TUESDAY TRAVEL...

Press, 4 October 1977, Page 42

TUESDAY TRAVEL...

we encountered and I think he enjoyed our company as much as we enjoyed his.

On one occasion he made his Balinese passengers squeeze together so that we could be accommodated. “Five hundred rupes,” he said with a twinkle in his eve. We laughed, and told him that 45 was all we were going to pay, whereupon he grinned and waved the driver on. Because there was nowhere for him to sit he stood on the step at the back and hung on with one hand to the rail at the top. We were afraid that he might fall off, but he maintained perfect balance, swaying easily and gracefully with the movement of the vehicle. Our major trip in a beamo was to Tanelot where there was a particularly beautiful temple. We were told that to get there we would have to go to Denpasar and hire a beamo. Tanelot was across the other side of the island and beamos did not go there regularly. One of the hotel staff discussed our plans with us and gave us what he considered a fair price for the trip.

Early next morning we were out at the hotel gates and were delighted when “monkey-face” and his beamo came along. We produced a map and with much talking and waving of arms we conveyed to him our plans for the day. He intimated that his driver could not take us, but offered to find someone else.

The first beamo he stopped was not interested, but the second was ready to bargain. “Monkey-face” came to us with an outrageous price which we did not, of course, accept. After more animated talk with the other driver, he waved us over. The passengers in our newly hired beamo were transferred, laughing and chattering, to the one in which “monk-ey-face” was in charge. No-one seemed to mind.

The general run of tourists did not go beamo riding. It was a hot, dusty means of travel and the little cars frequently

people by with a crisp, “No thank you,” but after having been the centre of a clamouring throng, five or six deep, it was the only way to avoid a repitition. One gentleman on tour found himself the possessor of a particularly fearsome carving when he declined to pay $lO and jokingly offered $1! The Balinese in the tourist areas appeared hard-faced to us; not at all like the people with whom we came in contact in the more rural parts. On our way to Tanelot we stopped to pick up other passengers. We shared our beamo with ducks and .chickens and even nursed small children to make room for others. Sometimes they went a few kilometres up the road, sometimes quite a way. At one stop, an old man climbed on. He looked at us and then at the other