Amed

In March, I found myself in the village of Purwakerth, just east of Amed, and part of the Amed Beach area, a 20 km long strip of resorts, hotels, and homestays, noted mostly for diving and snorkeling.  My room was one of two in a modest homestay, the closest of the two to the beach.  In fact it was only about 20 meters from the water.

As I sat on the bed, leaning back against the headboard, I looked up from my laptop computer, and let my gaze go through the open double doors and onto the porch, white tiled, with two chairs and a small table.  Tall windows on either side of the doors expand the view.

Surrounding the porch is a small garden, tenderly manicured.  Most of the plants are green, but some are a dark red and look like purple basil.  Another has yellow-green leaves and small white flowers.  Along the sea-side edge of the garden, a low concrete slab six feet across runs the length of the property, keeping the beach sand out of the garden area.  One tree rises from an earth-filled hole in the slab, and in the shade of the tree is a beach shower. It's one step up from the beach onto the slab to the shower to wash off the salt water and sand before entering the garden.

On the left of the garden is a small warung, or rather, what had originally been intended as a warung, but is now used only to serve breakfast to the guests.  The seating area contains three tables and a counter and is open on three sides.  The fourth side is an enclosed kitchen.  A horizontal window opens so food dishes can be passed through.

Past the garden, a line of fishing boats are pulled up onto the sand.  Just inside the beach is a flat grassy area used for making salt, and also for evening soccer games.  Another four hundred meters beyond, more dwellings and trees are visible.

Above it all, partially shrouded in clouds, Mount Agung hangs in the sky, a giant pyramid.  This volcano dominates the eastern corner of Bali.

Clouds form around all the islands.  The overcast creates cool and moisture and protects the inhabitants from the equatorial sun.  The higher the island, the thicker the clouds.  At 300 meters, Mount Agung almost always collects clouds around itself.  You have to view it many times to see the whole mountain.  Sometimes only the base is visible. Other times only the top peeks out above the cloud cover.  Often the right shoulder is visible, because that is closest to the sea where the wind sweeps the sky clear.

The place is run by Suni, his wife Wayan, and their two daughters, Eka and Dewi.  Son Komong is too young to help much.  He spends his time mostly fishing from the beach.

Suni's family lives in a separate house back about 50 meters farther inland.  Another family owns the empty plot of land between Suni's house and the homestay.  Suni's mother bought this land to create the homestay and warung for Suni and his family to run.  Perhaps that's why it's called Mama Homestay.

Suni is a fisherman.  He gave up fishing a few years ago because there are no more fish.  He has a longline with 200 hooks on it.  There was a time when he could tow this line behind his boat for an hour and a half and come home with 200 Mackeral.  Now they're all gone.  One of Suni's brothers still goes out fishing every day and often comes home with only one fish.

Suni also used to fish for tuna by using a kite.  They would fly the kite from the boat, with the line, hook and bait attached to the tail of the kite.  As the boat skimmed over the water, the man flying the kite would pump the kite string to make the bait jump up and down on the surface of the water.  The tuna would leap three feet out of the water to snag the bait out of mid-air.  Tuna often follow dolphins.  Why?  Not know for certain.  Perhaps the dolphins offer protection from the sharks.

The tables and chairs in the warung, on the porch, and in the guest rooms were all made by Sunni.  He uses local hardwoods and hand tools.  No power tools, no nails, and no glue.  He carves joints, drills a hole with a hand drill, and inserts a bamboo dowel.

Suni, Dewi, and Eka are all on salary, paid by Suni's mother.  Suni does the maintenance, and Dewi and Eka serve as front-desk staff.  Dewi, age 13, takes the morning shift and makes breakfast.  Eka, age 15, takes the afternoon shift.  Very rarely she sells a drink to a guest.  Mostly she just sits in the warung area and does her homework.  Both girls attend school, Eka from 9 to 1, Dewi from 1 to 5.  The Indonesian school system follows the European pattern as it was put it place by the Dutch during the colonial period.  Attendance is required through Junior High.  High school is optional, and there is a fee.  Suni is debating whether he can afford to send his girls to high school. Suni's wife, Wayan, is sometimes seen in the mornings sweeping the garden area with a broom.

The guest next door is named Roma.  She's a polish girl, a movie director, most recently living in London.  She lays on the beach in a bikini.  Embarrassed to be reading one of the Twilight books.