Dear English-speaking readers, this page is an automatic translation made from a post originally written in French. My apologies for any strange sentences and funny mistakes that may have been generated during the process. If you are reading French, click on the French flag below to access the original and correct text:
Français I hadn't been to Bali for a few years. And there are a lot of little details here that I really enjoy.
To begin with, many of the houses and hotels look like temples, with their slit portals and carvings. In fact, there are temples everywhere.
And there are altars guarded by mythical creatures of stone, more or less monstrous, even in the gardens of small family hotels, type losmen or guesthouse. It is always very pleasant to sleep surrounded by gods and demons.
And then, every morning, fresh offerings are deposited in their small vegetable basket: flowers, rice, incense stick... All accompanied by a delicate gesture of the hand, to spread a few drops of water, a flower stuck between two fingers.
I love this little morning ritual, it has something reassuring. The gods and spirits are everywhere, so we try to conciliate the good ones and appease the bad ones. On the doorsteps, at the crossroads, small baskets of offerings litter the ground.
Another thing I like here is that even the trees wear sarongs. I mean, the trees that are considered sacred, those that are inhabited by a spirit.
The black and white checkered sarong also girdles the loins of the statues that guard the entrances of the temples. This black and white chessboard symbolizes what we know better as yin and yang: it is about maintaining the balance between the two forces, positive and negative, that govern the world.
One thing I had forgotten, too, that I observed yesterday in Kuta, and today on the road to Lovina: the kites. On the beach and in the rice fields, children and even adults play with kites. There are all sizes, some very simple, made in a plastic bag, others huge and very sophisticated, with long tail waving in the wind.
Finally, I am happy to find again those little things that I don't pay much attention to anymore, as I am so used to them, but that I like a lot in Asia: greeting people with a big smile is the most natural thing in the world again, riding with up to four or even five passengers on a motorcycle (well, not for me!), the possibility to have a snack at any time thanks to the little street vendors installed along the roads with their carts of kebabs, soups or fruits...
I arrived in the North, at Lovina Beach, today... Here no rollers nor surfers. Less flashy and more relaxed atmosphere. I'll tell you all about it tomorrow!
