If green is the defining colour of Bali (and I’m saying it is), what sound would characterize this little island?
It’s easy to suggestthe noise of scooters and horns honking, or the urgent, sorrowful cry of “TAXI?”, but those are easy to escape.
Instead, I propose the sound of running water.
As soon as you leave that beaten track, even in the hectic cities of Karobokan or Ubud, a hundred steps brings you nearer to the reality of this island. Of green paddies of rice, and the water works that nourish them. It a low level, background hum, building to crescendo after a bout of rain.
And even absent the waterworks, the sounds of channeled water are replaced by those of rain on the roof, or of the waterfall.
Waterfalls in Bahasa Indonesia have the graceful name of air terjun. Isn’t that beautiful?
Isn’t that beautiful?