Flowers from Bali

I went to Bali from Taiwan in the summer of 2001, my first trip to an exotic island.

One would think,having lived in Taiwan, which is an exotic island  after all, that Bali would just be another island, maybe with prettier beaches...

I was not prepared for the total onslaught on my senses.

I fell in love...

The total contrast to the dirty, smelly, grey, and very ugly Changhua were I was living, was beyond anything I could imagine.

Fragrant flowers everywhere,  hanging from creepers on the pavements, tucked behind the ears of the hotel staff, cascading over ancient walls of houses, packed into tiny woven baskets with rice as offerings to the gods.

The beautiful people, with names I could not only say, but actually spell and write as well!

And the biggest surprise of it all :  The cultural connection with South Africa, or the Cape, to be exact.

I could read and understand many of the Balinese words in the streets, on road signs, shops, cafes, restaurants.

The Cape's history came alive with the colourful people of Bali.

I took many photos with my Canon Eos 500 (not digital).

I had a very small digital camera, my first ever.  It didnt even have a display.   Your guess was as good as mine as to how the photos came out.   We had underwater cameras, disposable cameras.

No photo can do it justice.

I also lost all the photos on my digital camera, and I can only blame my ignorance with this new fad.

All these years I've only had the photo albums to look at, and my negatives.

Until now!

The new technology is amazing.   I bought a Film Scan&Save thingamajig in which you insert your negatives or slides, press a button, and the images can then be saved to your computer!!!

Now after 11 years, I can share my Bali photos with everybody.

There are many more to come, but I thought I would unwrap it slowly, like the gift from the past it is.