22-March - Sunday - The day smiles left the island

These 2 travelling lads started the day with a stroll to view the burnt-out wreck of Bintang supermarket, taking familiar alleyways and roads we have taken so many times before. Familiar they looked not. Down the length of Double-Six there was no traffic, no scooters, no cars, no vans, no taxis. No locals, no tourists. No open shops, stand, café or restaurant. So eerily quiet! Once we reached the main road things improved slightly and we reached Bintang to see the devastation of the January fire. As we paused and gazed at it, a security guard approached us for a friendly chat about anything and everything. To our surprise the pop-up Bintang supermarket was open, so we ventured in. What a relief! What an immediate boost to our senses. The familiar sight of shelves full of produce we cherish so much from our previous Balinese shopping excursions. The smell and sounds making us feel normal. Amazing how such little things immediately boost our moral. We shopped, and shopped, and shopped. Walking home with our two heavy shopping bags, life seemed to have returned to the streets, with traffic slowly making its way back onto these sleepy roads. We packed our bags for a final breakfast at our empty hotel, us 4 the last remaining guests. Breakfast as usual took longer than one would need to pluck a chicken, which made us laugh. We promptly left, one taxi full of suitcases, the Swiss-Aussie travelling lad and our junior. The rest walking once again to Bintang for the purchase of sustenance required for the week to come. We regrouped at the sumptuous and luxurious villa our friends left us so very generously and so very kindly, as our safe heaven for our remaining time in Bali. It is a magnificent display of friendship, when times are tough. Music was put on and instantly our moods lifted, bathers came on and plunges into the magenta pool followed, making us feel like tourists holidaying in a tropical paradise for the first time in days. These 2 travelling lads briefly left for a final haircut and a final catch-up with our German friend, who so eagerly and so proudly wanted to show us his business, his two luxury villas he rents. And proud he should be, telling us of his conviction at educating and looking after his staff. Giving them instructions on how to clean hands during COVID-19 times, refusing to terminate their employment for as long as he financially will manage. Introducing paid leave, a novel concept they had never seen in any prior job. Once again, kindness survives, humans are caring beings, and he definitely deserves this description. Despite all these moments of happiness, as I was waiting for our German friend whilst the Italo-Aussie travelling lad was having his haircut, I ventured into an empty café and started a conversation with the lonely attendant. You could see the sadness in her eyes and as she made my coffee we chatted about the current situation, what she will do, where she will go and we both realised we were on the verge of tears, both holding it together as best we could, grasping onto the slimmest sliver of hope, the faintest ray of joy. The remaining tourists are all in a holding pattern like us, either waiting for a flight home, hoping it will leave as scheduled or settling in for a prolonged stay. The joy, laughter and happiness having left them days ago. The locals in their shops checking their phones, chatting with each other or looking out onto the deserted streets with faces lacking any signs of positivity. We are all surviving, taking things as they come. Planning the next day has become impossible and fruitless, as changes come by the hour or completely from leftfield. As the evening came, we joined the rest and walked the empty streets, passing shops fully lit and music pumping, without a shopper in sight. It seems as all humans have been removed at once, nobody having had time to turn off the lights and the electricity running its course till one day it will stop. I’ll forever remember this day, the day it dawned on me that smiles had left our faces.

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