Emma, Magda, Dilly, Dillon, Dave, Sharon at Dillons Bungallows
The first time I was in Bali was 1975, Kuta was the spot to go, a small village, dirt roads, kerosene lights, a beach that stretched as far as the eye could see, good surf and friendly locals. A very special place, with a culture unlike anywhere else in the world, in a word, spiritual. The Island of the Gods, It was a place I couldn’t stay away from and ended up setting up a business buying clothes and jewellery and shipping them off to Australia to sell, which meant I could come and go to my hearts content. That lasted about ten years. It all happened to quickly here. The Aussies, being a nation of surfers, it was inevitable the place would become a mecca for the Aussie tourist, The tourist Dollar brought with it chaos. I’ve been back many times since and have trouble flying over it without stopping for at least a couple of weeks, this was one of those times. I’d been staying with Oka and his family for forty years, in Legian Inn, one of the first losmans in Legian, about a kilometre up the beach from Kuta. I was back in what I consider my home in Bali. These days Kuta blends into Legian which blends into Seminyak, Krobokan and on and on, it’s just all an extension of Denpasar these days, just a big Metropolis with crazy traffic and far to many people but still I come. I’d met a young Yorkshire Lass at the Inn a couple of years earlier, who ended up marrying a Balinese Guy and they had built some bungalows up north in Amed, I decided to go up and see how they were getting on. Dillon’s Bungalows is set in the rice fields of Amed with views of Mt Agung, more like the Bali of old, I arrived late afternoon and my room was ready for me. No sign of Emma but I met another couple of friends of Emma’s staying there. Dave and Sharon had been there a couple of weeks and had found some land they were interested in, with the help of Dilly, Emma’s husband. They were still looking because it was a bit too much for them. It has been a bit of a dream of mine since my first visit all those years ago, to have a little place in Bali. “Hey!” I said, “Why don’t we stick a wall down the middle and I’ll have half” Approved! And so! After 40 years dreaming about it, I finally acquired a bit of land to build my little shack. Looks like Costa Rica will have to be postponed!
The transaction was left in Dilly and Emma’s hands. Dave and Sharon were heading back to England and I did likewise, It was June 2013, England put on the weather for me and in 2 Months I got less than a weeks rain all up, I was beginning to think, If it was like this all the time I might never have left the Felling, until my Mother reminded me of the dark cold wet mornings and afternoons of winter. I spent my time mostly with Mother, driving around the countryside of County Durham and Northumberland visiting pubs along the way, catching up with old mates, drinking lots of beer, I had a great old time and was looking forward to my next visit.
Dilly and Emma had secured the land so it was time to get back to decide what comes next? I was staying in Legian doing Tai Chi on the beach, going to school in Denpasar to learn Bahasa Indonesia and going up to Amed on the weekends. Dave and Sharon turned up, Dave is a builder, he turned up with plans for a house. I wasn’t thinking about building just yet but with Dave so gung ho I kinda got caught up with his enthusiasm and started making plans of my own. Before too long we had a contract with a local builder and my shack had turned into a modern 2 bedroom house.
I was sitting having a Bintang one night in Dillon’s, it was quite late when another lonesome traveller walked in. She looked bedraggled and exhausted, checked in, disappeared into her room and didn’t surface for a day and a half. When she did surface, I met the lovely Ms Magda. She had been travelling for three day’s from Spain on a cheap ticket which stopped in half a dozen airports with hours of waiting in each one. When she arrived in Bali she didn’t take the easy option of staying in the south but walked out of the airport and got 3 or 4 Bemo’s (local transport) up to Culik and walked the final 3 Kls to the Bungalows. Wow! I was impressed, this is something I might have done years ago, not anymore, I’ve gotten far to soft. I was going back to Legian for the week, Magda was looking for transport, so I took her down and introduced her to Oka and the Inn. She had somewhere to go in Canggu that had been recommended by a friend, she was back in a couple of day’s, after discovering it wasn’t for her. This was the beginning of a beautiful friendship.
I am….THE LONESOME TRAVELLER….The Journey Continues….BE HAPPY!