My dogs quickly
discovered a walker and his pups and went for a wade in the tidal flats.
At the end of the groyne i find Jam 9.30 my landlord's uncle waiting
for signs of the Carnival cruise ship that will bring him taxi
passengers. " why is tourism so quiet these days " he asked. ' because
you killed the goode ....' I replied. He agrees. He has a creepy-
snazzy bullet lighter from his brother an army Letkol who 'mows down
papuans before breaKfast ' ( i made that up). He looks so old now: he
lost his teeth and hair after a botched appendix operation.we gossip
about denpasar royal families in particular Gus Ping(86) the one
surviving brother of the trio of skirt-chasing brahmans who terrorized
elligible daughters on the front verandahs of the better families in the
1950s . Yesterday i attended the soul purification rites of gus ping's
brother Gus Pung( pedanda gede karang/ ida bagus kompiang segara
village) in tampakgangsul IT WAS GAASAAAWJUS. i caught the tail end only
of the procession of 303 white umbrellas and found myself suddenly in
the forecourt of the vast puri Agung Jero Kuta grenceng in the midst of a
sea of devotees seated politely in rows on the grass , gilt tiaras
glittering in the setting sun. In the courts large gamelan pavilion sat a
bevy of glaMbram beauties all pert and posing . The widow Kompiang sat
on a chair at the back, imperiously, next her brother in law's wife, a
high priestess in dark glasses. Dayu Tuttie Kompiang hovered nearby,
keeping her eye on the row of Hermes handbags. An angklung and a gong
kebyar played alternately, in front of a small gate that lead to a
pavilion load of princely piss-pots polishing off a bottle of
Glenfiddich. I had a few pegs then rolled deeper into the empty palace
in search of the famed house temple, still as magnificent Majapahit as
ever. LaTer in the afternoon , back at the bragman's palace i sat with
gus ping and ida bagus ngurah and polished off a delicious nasi yasa,
the prize one gets for completing the marathon of the magnificent. ida
bagus Kharisma, ida bagus ngurah's dashing nephew was there. He has now
taken iver from his uncle as head of bali's hotel and restaurant
association. We r in good hands i thought.
