I Ain't Going to Heaven.....

 

I Ain’t  Going to Heaven, ‘cos you can’t go twice!

I am sitting looking out on to our own garden here at Kori Ubud, Bali and I am between magic and reality. When a leaf moves or a flower trembles is it caused by a raindrop or by the birth of a new blossom.  Or maybe a frog has hopped in the near vicinity or maybe a dragon fly has hovered overhead and caused a leaf to move.  Across the ravine is a rice paddy, too green to be cropped but riches there for someone’s picking.

Yesterday at a plantation I saw coffee, ginger, galangal, ginseng, vanilla, lemon grass,  cinnamon growing as nature intended.  I tasted coffee from beans that had been consumed and passed by a Lurwak ( which makes it exclusive but impossibly expensive to buy).  I never thought that I would drink coffee that had been pooed out of a civet like animal before but then again I had never imagined myself here in Bali, visiting The Elephant Caves,( rediscovered in the twenties),  eating three exotic meals a day and seeing the sun set into the Indian Ocean at Tanah Lot. I crossed over to the sacred caves, holding my trousers up with my sandals in my hand, to be blessed by a holy man with even holier water.  The sun set very quickly once it had started its descent.  The drive back to Ubud started in dusk which rapidly descended into obsidian darkness.  The lights of the temples in the gardens of Balinese houses twinkled like friendly stars safely guiding us back.  By this time I think our driver was tired as were both daughter and myself but a tired driver is one worth staying awake for.

The Balinese life, culture and religion seem to actively make up the three point principles which appears to guide their lives. The people are friendly and the shop keepers and traders are not aggressive. Poverty appears to be little in evidence.

Art abounds.  Good and bad.  We have seen some beautiful paintings and carving and also some that would not be out of place in T K Maxx.  In fact I think the far end of Ubub is devoted to the export market and the goods there appear to be of a lesser quality than those in the tourist areas.  The narrow side walks are busy with travellers and this week even busier because there is the 12^th  Ubud Writers and Readers Conference on.   Two nights ago we went to a book signing and reading of Rimbaud in Java by Jamie James and as I lived and breathed Rimbaud in my teens and early twenties this was an added gift.  Being at this event made me feel less like a tourist for some reason I haven’t quite worked out yet. Perhaps it is something to do with being a writer surrounded by both writers and readers.  The conference has a global feel with an emphasis perhaps on the east and Indonesia with many expats promoting books written while they have been here in Indonesia.  I saw Tariq Ali striding out in the street earlier in the day and wondered when his hair had turned from black to silver.  Then I looked into the mirror and wondered when my complexion had turned from peach to prune.  Maybe we don’t all have a picture in the attic.

We met a Mexican American girl Alison who came to Bali for a few days and extended her visa for another month. It seems that happens a lot here.  She had interesting tales to tell of the people she met at immigration. Some just trying to extend their holiday visas and some trying to legitimize their illegal entry. Tonight we will meet her again when we go to a big street party to celebrate the end of the conference.

I would say that Bali has woven its spell around us and I feel I will return one day.  While I have been here I have a phrase running around and around in my head as tho on a loop and I think it should be the title of a song.  It goes “I Ain’t Going to Heaven ‘cos You Can’t Go Twice”.  Maybe that is the magic inspiration that is Bali.

DRAFT