The Daily Whine

Honeymoon, Day 3

19^th January 2007, Amankila (Manggis)

I have never seen so many mangy dogs. Ever. Bike through any
village in East Bali
and you’ll easily find
more mangy dogs than potholes, motor scooters and street signs put together.

I speak authoritatively on this matter. We biked through at
least four villages from Iseh to Sideman, and everywhere I looked, lo! Mangy
dog! Sleeping beside warung – mangy dog. Sticking head out of temple portal –
mangy dog. Digging up thrash heap – mangy dog. Lazily sprawled across
dirt track – mangy dog. Licking balls alongside stationary motor scooter – mangy
dog. Mangy dog with grandma. Mangy dog with kiddos. Mangy dog alone. Mangy dog with other mangy
dogs.

I read somewhere that the Balinese consider dogs to be
demons (Hindi tradition). They have a saying about how you never trust dogs
because they’re suspicious (substantiated by the fact that dogs are first on
the scene to wolf down any offerings left on the street). At the same time,
nearly every Balinese family keeps a dog as house security. Go figure.

Mangy Dog

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