Dark Tourism - Trunyan Cemetery

Farid seemed overwhelmed, but he told him yes and shook his hand while introducing everyone at the table to Irman. It was a nice experience to meet someone that was willing to help show them around the Trunyan Cemetery. The cemetery in Trunyan is known to the many as The Dark Tourist Spot. This is the place where villagers sail their dead in canoes to rot in the open air. The cemetery itself is isolated. Shielded by steep and jungled slopes, it rests on the shores of a vast highland crater lake.

All four of them got up and followed Irman. Everyone seemed to have just left and next up was the group of friends, a small group of people, and Irman.

Finally, a small undecked motorised fishing boat arrived to get them to the cemetery. While on the way there, Hidir was making silly jokes and making fun of Azman's fear of the water. Eventually all laughs would come to a stop as Farid and everyone began to smell a very strong ugly stench in the air. Everyone was confused on what it was until Irman began talking about what the place was about and what that stench was. It was the smell of rotten bodies all over, but after a few minutes they got used to it.

The boat ride took about 20 minutes. The boat finally came to a stop and let everyone out, Farid was first to get out and to follow Irman while the rest trailed behind. Farid and the others followed Irman up the trail that led up to the main part, while on the way there - he would talk about the area and what it was about. A place where villagers would place dead bodies in a bamboo cage under the Taru Menyan Tree or "fragrant tree", which was where the rotting smell came from. The tree was supposed to overpower the rotting smell but somehow from afar, the smell of death and whiffs of formaldehyde seemed to fill the air. The Taru Menyan was a towering, tangled, mossy tree that looked like an ancient banyan dominated the open-air cemetery. "There are actually two cemeteries in Trunyan. This one reserved for those whose life's journey counts as complete," Irman explained.

"Everyone here had been married when they died," he said. "People who die before they are married, or drown in the lake, we put in the earth."

Once everyone got close to the cemetery, they could see it for themselves. The cemetery was filled with litter and grime. A human thighbone was found to be casually discarded beside an ancient flip-flop amid a clutter of empty dishes. This place where the Bali Aga left their dead to rot certainly had a strange serenity. Bizarrely, there was no more smell of death. The corpses, shielded by bright umbrellas and dressed in their favourite clothes, felt at peace. And the gaze of the skulls in the ossuary seemed calm, their journey over and spirits flown. Farid was very pleased and interested in all of it, while Hidir began to make jokes about it and it started to get old fast.

Hidir came across this body that was severely burnt, almost to bones and started to laugh at it. Irman gave Hidir a stern look, then he galnced towards us. His eyes were telling them to keep him under control and to stop laughing. Farid grabbed Hidir's shoulder and told him to stop the laughing before they got in trouble. Hidir shook his head and stopped his childish laughing. Hidir then looked through a palm leaf cage into the empty eyes of a man whose blackened flesh still clung to his skull, and caught only the faintest whiff of decay. Hidir started to call out to the dead man and invited 'him' to come to Singapore for sightseeing. Farid pulled Hidir by the shoulder and said, "You better stop your nonsense, Hidir! You are going to get us into trouble with the spirits!" Hidir just shrugged his shoulders in a familiar attitude of annoyance.

Azman then asked Irman, "How could you look at the decaying remains of your cousin you had loved and not feel grief?"

Irman replied spontaneously, "In the cemetery, our loved ones do not feel any grief. This is our culture."

The day went on and it was time to for the group to leave. The day was getting but there were some things around the main island to check out. It was a weekend and the many places in Kuta offered them loads of excitement. Farid took them to this little place called Warung Lalapan Santai to eat so they could have a full meal before leaving the place or going to a nearby area that had entertainment. Farid and the others went around enjoying their time together having a blast, but it was finally time to leave. Azmi called a cab to pick them up and drop them off at their hotel. It was late, around 11 at night with nothing to do. They were not just tired, they were exhausted with all the exploration they did, it was about time for them to pass out any minute. They all had a quick shower and then jumped into their beds. Farid and Hidir slept on the same bed while the brothers Azmi and Azman were on the other bed. Azman had it on the Sports Channel since they all loved English Premier League Football and had been missing a few games coming to Bali, but for them it was worth it. They learned just about everything they could know about over there and things they never even heard of. An experience none of them would ever forget.