After having a love affair with Bali for a long time and numerous trips to what feels like our 'home away from home', we have sadly faced the reality that we will not return to Bali as planned next year. A very sad decision.
I cannot, as a responsible parent, put my son through the stress of worrying if we'll return home from our trip again, I don't believe I have that right. Our son stood bravely beside my husband and I heartbroken as we watched a devastated father walk his 13yr old daughter down the aisle in white ... a white coffin rather than a bridal gown. Our son watched almost choking as he watched his best mate follow closely behind wheeling his mother in a matching coffin -realising that could have so easily have been him.
We travelled to the middle east right after Sept 11 so are not easily scared. It was not that hard for us to return to Bali a couple of times despite losing our friend and her daughter at the Sari Club as we don't frequent night clubs, so we thought that with some careful venue selection that we would be safe.
But now they are striking the places we frequent - I see the tables at Rajas we sat at only 12 weeks ago on the news broadcasts. Time to say enough. I don't have the right, I believe, to knowingly travel to such an unstable location and risk leaving our son without his parents, and there is no way I would want to risk returning from Bali without my Kuta Ken.
We love Bali - but we love life more.
I think the tourists have bravely done their bit in supporting Bali after the 2002 bombing - I think it's now time for both the Balinese people to help themselves a lot more and the Govt to support them. I would like to see the same hard line that is taken with drug importers/dealers taken with terrorists and the corruption dealt with before I will feel comfortable to return. Bashir will be out in under 3 years while C***y will be out in 20yrs .... there is something very wrong with that picture.
I can't help thinking that there must be many new recruits into the network who will want to forge links with Bashir when he is released shortly. That there will be a reshuffle in the heirachy and that the consquences of the those who will want to demonstrate their loyalty to him and JI are just too terrible to contemplate.
It is a gut wrenching decision for us to face the reality that Bali IS very unstable, we are grieving a great deal of loss.
But when we arrive at a beach and the shark alarm is ringing and we can see fins circling .....we don't go in the water.