a short story
about the Skull Island in Bali
by
Dr Elmi Zulkarnain Osman
After many weeks, Farid and a group of friends finally managed to set up a date to go to an 'adventurous' and 'dark' tourist site called Trunyan Cemetery located within Trunyan Village. This village is a remote mountain village on the eastern lakeside of Mount Batur, in central Bali's Kintamani highlands. The village was inhabited by people who call themselves the "Bali Aga" or old Bali who live in ways that are vastly different from other Balinese. Trunyan dates back to at least 911 CE. Like most Balinese, the Bali Aga follow Bali's eccentric brand of Hinduism, but every village cluster, like the group of villages Trunyan heads, also has its own religious rituals and beliefs. The Bali Aga has a strange way of burial. Instead of cremating their corpses, the Bali Aga simply places them under this banyan tree. It was something that they've been planning together for quite some time, and now it was their chance to experience it. The group of guys going were Farid, Hidir, Azman, and Azmi. Farid and the others were close and love to go out and enjoy some time together like any other group of friends would do.
Farid and all of his friends kept in contact through messaging to make sure they got the date, time, and location correct before meeting up. All of them have been in contact with each other for a while but it was about time they do something fun and exciting at the same time. Everyone sent out their last bit of texts before bed and went off to sleep getting ready for the next day.
Once the morning came, everyone rushed to get to Changi Airport. The flight to Bali was a calm, soundless ride with things going right. The flight only took 2 hours and once they have safely cleared the immigration at Denpasar International Airport, a van was waiting to pick them up to transfer them a hotel. They were fortunate not to be pestered by many taxi touts waiting just outside the terminal building.
Upon reaching the hotel located at Seminyak, they rested for a while in their respective rooms and then decided to go on the "beach mode". They waited for sunset. Seminyak really knew how to sunset. This was when Seminyak Beach really came to life. Locals and visitors all flocked to the beach and the atmosphere was great. As the stars in the sky turned brighter, the music became louder and the beach started filling up with people dancing, chatting and flirting. The DJ did a great job in engaging with crowd and keeping the "dance floor" alive.
It was 9am. All them were exhausted from all the partying. They had a quick breakfast at the hotel and soon enough, Farid and all three found themselves cramped up in a cab. They were still having a joyful time with tons of laughter, Azmi would keep pointing out cool looking buildings while Hidir would point out random things to make everyone laugh.
Finally, after the long drive, the group made it to wooden jetty where the stunning Mount Batur looked on. After 40 minutes, they managed to cross the Trunyan Lake safely and reached small village in Batur. Farid suggested that they cool down for a bit and go to the 'café' nearby. It was just a block away from the boating dock so it wasn't a bad idea to do.
Farid and the group went inside and ordered something small so they wouldn't over fill themselves with food. Something like a snack would do the job. Farid paid for everyone and even tipped a young lady working there, he felt generous and wanted to treat everyone. While in the middle of a conversation, this man came up to the table and introduce himself.
"Hi welcome to Trunyan Village! You must be here for the Trunyan Cemetery huh guys? Well if so them you just met the right person! My name is Irman Sukana, and I'm the tour guide that will show you around the cemetery – for just a small fee. Would you guys like to come join me?"
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.
Farid was watching the TV and got up to get a glass of water. Everyone was just falling asleep and getting ready for the next day. Farid went back to the bed and crashed out.
Farid started to slowly wake up since he heard someone talking / mumbling words. He tried to play it off but it got even louder. Azmi woke up and turned on the lamp only to look straight into Hidir's face. Hidir's face was not looking right, his eyes were pure white and his mouth was foaming up with words they couldn't understand. Everyone was freaking out and panicking while Farid started to shake Hidir trying to wake him up. Nothing was working and Hidir began to get louder and mumble more words, his body was very tense and seemed like he was flexing every piece of his body. The terror went on for about 30 minutes until they got a hold of Hidir after he got up and fell flat onto his face going unconscious. We called for help via the hotel's front desk. We got to the BIMC Hospital Kuta as fast as we could to get Hidir checked out.
They imminently rushed him inside and put him in a room. Farid and the others had to wait in the waiting room and sat there hoping that Hidir was going to be okay. Close to 40 minutes went past by before Farid crashed out and fell asleep on the chair.
Then a loud sound of the door slammed opened calling out all of the guys to come into the room. Everyone got up quickly and followed behind the doctor. They then opened the door and Hidir looked horrible, he seemed very sick. His eye balls were rolling back and forth in their sockets and the white parts showed. Farid looked at the doctor and the doctor said, "Your friend here had a very bad reaction to something causing him to spaz out like you guys said. He may look very ill but he will be okay, I have given him a chlordiazepoxide injection. And hey, it's best if you guys fly out in the next few hours then wait till tomorrow morning."
Farid told him his thanks and went to help out Hidir out the hospital bed and sat him on a wheelchair. Azman then started to wheel Hidir out slowly to the front office for the discharge. Hidir's hands and fingers were seen clenched tight. At times a bad odour, like sulphur, came from Hidir. Farid and all the others then quickly rush back to the hotel. Arrangements had already been made to bring Hidir back home quickly via an early morning flight.
On the ride to the airport, they tried to talk to Hidir but nothing would come out of his mouth, so the group of friends decided to take some time to sleep. It seemed like time was flying by because they arrived at the airport in no time. Everyone got in the plane and Azmi helped hold Hidir up to his seat. He could barely walk and hold up his strength. The flight trip was going to go by quick since all of them were so tired, and it did.
They woke up and it was 6 a.m. The sun was just coming up and the plane just landed, but Hidir was still acting strange and not the same. He looked very ill and the group decided to take him home and see what his parents could do to help. The whole time during the plane he kept mumbling things out. He grabbed Farid's hand and looked him right in his eyes not saying anything. This made Farid very uncomfortable. Once they made it to his house, Hidir's parents were waiting at the Arrival Hall for him. They went up and hugged him and then Hidir started to scream out words no one could not understand.
"Aku bukan anak engkau! Aku bukan anak engkau!" Hidir screamed with a shrilled voice. He started to scratch his face almost as if he was trying to get it off. His parents got him inside the car and took him to the hospital right away.
All of Hidir's friends were really worried about this. Farid then got a call from the parents. They said that they did not know what was wrong with Hidir. None of the doctors they consulted were able to explain clearly what kind of illness Hidir was suffering from. His parents were advised by a few psychiatric experts to put Hidir in a special place due the severity of his condition. They started to weep on the phone and in the background, you could still hear Hidir screaming. Farid hung up the phone, not wanting to hear any of it.
Five months passed by and Farid went to go check up on Hidir at the Institute of Mental Health. He never heard any further news about him so he decided to go see how Hidir was doing for himself. Farid went upfront and asked to see Hidir. The ward's Senior Staff Nurse stopped typing and looked up at him with a worried face. She slowly, and nervously grabbed the phone telling someone across the line that someone wanted to see Hidir.
Farid was taken to a room accompanied by 2 male nurses. One of the nurses then showed him Hidir but through a screen. Hidir was not to be seen face to face with anyone other than medical employees inside the ward. Hidir looked angry, definitely not in a good condition. He did not say anything. He stared at Farid for a few seconds before the anger on his face turned into a worried, pitiful look. Farid's heart sank when he saw the restraints. Hidir was physically restrained. He was tied to the side of a bed, to prevent self-harm and harm to medical staff. Hidir's face was pale and his flesh was light purple. He also had scratches all over his body.
One of the nurses then whispered into Farid's left ear, "I think your friend needs help. Not like the kind of help in this hospital but an alternative treatment. I know of an Ustaz if you need one. Not a Bomoh but someone religious who could probably save your friend's life." Farid stood still. He could not respond or he just did not know how to respond. All he knew was that he could not take it anymore and requested to take his leave. Suddenly, Farid felt a cold a cold breeze as if someone had walked past him. He left the place and never went back.
Just one month later, Farid got a call from Hidir's parents telling him that their son had just passed away. It was a difficult time for Farid, but he knew what Hidir had done and the repercussions of his actions. Hundreds of people gathered at the Muslim cemetery in Choa Chu Kang. Nothing felt right for Farid, Azman and Azmi. Throughout the burial ritual, the three of them kept seeing unexplained shadows from the corner of their eyes. It felt very off. Almost as if something was there watching over their shoulders.
*** The End ***
Translation for Malay phrases:
"Aku bukan anak engkau! Aku bukan anak engkau!" – "I am not your son! I am not your son!"