ROOM 327 - CONTINUED

When the fire broke out in 1993, Grand Bali Beach Hotel was already close to 30 years old. Therefore, stepping into Room 327 was not like going back only a couple of decades, but getting catapulted back all the way to the 60's. In spite of the festive altar with its fresh flowers and food offerings, the smoke damage has given the room an overall sepia tint which makes it feel even older and chicken-skin eerie. Everything in the room is left the way it was from the start. Original carpet, brownish, worn thin. Original cream-colored moire drapes and sheer curtains. Two twin beds with upholstered headboards, separated by a nightstand with a built-in radio. Remember those radios with their beige woven cloth fronts and gold-rimmed knobs? Our guide Indra lifts up a corner of one of the bed covers to let us feel the original bedsheets underneath as if touching them will prove their authenticity. I need no persuading, though. The seared mirror by the door, the twin decorative plastic panels over the beds, old-fashioned table lamps, rattan seating in the corner, 4-drawer cabinets, dressing table, wayang kulit puppet in a frame, the telephone and small clunky TV have taken their hold on me. In the bathroom, the toilet is a high, slender throne with a telephone on the wall which must have seemed a luxury at the time. The tub holds fresh water and flowers. On the tub's ledge sits a black wooden bowl in the form of a duck filled with the original hotel amenities: bar of soap, small bottle of shampoo, bubble bath, a man's razor... all of it pretty grungy with age. I take it all in and wonder if the last guests that used this bathroom and slept in those beds had felt anything at all, if they had any strange sensations - a mysterious breeze maybe, a vivid dream - that foretold Kanjeng Ratu Kidul's intentions. I wonder if anyone ever thought to contact them. Unless, of course, the records of the guests were destroyed in the fire.

Much to my chagrin we were not allowed to take photographs, so I was delighted to find some pictures on the internet, taken by Roy James in 1994. http://www.jawakidul.nl/mystiek.htm Scroll all the way down. It shows the room before it was made into a shrine. The room is now dominated by an altar for, and paintings of, Kanjeng Ratu Kidul and by tributes to Soekarno in the form of large framed photographs and the Indonesian flag. In addition to the fresh flower and food offerings on the altar, you'll find a full breakfast tray on the coffee table, served fresh every morning. Visitors have also left gifts that are displayed incongruently on the beds: a silk purse, beaded necklace, wooden shoes souvenir... Maybe I should bring a lei of koa beads next time I come. Yes, there will be a next time. I promised Paul I would contact Ibu Agung Okawati, Room 327's caretaker/priestess, after the holy day of Galungan for another visit. She was working as head waitress at the time of the fire and is the one to go to for first-hand knowledge. In addition I will help Paul set up a writing workshop next year on Magic & Healing in Bali. It would include a visit to Room 327 and visits with some Balinese traditional healers. Balinese traditional healing is a huge topic that I'm planning for a future post. Stay tuned.

PS. I haven't figured out how to add a slide show to my blog or how to solve the problem with adding comments. Hopefully that will come soon. Meanwhile, please feel free to become a "Follower" of this blog so you'll get notified automatically when I publish a new post. If you're on Facebook, you can click on my posts there. Om santi santi santi om!