there's a hole in my...tree? there is at bunut bolong!

Sunday 18th October 2009

so i heard about this tree, that's supposed to have a hole right through the middle of it where cars can pass through. hmmm, really? this was something worth checking out. the fact that aforementioned tree is in Negara district didn't bother me at all. an hour and 45 minutes later on my humble little moped i was beginning to wonder whether it was worth it, when at the turn of the bend...the tree came into sight...bunut bolong. bunut is a kind of fig tree and bolong means hole in bahasa bali - so the name means hole in the fig tree. and it was rather a spectacular vision. the tree itself was huge, with its gnarled roots creating a beautiful tunnel that in my childhood would have been the perfect place to create secret worlds and fantastical hideouts. from there it stetched its branches way up into the sky and it was very quiet, very peaceful...a calmness around it that felt quite comforting, this tree that embraces the road with a temple on either side of it. and sure enough, just about everything was passing through it...cars, motorbikes, people, dogs...and the best part...no bus loads of tourists piling out of their giant coaches...snapping their photos and then bussing off to the next location on the list of 'must-see's'. it was just me...and a tree...and oh, what a tree!

Bunut Bolong,

Manggisari, Negara