There was a bang on my hotel room door early on Sunday morning. "Mister! Phone call from Canada! Mister!" yelled the desk clerk through the door. It had to be Ian calling from Kuta, as he was the only one with the phone number. As I waited in the open-air lobby for Ian to call back the friendly desk clerk struck up a conversation. "Terrible what is happening in Kuta…".
     "Yes, very terrible," I replied, assuming that he was referring to the debauched surfers’ culture that has been developing in Kuta over the years.
    "… Yes, the bomb."
    "What bomb?" I asked, surprised.
    "Bomb. Kuta. Last night in the Sari Club. Seventeen dead," said the Balinese man.
    “Seventeen dead??" I questioned him. I had just spent one week in Kuta, walking past the Sari Club several times each night.
    "NO. Seven-TEE," he replied, heavily stressing the "TEE". I was shocked as Bali has always been such a peaceful place. Ian called back several minutes later – there had been a huge bomb, many dead, he was ok but it had been close. I was happy that he was not hurt but amazed at the news.

     One week ago Kuta Beach was a bustling beach resort town filled with cheap hotels, restaurants, surf shops, souvenir stalls and CD sellers. Walking down the crowded streets one would encounter sounds of "Hey dude!" from board-carrying surfers, offers of "Transport", "Women" or "Weed" and the distinctive rhythmic beating of Balinese bamboo drums.

     This was Indonesia’s most popular traveler’s resort, packed with package holiday tourists and backpackers here to surf, relax and enjoy the peaceful Balinese culture. As Australia is just across the water, the majority of travelers were Australian, but people from all over the world flock here for the cheap and easy life.

     Now an eerie silence has descended upon Kuta, the tourists gone, the atmosphere subdued. All that remains are a handful of tourists and locals milling about in confusion wondering how this could have happened on their island.

     Canadian travelers, although increasing in number, are still relatively rare in Bali. For one week prior to the explosion I was in Kuta Beach with my friend, Ian Veinot, both of us from Halifax. On Sunday I was several hours from Kuta and throughout the day more and more news began to trickle through. 70 dead. 100 dead. 150 dead. The full horror of the blast became apparent.

     "I am so sorry, this should not have happened," a restaurant owner said to me. "Bali is safe. Jakarta – problem. Timor – problem. Banda Aceh – problem. Bali – always peace. Why now?"

     May shop owners, hotel workers and restaurateurs were very emotional. They were feeling sad for the victims and angry as they realized that the tourism industry, their economy, had also died with that bomb. It will take years for Bali to recover.

     Ian Veinot was supposed to be in the Sari Club that night but ended up chatting to some other tourists only 500m away. At approximately 1130pm he heard a massive explosion and felt the shock of the blast hit him in the face. A huge mushroom-shaped cloud quickly rose over the area dwarfing the local buildings. Soon after the sky was lit with the raging fires which rapidly engulfed the ruined structures. Several tourists wanted to see what was happening but Ian encouraged them to stay back.

     Slowly people began to filter back from the attack. Ashley, an Australian whom Ian had made plans to meet earlier in the evening, had been in the Sari Club during the blast. He related to Ian his harrowing tale – people screaming, the roof collapsing, utter confusion and then desperately scrambling in his bare feet over the back wall of the club and surrounding buildings to get to safety. Covered in blood, a badly burned back and punctured eardrum – Ashley was one of the lucky ones.

     Ian helped the dazed Ashley as best he could and tried to convince him not to go back to the scene to help others. There was a huge stream of people fleeing the area and anything could have happened in the confusion.

     Ian spent the rest of the night talking to others, trying to gather what had happened. In the morning he returned to his hotel, which was about 100m from the explosion – the roof had been blown away and windows smashed. He was encouraged to pack his things and join the exodus of other tourists leaving the area. He was badly shaken by the event and feels incredibly lucky that he was not one of the many victims.

     Many tourists have left Bali and many others are making plans to leave. I am staying. I feel that this is a good time to be in Bali – security has been rapidly increased, the hotels are empty and the Balinese desperately need whatever financial help they can get.

     I have always felt a strong bond with the Australians I have met. Many people think of Australia as the "Canada Down Under". With few controversial foreign policies, easy-going people and an excellent quality of life Australians are similar to Canadians in many ways. Those who bombed the Sari Club in Kuta would have known that the majority of the patrons would be young Australians. Up to this point most terrorist attacks have been aimed at the United States and their foreign policy. If Australians can be targeted, will Canadians be next?