The Greeters of Trunyan Village Cemetery

A boat took us to the far side of the caldera to a remote village only accessible by water. Trunyan Village is one of the oldest in Bali and isolated for so long that they developed their own unusual customs that continue to this day, like leaving their deceased in bamboo cages rather than burying or cremating them.

I have been Indiana Jonesin' for adventure since Raiders of the Lost Ark was released, and that's why I came here. I am not disappointed. Yes, I had butterflies and a pounding heart, but I had just eaten an excellent meal worthy of my last one before being devoured by zombies or possessed by lost souls.

There is room for only eleven cages with bodies left to return to the earth. If a twelfth person dies, the family of the oldest corpse must come and disassemble it to make room for the new one, setting the skull and bones on the pile of others.

Trash was littered about everywhere: a razor, silverware, broken plates and teacups, a pair of crutches. I wondered why people would disrespect a cemetery like that, but then I realized it wasn't garbage. I saw colorful rupiah and silver coinage too. It was treasure and useful goods left for the dead to use on the other side.

We were warned not to take any because the dead would follow us to retrieve it, so I left them a gift of dried mango and a $1.28 just to make sure. I know the shy and observant monkeys loitering above in the thousand-year-old banyan tree will enjoy the mango later.

A foul scent of decomposing bodies did not fill my nostrils. There was no scent at all. Apparently, the banyan tree dominating the small clearing in the jungle eliminates the smell.

The caretaker of the cemetery said it was ok to take pictures. In fact, he encouraged us to pick up a skull and pose with it.

That was just going too far for me, crossing my own personal line of decency. I backed away and stumbled over a femur. I should have worn hiking shoes instead of flip-flops.

As we turned to leave, an old Asian man leaned toward me and nodded with a toothless smile, "Nice body!"

My initial reaction was, "Yes! It is quite functional, thank y... Hey...wait a minute..." No words came out while I blinked and pondered what he may have meant by that.
Read less