Sandra Yeaman

“Bali Beach House – Bale” (CC BY 2.0) by  Jesse Wagstaff 

Merriam-Webster defines Xanadu as an idyllic, exotic, or luxurious place. My image of Xanadu is what I saw in Bali, Indonesia, on an all too short stay as I traveled from Iran in 1977 back to the United States through Asia.

Everything in Bali looked perfect. White sand beaches, turquoise water, brilliant green rice paddies outlined clearly as the terraces that separated them rise up the hillsides.

“sunova-surfboards-bert-burger-photograph” (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0) by  Sunova Surfboards 

“Indonesia 7” (CC BY 2.0) by  Victor Velez 

Even the cattle looked as though they had been painted so each was a duplicate of all others.

By Bart Speelman from Pemuteran, Bali, Indonesia – Medewi Morning Bali, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=11595580

When I think of paradise, the image formed in my mind is of a simple cottage with windows overlooking the sea, a palm tree just outside the window, and perhaps a cloud or two in the sky. That would be my Xanadu.