Soul Searching

i was asked while here, if i would take the time to go and visit a project in the northeast of bali where there were two children that were very sick. of course, given the purpose of my trip, i went. more about that later.

tulamben is an area famous for the wreck of the USS Liberty. a ship that was bombed by the japanese during ww2. it was then towed to try and salvage it, but it was taking on too much water and was left in the middle of the ocean.

the ride to tulamben was incredible. i drove up to the volcano that created the island of bali, then to the largest hindu temple on bali, then through the richest fields and rice paddies on the island.

for those of you that have been to hawaii, the terrain here on bali is very similar to that of the big island. only traditional life is everywhere, from the crazy gamelon music of bali (which apparently is quite different now from how it was 100 years ago) to the temples in every yard.

the one glaring difference is the proliferation of scooters. these people drive with complete abandon. it appears as if life is not held in high regard here. people often seem to think looking at the road, or at oncoming traffic is optional. i’ll be zooming down a stretch of particularly sinuous road, and somebody will appear adjusting their sandal straps - for what feels like minutes. of course to me this feat is incredible in its own right. i’m pretty sure i couldn’t even stay up if i were leaning over on my scooter like that, neck craned down, body weight off center. anyway i don’t think anyone has ever used their horn as much as i have been in the history of the whole island. from what i hear, death by scooter is very common here. not surprising.

the ride was spectacular. up and over the edge of the volcano, down along its side, through the martian landcape, onto the fertile fields fed by the richness of the soil. very dramatic.

tulamben itself was less spectacular. overpriced hotels feeding on the stream of diving dollars. germans, americans, and japanese diving at the wreck and the local reef, the beach is all big rocks, so you can’t really walk on it. the water was warm and clean. the hotel was the most expensive i’ve stayed at here. the food has been the worst. i guess that they’ve watered everything down for the tourists. bland and barely worth eating. everyone, as usual, is very nice.