Ipanema
Hi Jonathan and welcome to our forum.
I hope to hear many more posts from you. My first journey to Bali was in 1981 and the difference between then and now. I can't wait to hear your experiences this time.
Tina
nayusari
Hi, Jonathan
Welcome to the forum. Would definitely love to hear back from you, especially after your next visit where you can give me ideas what's Bali like in the 70s compared to now.
The last time I visited Bali was in 1996, my elder sister's wedding and I returned to this island for the first time couple months ago, let's put it this way - my jaws were dropped! It changed so much (some for the better and some for the worse) that I couldn't recognize some places I used to spend days and weeks.
Definitely can't wait to hear your thoughts on your next visit.
Welcome!
Sari
tintin
Bienvenue a toi sur ce forum, Jonathan,
Obviously, you are a man of exquisite taste, having chosen not only France, but Paris as your deuxieme patrie. :)
Born and raised in Paris, I left to see the world when I was eighteen, some 51 years ago. I return to Paris often (I was there one month ago, for a week). Each time, although things, for the better or for the worse, are in constant evolution, for me, the connection I have with Paris has remained the same through all these years: it is always as if I had never left. Maybe you will have the same experience if you return to Bali?
Ipanema
Jonathan
There was a gap of 13 years between one of my visits and even though all the changes had happened, progress etc I still had the same feeling as in the 80's.
I hope you have the same experience, time will tell.
Tina
ryyannon
I've been catching up on the transformations of Bali via your postings on the forum and have now registered and am ready to out myself as a former resident of the island in the early seventies.
Bali was a life-changing experience for me - to the point that it was impossible to return to my former existence in the United States, and necessary to burn all of my bridges to begin a new life as an expatriate in France after leaving the island.
Depending on the way you see things, you could say that I've spent the following thirty-five + years integrating the lessons learned during that initial visit so many years ago.
Whether I've succeeded or not, I do feel that I've accomplished all that I needed to do here. In the near future, there is a distinct possibility of my being able to return to Bali as a semi-permanent resident if I so choose.
I'm thinking the idea over - and certainly won't decide until after a preliminary visit to see if the Island still 'wants me.' Even taking into account the projection of my own feelings and desires, this was the impression I had during my first stay: of being adopted in a special way by an island and its people, of being taught lessons I needed to learn to become a better human being....
In short, I'm curious to see if Bali and I are still in resonance with each other - if the place still reserves some new - and given my age - final experiences and wisdom. A question, perhaps, of closing the circle - of following through and completing a work begun years ago.
In the meantime, I'm wishing you well from Paris, another patient and great teacher....
Best regards,
Jonathan
ryyannon
@tina, nayusari et.al.,
What you have to know is that since the 1930s, everyone who's ever been to Bali complains that it has changed (and usually for the worst) since their last visit!
As for me, the Bali I knew in the early 1970s was probably another planet compared to what it is like now: I had the luck to get there just before the Tsunami of mass tourism. Kuta was still a fishing village: not one hotel, not one real restaurant, no shops. A handful of travellers in the winter months, and the first Aussi surfers in the summer. In the off season, we couldn't have been more than a few dozen, living in family compounds and eating at the local warangs. I got along famously with everyone, and in particular the old guys of the village who used to invite me over for a glass of tuac in under their favorite shade tree in the afternoons. We had the whole beach to ourselves and the only commerce was a young boy who sold coconuts which he would slice open with a machete for the refreshing milk.
In many ways, we lived in harmony with our surroundings.... The great events were the Barong dances which took place in the unpaved main road leading into the village. From time to time there were more important festivals for which we chartered a Bemo.... I remember one all-nighter in a huge sea=temple north of Kuta. It only took place once every twenty-five years or so, but was an important part of the spiritual protection of the island: the temple in question was one of four - corresponding to the four cardinal directions - which protected the island from negative and invasive energies.
When I felt like a change, I'd take a bus from Denpasar up to Ubud - where I rented a small place on a hill just North of the village. At that time, there was a lovely suspension bridge that had been build by the Dutch over the river on the road to my house. Just before I left the island, they began to dismantle it to replace it with a more modern structure.
Tourism such as it existed then was more or less confined to Sanur - where none of us ever set foot - particuarly since it had the reputation of being a center for black magic. Although there were strange and rather chilling stories of shape-shifters and spell-throwers and epic battles between black and white practicioners, magic abounded everywhere if one had the eyes (and the courage) to see it....
The Balinese culture was so strong that I can't imagine that all of this has been wiped out by the influx of people external to the beliefs and traditions of the island....
Nonetheless, by the time it became necessary for me to move on, the first signs of a considerable sea=change in the atmosphere of Kuta had just began to appear: a restaurant here, a modest 'hotel' there, and more people staying for shorter periods - unlike the first handful of young travelers such as myself who tended to dig in for the long haul - flying off to Singapore to renew visas and finding 'creative' ways to stay on for periods much longer than allowed by the law.....
It was a golden and ephermeral moment which marked me deeply and changed my life. The danger for me would be to come back in the expectation of finding what I left. Despite this impossibility, my feeling is that if there is a reason for me to return - and perhaps to stay on - the island itself will let me know. In the meantime, I'll be corresponding with whomever cares to keep this (or other) threads going.
Wishing you all well,
Jonathan
ryyannon
Thank you for your thoughtful and encouraging reply, Sanurian!
It's heartening to know that "there are quite a few...expats who haven't been able to "escape" and/or don't want to."
There is no lack of potential destinations for expats, but the choice of Bali implies individuals who have an appreciation for more than just sea, sun and a generally congenial environment.
In a word, it's reassuring to learn that it remains a 'special' place....
ryyannon
@daniel and tina (et.al.),
Daniel, I see you're based in the U.S....just as I - an American - chose to live in your country. A kind of perfect reciprocity, which makes me think that it would be interesting to get together for a drink the next time you come through!
Taste, exquisite or otherwise, may have something to do with my choice in living here but what it came down to at the time was the imperious necessity for me to find a place with the same mysterious interactivity between parts of myself that were hidden or simply incomprehensible to me that I experienced in Bali.
Paris was just such a place at the time - the contination of a profound and unexpected re-education of the soul. At the risk of expressing myself badly - or being misinterpreted as a pompous or hopelessly nutty moonbat, this processs of transformation became the most important thing in my life - despite myself and my own worst proclivities.
Like many members of my generation, I had already been groping around somewhat ineffectually in the same direction for a number of years, but Bali brought things to a head - to a state of both clarity and urgency from which there was no turning back.
Bali was the catalyst which began transforming my life at an accelerated rate: Paris was the place which saved it. The process was unimaginally long, psychologically violent, painful and beautiful. Would I do it again? I can only hope that I'll never have to. What would I have preferred to do? Stay in the U.S. and become wealthy, like any 'normal' American! If I had invested even one-tenth of the energy I needed to make some sense out of my existence in the thirty-some ensuing years since Bali, I would have been rich many times over. (Sigh).
Fate, and powers much stronger than my own personal desires decided that whatever wealth I would accumulate during this life would be not be material. Some people accomodate themselves gracefully to this state of affairs. As for me, I was dragged kicking, screaming and cursing practically all the way. It's one thing to let go when one is in a place like Bali, it's still another when one returns to 'civilization'.
So much to try and communicate and so little space, time and ability to do so. I have no intention of making the forum my personal diary, but I do believe in cutting to the chase and saying what I feel needs to be said. For me, Bali was an incredible spiritual experience and there's no other way for me to talk of it than in those terms. I suspect that it's the same for a good number of people on this forum - even if such subjects are either taboo (?) or so difficult to speak of that it becomes easier to displace - or is it project? - the whole issue onto questions such as the condition of stray dogs or the availibility of ATM machines....
Tina, your experience of feeling the same (what i assume to be) postive vibes as you did some thirteen years earlier during your first visit is heartening. As I said earlier, I can't imagine that the soul and spirit of the people (and thus the place) not being able to resist the influences of whatever it is (I'm trying hard not to be judgemental here) that a new generation of voyagers are bringing to the island.
But all of this remains to be seen - by me, of course - before I can say anything with any certainty. I was considering coming back for a short stay this summer - my least favorite period, but the only one allowing me a visit of a month or more - to check things out. I haven't decided yet - and tend to relegate such decisions to practically the last minute. It's all a question of timing really, and I feel that I might be better off waiting for the fall or winter months (here), even at the risk of a shorter stay.
Time will tell; in the meantime there's the forum and its members to discover....
Best regards to everyone,
Jonathan
Sanurian
Halo [i]ryyannon[/i]
I'm new to your posts here and have only skimmed through a few of them.
I know already that you once fell in love with, (or "came under the spell of"), Bali, its people and the island a long time ago. Like many of us. And there are quite a few of us expats who haven't been able to "escape" and/or don't want to.
I, too, first came here in the early 1970s and can relate completely with your impressions of that time.
[quote]...the Bali I knew in the early 1970s was probably another planet compared to what it is like now...[/quote]
You're definitely right about that. However, there are still many Balinese living here, more or less "the same" as before. If one is not completely myopic, one can still feel "the magic" - it just seems different depending where you are.
I have sensitive friends from my own country who visited here in the 1970s. Some of them want to keep their image of the Bali they saw before "intact". I can understand that. Sometimes it's better that way rather than actually see what's happened in the intervening years. It's always a personal choice.
You may not like to see some of the "changes" that have transpired. But like I said, there is still no shortage of the sublime, if you have the time, patience and where-with-all to look again. I genuinely wish you all the very best in your re-discovery.
:D
