Home again/Om again

We're home.  26 hours after leaving we've traded the heat and humidity and lushness of Bali for the sweet chilly fresh air of Cardiff.  Our family and friends have embraced us with their loving spirits, welcoming us back, excited to reconnect.  Hugs and kisses abound.  Such a charmed circle of interesting intelligent people.  Trying to conquer our jet lag, still awakening at 3 am.  Thank goodness for Ambien.  Sipping our own rich coffee, organic salads, and excellent red wine.  Home feels nice. We are lucky.  And now the blog will retire until our next trip, wherever that may be.  Travel keeps us young, fills us with new awareness and excites our imagination.  Take a trip.  You will be glad you did.  Get outside your comfort zone, eat something exotic, feel challenged.

                               Namaste.   Sawasdee Ka.   Saibadee.   Selamat Jalan...

Last Night

So it begins, and so it ends, the last day.  Tomorrow will be long.  At least 24 hours of travel.  It is never easy to cross oceans, continents, time zones.  But so worth the effort.  We've been blessed to have experienced this short sojourn in Bali.  I always feel so enriched and rewarded being here.  And so terribly sad to depart.  Om shanti shanti shanti.   May we all enjoy peace, love, harmony.  

                                           Thanks for following my humble blog.   

                                                        Love, Lena and Ron

Rice

Tirta Empul Water Temple

Running out of Tomorrow's

So little time left, so much left to do.  I've been through these emotions before, sad to be leaving and excited to be anticipating reunions with family and friends.  Some days, after extremes of heat and feeling listless, headaches and fuzzie thinking, we admit we are ready to return home.  Then it cools off, we enjoy afternoon coffee and dinners with friends, lazy days with no agendas or requirements, soft nights swimming in a darken warm pool under the new moon, and greetings from all of the Balinese we've met who recognize us and have enriched our stay...then I hate to think of leaving!  We hired a driver yesterday and left early in the morning before it got too hot and went to see two sacred water temples.  One, Gunung Kawi, was built in the eleventh century, carved into the rock face of a mountain deep within a valley of tropical trees and streams of water.  Both men and woman have to wear sarongs wrapped around their legs as a sign of respect.  We walked the 315 steep steps down the hill to see the temple.  Sadly there were way too many people selling carved bone , sarongs, coconuts, food and drinks.  They all have the same things and each call out to you to "buy something".  It would be much more pleasant and tranquil without the intrusion, but this is the Bali way.  Even so, the scenery was beautiful, almost like finding a hidden treasure at the end of a steamy walk.  A priest dressed all in white walked the trail just ahead of us, and we were able to have a small whisk of sacred water placed on our heads for good luck.  Then we drove to the next temple, a thousand year old natural spring called "Tirta Empul".  People have been coming here to bath in the sacred waters to cleanse themselves of any bad spirits and refresh their karma. The water bubbles up from natural springs beneath the earth and is funneled into the pools via carved stone waterspouts.  We were happy with another small dribble on our heads.  From here our driver took us through tiny roads barely wide enough for one car and a passing motorcycle, through rice fields with long views of the valleys stretching all the way to Mt. Agung towering over the whole earth, it's apex shrouded in clouds.  We stopped at a scenic spot for photos of curving hillside terraces of rice where unfortunately the tourist arrive enmass and traffic is heavy.  We shot our photos and left, happy to be away from the rush of people and again driving along meandering hidden roads, seeing the real life of Bali.  Simple, poor villages, chickens, stray dogs laying in the streets, straw roofed huts, dirt and trash, flowers and temples, and always the green fields of rice.   

Sacred temple

Bed Art

Day of Silence

Today is Nyepi, known as the "day of silence".  This is an important event in Balinese Hindu culture and marks the celebration of the Lunar new year.  The airport is closed for 24 hours, the entire country is shut down.  Youu are expected to stay within your compound and no one is allowed on the streets.  It is very quiet and peaceful, a day of meditation and silence.  They came around this morning with a print out for all of the guest with the following four rules:

1- NO TRAVELING

2-NO FIRE OR LIGHTS

3-NO WORK - NO MAKING NOISE

4-NO HAVING FUN

"It is the perfect time to retreat from the hectic world". "Selamat Hari Raya Nyepi"

The night before Nyepi there is a local parade with all of the Ogah- Ogah, which are huge sculptures of  fearsome demons which are supposed to scare away the marauding bad spirits.  The neighborhood kids and adults spend a lot of time and money building these works of art.  They are then placed on grids of bamboo and some are so huge that 20-30 men are required to lift them up and carry them through the town.  It is quite a scene with the coordination of transport, the gamelan "marching band" and the hundreds of people lined up along the streets.  Carnival!  Bali style!  At the end of the night they are set on fire and hopefully any bad spirits will burn up with them.  The following day, silent day, is to confuse the bad spirits into thinking no one is home and they will not enter your home, or town, and they will continue on their way for another year.  As tourist we are extended the privelage of using electricity and being allowed to swim and talk quietly.  It is most generous when the single, childless workers spend the night here so they can continue to take care of our needs. Now there is complete silence... Even the dogs are quiet!

Ogah Ogah

Breakfast

Offerings

Bali Bagus

Beautiful Bali, how we love it here.  Time passing as in a sweet slow steady meditation.   There is no rush.  The rain and sun dictates your progression throughout the day.  The first week there was rain almost every afternoon.  The heat and humidity intense.  We often stayed in the pool while the rain came down, nothing else to do.  A couple of times the thunder and lightning were so close and sudden, we had to run to our room.  The rice terraces are maturing from bright greens to golden yellows.  Always the clouds.  We have had wonderful walks along the hidden pathways, through gardens, beside small houses, and narrow waterways to get to favorite restaurants and stores rather than on the main road.  I love these "secret" pathways.  At night you always need a flash light and in the rain it can be slippery, but it is so beautiful and natural to follow the curving quiet paths to get to where you wish to go.  Sweet smiling faces greet you as you pass and never seem to mind that you are here in their space.  The Balinese are such kind gentle people with soft voices and smiling eyes.  Remarkable when you realize how life has changed here with all the invading tourist, motorcycles, and crowding.  We enjoy all the fruits of their labors.  Beautiful lush gardens manicured by hard working men under the heat of the sun.  Rooms cleaned every day by teams of quiet young boys and girls, flowers arranged lovingly on your bed.  Fresh fruit sliced artfully and delicious foods proudly served every day.  A morning greeting like a soft song in their accented english.  We've had wonderful adventures with friends living here.  Walking one day with Alexsandra and Cathirose for brunch along the pathways to Elephant, where we enjoyed hours of conversation and fresh juices. Later wandering back by the market, stopping for croissant and coffee.  Then returning to one of their houses where we sat and talked while we watched the rain for a couple of hours. Later dashing out in a fine drizzle with sarongs over our heads to the small open air, thatched roofed restaurant we love called Lala and Lili's for a delicious dinner.  A long casual day with friends and the beautiful textures of Bali. Morning and evening offerings, small handmade trays made of woven strips of leaves filled with flowers, rice, a cookie perhaps and incense, are placed at all the shrines, in cars, on doorsteps, in shops, and even on motorcycles.  Everywhere you look are these little colorful offerings, which the birds then eat the rice and the dogs take a nip of a cookie or biscuit, scattering the offerings but no one cares.  Beauty prevails here, art is abundant.  Paintings, wood carvings, jewelry, gardens, flower arrangements.  Everywhere you look something has been touched and made beautiful.  Of course there are the usual irritations as well.  The noise from the cycles, the crowded roads which you walk alongside and the cars are just inches away from you, the Mosquitos, the buses which clog the roads bringing in the tourist that come for the day, the food that may or may not taste the same as you had the day before, probably prepared by another cook and so unexpectantly different.  But who cares really when we are treated so tenderly, and with such open hearted generosity.  

Rice N Ronnie

From Purgatory to Paradise

We left Penang and flew Kuala Lumpur.  Actually the airport is so far out of town that we decided to book a room for one night by the airport at the Tune Hotel, a chain owned by Air Asia.  Our flight the following morning to Bali was early and we weren't that interested in seeing KL.  Boy, what a dump!  The airport was crummy, the hotel was horrible.  Our room was no more than 8x8 with a phone booth bathroom.  Slamming doors and noise all night.  The air conditioner had to be on because the air quality is so terrible.  People were not friendly, very moody and unhappy.  Dark atmosphere.  The highlight of the evening was walking in the bad air back to the airport to the food court, which was very minimal.  Some rice and veggies and four bottles of water.  Couldn't wait for this night to end.  Next morning we practically ran back to the airport, got through immigration, checked our bags and got our boarding passes.  Only redeeming feature was the Starbucks, which we really needed after such a long sleepless night.  Arrived in Bali to smiling faces, sweet air and gentle breezes.  Lush green vegetation and tropical flowers.  How wonderful to return to this beautiful island.  As my brother wrote:  "It always seemed like an incredible reward after a rather strenuous Safari".   We are at peace.

Street Art

Penang, Malaysia

After prying ourselves off the beach, we flew to the island of Penang, off the north west coast of Malaysia.  The main town of Georgetown, now a Unesco World Heritage city,  is undergoing a vibrant restoration.  Our small hotel, the Ren I Tang, was located in the heart of the Indian section of town.  It felt as if we had landed in India.  Incredible.  Loud speakers blaring Indian music, food cooking everywhere along the street, sari clad woman and dark skinned men.  Wild activity.  Our first morning we opened our shutters and all the sights and smells and sounds of India came in with a vengeance.  We've eaten rich spicy curries with naan, dal and samosas.  There is much diversity in the city with large populations of Malay, Chinese and Indians all living together and creating wonderful food.  The old shop houses were especially lovely as they had beautiful tiles and covered walkways.  Many have been restored and many more are in various states of ruin, but still lived in. I loved the tiles and the covered walkways which help shield you from the brutal sun.  It is hot!  We walked around in the early part of the day and then had to take a break in our room until it cooled off and a hint of a breeze came up, around 6:30.  Then we were off again for cold beers and dinner.  The week slipped by in our simple routine of walking, eating and resting.  Lots of street art, colorful characters, and nice helpful locals who are obviously proud of their heritage.

   

Heritage Houses

Moving On

Farewell Thailand

What a great time we've had living on the beach.  It started out with anxiety about our bungalow.  We complained about the hordes of Russians who took up valuable space on the beach, smoked endless cigarettes, and let their kids run wild and ruin the atmosphere.  Then there was the wind that for a couple of weeks wore you out with it's constant power.  Later it was the glass on the beach that we collected but never seemed to be troubled by when we walked bare footed every night to the restaurants.   Slowly, a pleasurable change took place.  We mellowed out.  We started to enjoy the morning view with our coffee that was never hot enough.  We stopped caring about the Russians, and they started to go home.  We learned to be patient when ordering food because it took forever to get but it didn't matter because we were sitting on the beach and the air was sweet.  We just stopped complaining.  We started appreciating.  That was the gift.  

Venders and Reggae Bar