Just back from what was supposed to be a short holiday in Bali but rather than relaxing on the beach, our trip became hunt the rindik – a bamboo xylophone unique to the island that we fell in love with after hearing it being played in a hotel lobby. We eventually found a fine example for sale at a teeming local market, bargained the price, then squeezed it into our taxi and back to where we were staying. Much of the following day was spent rustling up packing materials for the flight back to Taiwan and improvising a way of protecting this fragile beast from any rough treatment meted out by airport baggage handlers. What we ended up with was the strangest looking package, almost too big to get through the airport x-ray scanner. Reunited some hours later in Taipei the rindik was apparently safe and sound and we were ready for the great unpack. What a relief as it slowly emerged from the layers of packing undamaged. Hooray! We have a beautiful new instrument to play!
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