(First Published October 2005 at www.travelblog.org/bloggers/gypsygal)

I came to Bali burdened by the images of bloodied victims of the recent bombing plastered in the pages of the Malaysian dailies.

I was in KL when the second bombing in Bali occurred . I called my parents, and they were very worried. My dad has specifically asked me to return to Singapore, where it’s safe, no terrorist bombs will kill you (and I was thinking well, in Singapore, you’ll die not from bombing but from depression, heartbreak, psychosis and sheer boredom). My sister, who’s working in Singapore, also dissuaded me from going to Bali.

 

I told them not to worry too much about me. That I’m not going to Kuta. That Ubud is different from Kuta. That I won’t be going to any nightclubs. That I’m going to Ubud just to attend the Ubud Writers and Readers Festival. That I won’t stay there for long. I actually wanted to stay in Bali for 3 weeks, but I don’t really want my parents to worry too much. So I figured, I’ll stay here 2 weeks, tops. Afterwhich I had to return to (boring, staid, depressing but safe) Singapore.

****

Even if I'm of the opinion that these terrorists shouldn’t stop me from enjoying my life, I also had cold feet and almost cancelled my trip. I was even thinking of booking a trip to either Penang, Langkawi or Sarawak (after all, I can stay in Malaysia for a month, visa-free).

I thought that the bombing will spook away all the tourists in the island. I thought that the organizers of the Ubud Writers festival will cancel the event. I thought that I will travel in a virtually empty plane, that I will arrive in the Denpasar airport, surrounded by grieving relatives and/or friends of the Bali bombing, that Ubud will be another ghost town – tourists are either going home or may be staying inside the guesthouses, too terrified to venture out.

 

The only thing that pushed me to go on with my trip is the fact that organizers of the writers’ festival refused to cancel the event. In a letter posted in www.ubudwritersfestival.com, festival director Janet De Neefe, wrote : "The Ubud Writers & Readers Festival will go ahead as planned. We will not allow the terrorists to stop an event that we believe ultimately will benefit all layers of the Ubud community, Indonesia and South East Asia." But De Neefe also recognized the fact that security need to be tightened, she noted, "high security at all venues will be guaranteed. This will include uniformed and plain-clothed police, bomb detectors, sniffer dogs and security checks. All venues are distant from the road and parking in front of these venues will not be allowed. "

***

I arrived in Bali three days ago. I arrived in an Air Asia plane which is about 90% full, most of them are Indonesians, but there are also passengers who are clearly going to Bali for a holiday – these include those 2 French backpacking dudes who were busy reading guidebooks and a couple of Singaporean ladies with their teeny weeny digicams in tow.

 

In Denpasar airport, apart from tight security, everything seems normal. Tourists were there getting their luggage, looking for hotels, changing money.

At Jalan Raya in Ubud, tourists were still there, sipping lattes in coffee shops, bargaining for souvenirs in Pasar Raya, chatting in internet cafes. Some shops however were closed as the locals were busy preparing for the Galungan – an annual festival which celebrates the victory of good over evil forces.

“Well, I think the tourists know that Ubud is different from Kuta, “ said Yudha , an artist and proprietor of a New Age café in Peliatan, explaining why life goes on as usual in Ubud.

 

Dek Gun, woodcarver and entrepreneur, was more conservative in his views. He said that if tourists will continue to arrive in Ubud in the next two months, then it means that

***

 

Still, I had my doubts. Sure I love staying in Ubud and had in fact signed up for several workshop and talks to be held during the writers’ fest.

In the past few days, I’m a bit perturbed by a lot of things. I was worried about the terrorists and that they may bomb Ubud next. I was so afraid of walking in the streets because there are so many stray dogs and I’m terrified of dogs. I also had some personal stuff which I have to deal with (I can’t write about that in my blog), that I was a bit edgy and rattled.

 

So yesterday, I went to Bali Spirit in Jalan Hanoman for a one hour session of Vinyasa yoga. I need to calm my nerves, quiet my mind and stay fit. Breathing in and out, twisting here and there, doing sun salutations, reciting mantras – hey all helped to give me some peace of mind.

Later I took out Sogyal Rinpoche’s Tibetan Book of Living and Dying, and learned more about the impermanence of life, the art of non-grasping and how meditation can help us see the real nature of the mind.

 

“Learning to live is learning to let go.” – Sogyal Rinpoche