The seventies Hippy Trail 2

Bali Indonesia

21-3-1974
Kuta Bali Indonesia
Hello there.
I got your letter yesterday, dad. They take a really long time to get here in Bali, Indonesia. The mail service is really slack. I do not think the cockfights are illegal, on the contrary I think they are part of the Balinese way of life. They have been having them for centuries(or so??). They put the roosters in a square and put one small razor sharp blade on the back toe about six inches long. They they start betting and everyone shouts out what odds they want. Then they fight and whichever one is still standing at the end wins.

How are you getting back into uni and how has the surf been and how is buzz? I am really stoked that you brought him home - he is an unreal dog.

The money here is the rupiah. One Australian dollar equals six hundred indonesian rupiah. And I am about eleven kilometers from Denpasar which is a hectic, messy hole(not a very nice place). There are a few Balinese guys that go surfing and one of them is pretty good. There are not many good riders here at all. There are a lot of yanks and Germans and French people and a fair few aussies. There is a lot of crazy white people. I cannot handle most of them.

I have been to a few festivals and they are really colorful. Everyone gets dressed up in their best sarong and they have a procession down the streets and finish at the beach where they pray and dance and have music. They are really happy people in Bali. The balinese religion is Hindu and they are really religious. It seems to be a really happy festive religion and not solemn or morose at all.

I seen the queen last week. She was in Bali and drove past in a great cavalcade of cars, waving to all the people. I even waved back.

Oh yeah, I was sick yesterday. Last night I was pooing and spewing and I was really crook in the morning. I guess I had food poisoning. I went and saw the doctor and he gave me an injection and some tablets and today I feel much better.

We had a game of soccer the other day with some Balinese guys. It was great fun and today they are having a game as well. Balinese versus the white man. I do not think I will be able to play. I am not absolutely fit yet.

I went to see the Legong Dance the other night. It was really good. The company has toured the world and they were first rate dancers. The gamelan orchestra was delightful, really tinkling beautiful music. The gamelan is like a xylophone with a bit of bamboo pipe under it. You hit the brass bar with a little hammer.

I have taken untold photos but I do not want to send them home because sometimes they xray things in the mail and if you xray unexposed film it is ruined. Did you get the roll of film that I sent home? I sent one over. I hope you get it. I will save my film and get it exposed in Singapore.

Today you cannot go for a swim because it is the day that the gods(Vishnu, Shiva, etc) swim in the sea and they will be having celebrations down the beach. I have got a pair of goggles and a snorkel, and a flipper for two dollars and I went out at a reef last week and it was beautiful. There are all different coral and rocks and all brilliant coloured fishes swimming around in the small canyons about four to six feet deep. Really beautiful.

There has not been much surf lately and there has not been a decent swell since I got here. There is better surf in Australia. Well I might go now, see you all later.

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