Soul Searching

There was one night on Bali where the moon was so bright it looked like a radiant lamp in the sky…

I went to visit this outrageously beautiful lake - Danu Batur, absolutely incredible. It is in the center of the volcano that created the island of Bali. The lake was formed by rain water. So, unlike the rivers and streams (which are ridden with parasites), the lake is pristine.

I had originally decided to go up there to see these people that live in an isolated section on the opposite side of the lake from civilization. I was told they are the original Balinese. They observe strange customs (which no one would state clearly for me), are reported to be very aggressive, and don’t like outsiders. What really got me interested was the story that they lay their dead at the foot of these trees and let the bodies return to nature. Supposedly there is no smell due to a special property of the trees. So you walk through this forest with bodies laying beneath the trees, very strange.

Ultimately I was deterred by the stories of their aggressive nature (which I heard later were exagerated). It was a gorgeous ride anyway.

On the way up there I went to see the largest Hindu temple in Indonesia.

Needless to say part of the reason I went was to see a patient. I was told she was a little eccentric (code word for difficult). A 75 year old british writer/actress. I found her completely charming. She repeatedly mentioned that she was horrified to have just turned 70 - which I found even more endearing. The fact is she looked great, better that most fifty year olds I know, and as if that’s not enough, she’s in better shape than me! She swims over a kilometer a day, every day!. She was very limber. With no visible signs of her physical abilities being diminished at all. She made a fabulous pesto with many of the ingredients coming from her own organic garden. A great lunch and conversation (it lasted 3 and 1/2 hours). Then i took my leave and headed back.

That was the ride up there. On my way out a dense fog rolled in, the temperature dropped, and I began to get pelted with rain. Driving the scooter while only being able to see six feet in front of you on hair pin turns while descending a mountain required my utmost concentration. I was frozen solid by the time i got back to Ubud and dreaming of a nice hot shower and bed.

The water wasn’t working when i got back…

okay, just a simple update on how things are going in the clinic for those who are curious…

We got one kid walking that was developmentally challenged, and everything else is picking up in their development as well. We put a farner’s dislocated knee cap back in place. We got a woman her period back after 10 years of no menstruation. Fixed some backs, some necks, some headaches. Treated one guy for trauma induced blindness (not really sure how that’s going. I only saw him once). A couple of cases of epilepsy, lots of painful periods (those should be a breeze). Some allergies, a couple of cases of eczema, all doing better. A bunch of asthma, also doing better. A couple of serious arryhthmias, one congestive heart failure, getting better.

All in all, not bad for just two weeks…

So the whole reason I came up to Tulamben was not for the diving, or the beach, but to treat these little sick children. So I drove a half an hour up the main road at Tulamben and a guy on a dirt bike met me and guided me into the backwoods of east Bali. We went for another twenty minutes into this hills, beyond any blacktop roads to this collection of newish looking houses. Very barebones but clearly well kept and of fairly recent construction

It turns out that this “project” is an effort by a bunch of people to create a sustainable environment for the extrememly poor population that lives on the side of this mountain. The total population is around 17,000 people, most are illiterate, virtually no healthcare, many malnourished. So these really smart people decided to teach the local population how to do sustainable, organic farming, built homes, brought in teachers and doctors, and are changing the lives of evryone here. It’s truly remarkable. What’s the most amazing is how so few people can help so many.

Anyway, all 4 of the kids that I saw have developmental disorders, from potentially (likely) fatal to mild. I did what I could, made some prescriptions, taught them how to do moxa, gave the parents basic massage techniques to promote the health of the babies, and we’ll see what happens…

I’ve been dying to go diving for years and the right opportunity never presented itself. The certification course is 4 days. Who wants to take 4 days out of their vacation to study and work (especially if it’s not chinese medicine!)?

Anyway, here I was on a beach that you can’t lay or walk on, a tiny cold swimming pool, feeling tired (I haven’t yet had a day where I’m not treating people), and watching all of these divers going out and back to the ocean. So I meandered down to the dive shop and asked what I could do without being certified or getting certified. The coordinator asked me if I had done any previous diving. I said no, but I’ve snorkled a bunch. He said, no problem, promptly got me set up with a dive master and suited me up.

The dive master asked me if I wanted to go to the pool to train, and I asked him if I needed it. He said we could do it all in the ocean if I wasn’t scared. So we went to the beach area and he told me how to breathe and some hand signals and in five minutes we were under the water and heading towards the wreck!

The first thing we saw was a black tipped shark. Not especially scary (particularly because it was headed in the opposite direction!). Then we went on to the wreck. It was pretty fun though not spectacular, I’ve had snorkelling adventures that were much more intense in terms of fish and coral, but it was wonderful and exciting. We dove through the wreck, went down to 16 meters, and made it back in 50 minutes with plenty of air left in the tanks. All in all pretty fun.

I went again the next day and this dive guy barely looked at me the whole time, which was fine with me (the other guy was VERY attentive) and we dove at the local reef. Also not that spectacular. We saw lots of different fish. A couple of those rock fish. The ones that paralyze you if brush their fins.

The whole experience was exotic. I loved turning circles and looking up above at the surface… at the reef there was a submerged plane wreck from ww2, very bizarre…

All in all I wouldn’t recommend it. One guy told me that there are a lot of rare fish here and that’s one of the draws for people. He was into underwater photography (as were many of the people here). I have to say their apparatus was far scarier than anything i saw under the water…

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.

well, i’ve got a bunch of photos and posts but no one has a card reader for me to get them onto the web! as soon as i can, i will. hopefully this week.

Sorry about the confusion. It was my intention that anyone who wants should be able to comment. I think I fixed it. Let me know if you have any trouble (by posting a comment ;^) hehehe…

I just sent the email out pleading for aid for those less fortunate and within minutes i get this response from Tom Leung at Kamwo Herb and Tea…