Rain!

Thankfully it rained the other day.  Only lasted around two hours but came down steadily.  Woke us up around 5 am.  We sat out on our porch and enjoyed the fresh breeze and the cool air.  We decided to skip breakfast and go for a long walk in the rice fields while we had cloud cover and everything was damp and green in the soft light.  What a gorgeous walk.  Long vistas, endless clouds, rice paddies reflecting the sky in the water.  Friendly farmers greeting us with mostly toothless grins and pleasant "Salamat Pagi", Indonesian for "good morning".  Just as we began to question the path which got a bit obscure, we found a simple wooden hut with a guy selling fresh coconuts, and he showed us where to cross the river.  Took a couple of hours to complete, wandering along slowly, totally enchanted with the scenery.  Hope it rains again!

Morning Walk~ Rice Fields

Morning

The morning begins with birdsong.  Like clockwork.  6 am and the birds erupt in a cacophony of chirping, screeching, cooing, and exotic singsong patterns.  Just before the sun.  It is a wonderful way to awaken.  We sit on our porch while the air is fresh and watch the day begin.  Still quiet.  Soon though all the workers are out in the gardens sweeping fallen leaves, putting out the pool cushions, vacuuming the pool.  Yesterday they trimmed the trees and all the shrubs.  We came back to our second story porch only to realize the tree that had grown so high and lush since our last trip had once again been cut way back.  Instead of a bright green tree we now have a bifurcated trunk with a few green leaves to look at.  But, it also gave us a direct view to the sacred stratovolcano Mount Agung, the highest point on the island.   It dominates the horizon.  I love seeing it.  An hour or so after sunrise the clouds obscure the apex and it is no longer visible.  The loss of the tree was shocking, but the view of the mountain was our reward.  By 8 am it is too hot to be in the sun.  By 10 am it is brutal.  By 1pm we are usually back in our room, the A/C on high.  It is just so damn hot.  It drains you of all energy.  Even the pool feels too hot sometimes.  I got so stir crazy yesterday that we finally went across the street to a small cafe and had cuppachino and pastry.  Played with the little puppy.   Then back to the pool.  The days seem to play out in a similar pattern.  Awake with the birds, one of the girls bring coffee up to our room.  Then we swim some laps before anyone else is in the pool.  Shower, and breakfast after 9 when most people have gone off on their day trips.  After breakfast we carry our iced lemongrass tea back to our room and make a plan.  Usually go for a walk along the pathways, see the ducks, say hallo to some locals we recognize, buy something at the market, look at textiles or clothes along the way, then return to our room drenched from walking in the heat.  Read, write, swim... Evenings we meet with friends, take a driver to town, eat wonderful food, wander the streets and look in shops.  It is so much nicer to shop at night.  Not as hot, but still hot enough that the sweat is running down my neck and chest.  We always want a table beneath a ceiling fan.  Cold beers are like water.  Lots of different cultures here, many languages being spoken.  Some nights we skip going to town and walk with our flashlites down the paths to our old favorite Lala and Lily's.  We saw a small cobra on the path the other night.  A local farmer came along and we showed it to him.  He just happened to have a long handled scythe in his hand.  We moved along.  I don't think he killed it.  He just grunted and watched it for a while.  The crickets have now come to life, their chirping loud.  It is 8:05 and too hot to sit outside on our porch any longer.  Coffee finished, the same soft Balinese music emanating from our restaurant, it is time for a swim.

Around Ubud

Rice Trails and Offerings

Moving On~ Thailand/Bali

We flew to Singapore after two wonderful weeks of floating in the 83* sea, wandering barefoot in the wet sand to eat in restaurants with bamboo tables set in the sand, candlelit and moon light providing the ambiance, good music emanating from the cafe.  Fresh seafood, rice noodles, hot sauce made from scratch, and always the coldest Singha beer with a few drops of lime.  Floating in the gentle surf for hours then returning to our chaise, mesmerized watching the billowy white clouds passing overhead.  Meditating on the beauty of life.   Perfecting the Art of Doing Nothing.  Time to leave.  Friends kissing farewell, laughter at silly selfie photos, last glasses of wine and final dinners drawn out as long as possible.  You know it was good when you don't want it to end.  But Bali was next, so we kissed many friends goodby, made reservations for two years in advance, took the taxi to Koh Samui Airport, checked the bags, waited around, spent our last thousand Baht on two pairs of flip flops, and flew to Singapore.  Beautiful airport.  The best in the world.  Shopping extravaganza, food stalls to make your mouth water.  We ordered the famous Hainanese Chicken Rice.  The rice is the star of the show as it is cooked slowly in the rich stock made from the chicken.  Very pure and simple, and delicious.  Simple chopped spicy pickled tidbits, greens with crispy fried shallots, some chicken, and several hot sauces, one hotter than the next.  Beats most airport food anywhere else I have eaten.  Then the two hour flight to Bali, arriving as the sun was settling and the sky was washed in reds and purples and oranges.  Beautiful welcome from our favorite island.  Our driver was waiting and it turned out to be "Badboy" the same driver we had our last trip.  I recognized him and called out his name, and he was obviously happy that I remembered him.  I always love the first drive up to Ubud.  The winding narrow streets lined with shops selling hundreds of statues, wood carvings, paintings, and basketry.  We were back!  The next morning we went for a walk through the rice fields along the secret little pathways hidden from view, used by the locals and the travelers in the know.  It felt so good to be here, I had tears in my eyes.  People often ask me why I return to the same places over and over.  How do you explain that emotion that you feel when you are back in the place where you have experienced the most exquisite array of happiness and joy, the familiarity not a negative, but a positive.  All I know is that I love this sweet breathtakingly beautiful section of Bali, and every time I come I am filled with gratitude.

Hainanese Rice~Singapore Airport

Parting Shots

Koh Samui, Thailand

Back on our favorite beach, Maenam, for ten days now.  The front row bungalow we reserved two years ago when we left after our last trip.  Familiar and comfortable.  Many of the same people come every year so we are greeted with much fanfare and hugs..."the Californians".  Living just 30 feet or so from the water, experiencing nature at its best.   Our habit is to rise just before the sun and walk out to the water and swim in the tranquil, smooth 83* ocean as the sun rises above the low hills to the south.  No wind yet so the water is like glass.  Very quiet and peaceful.  Later as the wind picks up, so does the small ripples and current, so at 6:30 it is easy to swim along the shoreline.  We both had some challenges our first week, Ronnie catching the cold, fever and sore throat that it seems most everyone here had.  And me cutting the sole of my foot on a sharp palm root sticking up out of the sand.  Not so great when you are walking each day in course sand.   I bought many waterproof bandaids and antibiotic and walked less than usual.  Finally Ron did a heroic snip of the dangling chad of skin with his nail clippers and remarkably the wound healed much faster.  Our dear friends Ricardo and Plaa made sure we had our comfortable beach chaise they keep for us, the hammock and some bamboo mats.  Ricardo picked us up at the airport and brought us to Maenam Resort just at sunset and we shared a beer on the porch and settled in for two weeks.  The weather has been perfect!  Hot, but not as hot as Cambodia...at least ten degrees cooler at a steady 88* but with nice breezes as we are on the windward side of the island.  We have trained the young Thai waiter to bring us "hot" milk with our tepid morning coffee, and fruit salad with mango, no pineapple.   Slowly he understands and high fives me when he finally remembers to bring two hot milks.  How can we complain as we sit looking out over the coconut palms to the sea, billowy white clouds dancing across the deep blue sky.  We walk up the beach for dinner after a sunset cocktail on our porch, sitting at bamboo tables in the sand with tiki torches and candles and decent jazz from our favorite beach restaurant.  Food is decent, the view is superb.  A friend we met here four years ago, Sabine, is back and I have enjoyed many hours chatting with her.  She teaches the history of fashion at the university level, and it is fascinating to listen to her share insights in how designs are created,  see photos of inside the house of Chanel, and realize the fine art involved in designing couturier shows.  Of course we are all sitting around in little more than our bathing suits, no cosmetics, hair tied in a bun.  I go to town in search of light cotton, wide legged pants and she goes to town searching for designer clothes which she knows hide in amongst the cheap copies.  And she put on a fashion show of her seven or eight finds!  A Chanel dress and shoes, two Pucci dresses and a sexy white lacy dress that was shown in a photo of a starlet in a magazine she showed me.  Very cheap here, she saves thousands of Euros.  Such a fun girl day.  Yesterday we took a ride in the back of a truck taxi called a "songtao" to the port town of Nathon.  We met up with Ricardo who drove up from his house and did a bit of shopping, hit the French bakery and drove to the southern end of the island.  We had a most delicious lunch at his favorite cafe called Sweet Sisters.  Incredible Burmese tea leaf salad, fish cakes, and wraps.  All organic with edible flowers and herbs.  Then we went to his house for a few hours, watched the sunset, and went to pick up Plaa for an evening back in Maenam for the walking street.  Eating little unique foods like sticky rice cakes grilled to a crunchy texture, grilled chicken on a stick, tiny warmed green balls of rice flower rolled in fresh coconut that when you bite into them they release a warm burst of palm sugar.  Cold cold beer, and the wonderful half coconut filled with homemade coconut ice cream that I love so much.  A most perfect day with friends.

Breakfast~Lunch

Sarong Shopping

On the Beach

iPhone Speaker ~ High Tech meets Low Tech

Phnom Penh

Touring around Cambodia is very easy.  You can hire a private car and driver and leave at your own choice of time, or take the mini bus with about twelve other people in a large van, or brave the local big buses.  We hired drivers so we could leave when we wanted, usually around 11:00 in the morning after a leisurely breakfast and final swim.  Simply ask your guesthouse manager to set it up.  Most of the cars were either Toyota Camry or Lexus 300XS.  One driver told us most of these cars come used from America.  The roads are narrow, normally two lanes with dirt shoulders.  Everyone uses their horns to signal passing but never in anger.  But it can be quite nerve racking as both sides use the middle to pass and often you have to slip back into your lane just inches from the fender of the car or truck you just passed.  We always felt pretty good about the drivers except one who we asked to slow down.  He overcompensated and went very slowly after that... On the last drive to Phnom Penh, the driver got a phone call as we were nearing the city, and after a short conversation handed me his phone.  The guy on the phone explained in fair English that the driver would have to drop us off at the airport out of town and he would pay a tuktuk to take us into the city due to traffic.  I said that was not our arrangement and he was to take us to our hotel.  The guy then said it is no problem "Madam" because the driver will pay the tuktuk.  I said "no" we needed to go to the hotel.  Round and round we spoke with him saying "no problem" and me saying "no".  Meanwhile Ron used his cellphone to call the Secret Garden where we had been staying and who had arranged the driver for us.  Thankfully the Cambodian manager answered the phone and he was amazingly helpful.  We gave our phone to the driver, who by the way spoke no English, and they had quite a conversation in Cambodian.  Meanwhile I was holding onto the drivers phone.  Some sort of agreement was reached and we again spoke with the manager who explained to us the driver got another job picking up a tourist at 4:00 at the airport and was worried he wouldn't make it to the hotel and back to the airport because of traffic.  No matter, we had a deal and he had to take us to the hotel.  There was no way we were riding in an open tuktuk one hour from the airport to the hotel.  The exhaust would have killed us.  This is where having a phone can be extremely helpful.  But we liked the poor driver and his predicament was causing us some stress as we cursed every red light and every construction site that slowed traffic into town.  The congestion was horrible but we made it to the hotel and I think he had enough time to get back to the airport for his pickup, and five hour drive back to the beach.  Arriving in Phnom Penh after the peaceful time in Kep and Otres Beach was a stunning change of pace.  Besides the congestion and traffic our lungs were assaulted by the smog and exhaust.  But our hotel, The Pavilion, was simply wonderful.  Another sanctuary from all the noise and chaotic activity.  The grounds were part of the royal family's home many years ago, hence the beautiful older colonial building and mature gardens.  Service was quietly excellent.  We had a big room with high ceilings that were embossed with lots of detail, four poster bed and lace netting, and large modern bathroom.  A grand sweeping staircase took us downstairs to one of two pools.  But once you walked out the heavy wooden gates, past the elephant statues the full on assault came to life.  Crossing the street was a major act of self preservation.  Thankfully we found sweet cafes and a few nice shops.  My favorite was called Bobo, owned by an Australian Xpat with good taste and and lots of lovely clothes, hand dyed sarongs, and an interesting collection of jewelry and beaded baskets.  We spent our last three nights in PP and all told we slept in ten different beds in 26 days, took six private cars to different areas, one boat ride, and lots of tuktuks.  Our flight was scheduled for 1:30 so we left the hotel at 11:00 am for the hour drive to the airport, and flew one hour to Bangkok.  We managed to run through most of the airport from International to domestic as we only had little more than an hour between flights, got through security, the transit check, visa on arrival, and made it to the gate for our flight to Koh Samui with five minutes to spare!  

Bicycle Rickshaw and Tuktuks~Phnom Penh

Sanctuary~The Pavilion