Indonesia - Bali

J'etais tres interessee par Bali apres avoir lu "Mange, Prie, Aime", d'Elizabeth Gilbert. (Comme beaucoup d'autres touristes, il semble.) Je m'attendais a des gens souriants et accueillants, de magnifiques paysages et des batiments de pierre. J'ai trouve les 2 derniers, mais le tourisme a laisse sa marque et efface les sourires...



I was expecting smiling people...


Bali has had a strong appeal to me since I read "Eat, Pray, Love" from Elizabeth Gilbert. As many other tourists, I figured later. I was expecting smiling people everywhere, charming landscapes, stone temples and the like. I found the 2 latest, but the smiles have disappeared, replaced by greed oriented interactions with tourists in the major tourist hubs. I guess popularity spoiled the genuine interactions with locals there.

Kuta est une ville de party, dediee au Surf et au Sexe. J'ai eu besoin de porter ma bague de mariage factice pour la premiere fois depuis mon depart. Kuta is a Surf and Sex oriented place. I decided to wear my "wedding ring" from then on, with no great results :) I fled ASAP.

Danseuse a la danse du feu

Ubud est plus culturel, avec des danses traditionnelles, des temples de pierres et une jungle pleine de singes. Encore cher du au tourisme, mais plus relaxe que Kuta. Ici aussi, il fallait faire attention aux hommes. Ca s'est calme quand j'ai fini par voyager avec un gars super, completement gay!! J'ai pu voir a Ubud la danse du feu. Une centaine d'hommes chantent des rythmes lents ou saccades et les danseuses miment l'histoire racontee a la lumiere d'un immense chandelier. Chaque mouvement des doigts et des poignets a une signification, perdue pour les non-inities. Quand je les voyais danser, les images des Apsara des temples Angkoriens venaient me hanter.

Trance like singing of the men

Ubud is more of a cultural place, with Balinese traditionnal dances at night, stone temples and a monkey filled jungle. Still expensive and filled with tourism, but a lot more relaxed than Kuta. Here as well, I had to beware of men, but I finally found a fellow male traveler which gay presence was a relief. I saw in Ubud a few traditionnal dances, but was more impressed with the Fire dance. A hundred men are singing rythms, sometimes trance-like, sometimes quite quick, while the dancers are telling the story with their bodies and hand gestures. Every position means a word or idea, long lost for the non initiated. They made me vividly think of the Apsara scupltures in Angkor temples.





Une expedition a velo velo a travers l'ile a ete mon highlight. Nous partons tot le matin, dejeunons au sommet d'un volcan et pedalons ensuite le long de rizieres etagees. Magnifique! On a passe dans des petits villages et avons arrete dans une petite ferme productrice de cafe de Luwak (Luwak coffee), le cafe le plus cher au monde. Le Luwak est un petit animal qui ressemble a un renard ayant eu des relations pas catholiques avec un ecureuil. Il se nourrit de n'importe quoi, y compris de graines de cafe que son systeme digestif transforme. Un "recueilleur" passe ensuite a travers les "dechets organiques" du Luwak pour "repecher" les grains de cafe ainsi digeres. Ca donne un cafe super doux et veloute. Mais me semble de voir la premiere personne qui a pense a ca...

Luwak, producteur du plus cher cafe au monde

The main highlight in Bali was a bike ride through the island. We started on top of a volcano, and cycled down through villages and stepped rice fields. Gorgeous!! We tasted what is known as the most exensive coffee in the world, Luwad coffee. The Luwak is a furry little animal that looks like a fox mistakenly mated with a squirell. They eat everything, including coffee beans. Their digestive system then takes care of transforming it. A lucky man's job is to go through the organic waste of the animal to "fish out" the beans and then roast them. The end result is an incredibly smooth coffee. But really, who on Earth would think about that in the first place...

Kite season

C'etait aussi le temps des cerfs-volants a Bali, on en voyait flotter tellement haut dans le ciel que ca en donnait le vertige. Les enfants en faisaient voler partout sur les routes, ou dans les champs. Le but ancestral des cerfs-volants semble similaire aux a celui des epouvantails.

June was kite time in Bali, everywhere you could see them incredibly high in the sky, or kids playing with them on the roads or in the fields. They were primarily used to scare birds away from the crops.


Playing with knife



Bali en dehors des centres touristiques est tout a fait charmant. De superbes paysages et des fermieres portant leurs charges sur la tete. Des embouteillages causes par une troupe de canards traversant la rue. Des funerailles colorees. Quand je reviendrai (un jour), c'est ce pays-la que je veux trouver.

Bali outside of tourist hubs is incredibly charming. Gorgeous landscapes and women transporting their loads on their heads. Traffic jams caused by flocks of ducks walking on the street. Colourful funeral ceremonies. When I come back (someday), this is the country side I want to find.