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Bon Journal

Paradise lost

News of bomb blasts on Kuta Beach in Bali, Indonesia shocked me out of my normal existence. More than 300 injured and close to 200 dead. Bali was paradise to me. And now we've lost that peaceful feeling.

I've been to this paradise not once but twice. The first weekend between my Jakarta consulting assignments lured me back for a week's holiday a few year's later. It's an island of microclimates, such variety of terrain, weather, and people.

Kuta Beach is to Bali like Waikiki to Oahu. It's the most densely populated beach on the island, full of tourists and pubs and discos. It's not my scene, but it bears part of my namesake.

You would think it's the safest place in the world. The local people in Bali are peaceful people. What did they do to deserve this horrific awakening? What did the vacationing tourists do to deserve this?

Where can I go to experience paradise again? Will there ever be another paradise on earth?

15 October 2002 Tuesday

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