beyond five stars and she was a truly lovely person and fun to be with - on our last day she even gave us a cooking class.

Birgitta's driver Eddie took us on a day trip to a place that's off the beaten track and not mentioned in any Lonely Planet editions I'm sure, namely a graveyard where people are not buried but rather left to decompose out in the open. Located by a lake, it was a long drive from Seminyak; a good 2.5 hours each way but so worth it. We got to see a lot of the landscapes including more stunningly green rice paddies, and we got to see Bali prepare for one of their biggest ceremonies / holidays they have which is in the honour of their ancestors. Many people were decorating the streets and temples in their villages, building large offerings for this two day celebration that was starting the next day. We even saw countless pigs being "prepared" to be cooked for this festive occasion. It is impressive the amount of work that goes into these preparations, and it is impressive the amount of holidays and ceremonies they have throughout the year! Culture is at the heart of the Balinese way of living and it is very apparent everywhere you look.

Once we got to the village we chartered a boat to the graveyard which was on the other side of the lake. I wasn't sure what to expect to see, as Eddie hadn't really told us anything other than that we'd be going to a 'place where you see dead people.'

Maja and Eddie and the very special tree

As we stepped off the boat we walked through a gate that had human skulls placed on either side of it. It took me a while to comprehend that they were real - I suppose in our culture we don't tend to leave heads lying out in the open. Right ahead of us after passing through the gate was a huge tree (wish I could remember the name of it) and peculiar thing about this type of tree was that the people from this village say it is because of this tree that the corpses don't smell, that the tree soaks up the smell of the decaying flesh and therefore we can't smell it. Eddie explained the scientists claim it is the climate up by this volcanic lake that prevents the corpses from smelling, but when they tried to place some bodies further away from the trees they started to smell.

The graveyard wasn't big. The area covered approximately 40 square metres and consisted of a stack of human skulls carefully lined up on an altar like stone structure to the left of the big tree I just mentioned; six graves next to each other in a row in front of the skulls, and finally (and quite surprisingly) a huge pile of garbage next to the graves.

The first of the three that attracted my attention were the skulls. I was fascinated by them, I had never seen anything like it! Felt a little morbid taking pictures of them but I thought it was OK seeing others were doing it too. They didn't look real, it looked like they had been framed somehow because of the fact that I thought they looked rather beautiful (not that I'd like to have this altar as a garden deco). The skulls in the bottom row were almost entirely covered in dark green moss, almost the same colour as the stones they were resting on, and the top ones were clearly newer additions to the collection as they were in better shape than the ones in the middle or bottom rows.

The graves

I moved on to look at the graves themselves. Eddie told us the corpses had been placed there for approximately two months ago. This fact surprised me, I didn't realise how quickly the flesh disappeared - there were only skeletons left, hardly any flesh on the bodies. The bodies had been placed underneath a (not so sturdy) triangle shaped bamboo structure, and had clothes on. I glanced over at the pile of garbage and thought it was a little disrespectful and odd that they would out a dump site right next to their friends and relatives who were resting in peace here for eternity; but after having taken a closer look I realised it wasn't only ordinary trash like coca cola cans and plastic bags and the likes, but also human bones and clothes.

Pile of  'garbage.' 

So apparently what happens is that once the corpses are reduced to mere bone and they need more room for newcomers, the skulls are stacked in with the others at the altar next to the big tree, and the rest of the body along with the clothes are dumped in this pile of trash. Chucked out, just like that! And don't think the head is all that special either. Once the skulls break, due to wear and tear they're also thrown away in the pile. Guess that's one way of keeping a graveyard small. It is only this particular village in the whole of Indonesia that have this tradition. Others bury their dead in a way we're more used to calling "normal."

Fascinating and totally worth the drive!

     

On one of the nights Maja and I went for dinner at a Japanese jazz restaurant where apparently the expats as well as the locals like to socialise. Already before going the idea of the possibility of living in Bali one day had popped into my head, and after this night the attractiveness of that idea grew even stronger. I may be wrong but I it seemed to me that the expat community in Bali is very different to that I've seen in other places in Southeast Asia in that people do it for reasons that don't involve exploitation or sex. And the type of people are ones I think I could get along with just fine.....

Moving on to the highlight of my stay in Bali (or alternatively, probably the highlight of my life): python handbags. And python shoes. And python passport holders. And python wallets. And python bracelets. Anything python, really. In every colour. For every occasion. All at prices Primark couldn't even dream of beating! And it was all there, laid out in the shops waiting for me! Is a shame they weren't selling python backpacks because I'll tell you I might have purchased one and filled it up with all these pythony goods! With all my best intentions I was really only going to buy one bag, but instead ended up with a few different ones along with other items unable to only walk away with the one bag.

they're so pretty! and they're MINE!

Indonesia has officially become the number one country on my list of favourites. It has done so because of the friendliness and hospitality of its people, the fascinating and deep-rooted culture and traditions, the culinary marvel that is each eating experience, the diverse and breathtaking landscapes, and last but not least - the shopping of course.

I wouldn't be surprised if be day I end up relocating to Indonesia. But for now, it was time to see what Kuala Lumpur was all about.