Have you ever had one of those moments when it feels good to break free? Or do you long for a moment when your mind can simply be free? When there doesn't seem to be enough hours in the day, it can seem hard to break free. I had a fascinating - somewhat mentally gruelling - and rewarding week, of facilitating a strategic workshop with 18 executives from across the world, training 50 graduates in presenting skills, rounded off by four hours of intensive one to one coaching. My brain was so tired from concentrating, my mind wanted to switch off and I was ready to break free.
Luckily for me it was Vesak Day in Asia this week, otherwise known as the 'Buddha's birthday'. This public holiday was the perfect opportunity to seize the moment and do something different. Our jeep packed with clothes, towels and swimming gear, we decided to head for the coast on the East side of Bali to a place called 'Candidasa', pronounced 'Chandidasa'. As our aging Toyota jeep struggled up the steep hill to leave our villa, groaning and spluttering to get going, my ipod automatically shuffled up the most fitting song 'I want to break free' by Queen. With a tremendous feeling of liberation, the hot sun beating down on us in celebration, we were breaking free!
After three hours of bouncing through the Balinese countryside on the potholed roads, overtaking the endless stream of motorbikes that were like flies darting all over the place and the chugging, ancient Bali trucks, we finally reached our destination. Feeling extremely hot and tired, with our faces and hands turned black from exhaust fumes and a thick layer of grimy sweat stuck to us like cling film, we were glad to alight from our chariot. I asked for a gentleman called 'Curry' (to remember his name he had told me on the phone to think of chicken...). He took us to our family room which was basic but clean. The fully air conditioned family apartment turned out to have only one old air-conditioner that tried its best to blast out cold air, but felt more like a hairdryer. The hot and cold water turned out to be cold water only, but for US$60 per night for all 5 of us, breakfast included (which turned out to be very good), we didn't feel inclined to complain.
Early evening we found the ideal secluded beach cove, hidden 6km up the coast (Pasir Pantai Putih - not so much secret, as really hard to find) and reached it via a long, steep muddy track, through the jungle, where en route we could really test out our jeep's four wheel drive. As we arrived, we wondered why most people seemed to be leaving. While walking along the fairytale beach, we were lured by a warung (an Indonesian casual, outdoor restaurant ) owner to stay and have dinner at his bamboo hut. Using a couple of re-cycled, plastic carrier bags (most probably washed up by the sea), he proudly showed us the fish he had caught earlier in the day. I'm not the sort of person who can identify the perfect fish to eat from a sparkling, clean restaurant aquarium in Singapore, let alone from a used plastic bag on the beach in Bali, so we declined his fine offer. Judging by the dry looking 'pink custard cream' biscuits he put on our table as an appetiser, we decided the safest option - as it usually is - would be to go local and so chose a couple of Indonesian noodle and rice dishes. As dusk fell, and all the warungs closed up, we soon realised we were the only people left. This was obviously more of a day time place. When they brought out candles and a gas lamp to our table, it dawned on us that no electricity was the main reason why the whole beach was deserted.
My 6 year old daughter wanted to go to the toilet which wasn't the best timing, my bare feet on the wet floor in the light of the half moon, made me feel a little uncertain what we were standing in - probably best that we didn't know. We could hear the clanging of the wok, frying up our noodles and rice on a single gas burner, somewhere out the back in the darkness. The food turned out to be quite tasty and our children loved the experience of eating in near total darkness on a deserted beach. We had the whole place to ourselves, the owners obviously staying open just for us and no doubt very happy to be making money at that time of the night. I had broken free, even from electricity, and although I probably wouldn't want to live like the warung owner, he must wake up to a beautiful view every morning and feel free.
It's good to make the effort to break free at times and allow the mind to be free:-
"I know but one freedom and that is the freedom of the mind."
Antoine de Saint-Exupery
What can you do to break free?
Janet
