Lovely Lovina

The lonely planet guide describes Lovina as calm. The waves are calm,the people are calm, the bars are calm. Allyson and I had a very calm time. We left the busy Ubud with or adorable driver and our guide books. I love that Allyson had an itinerary planned and I could just enjoy! Our first adventure was a very non tourist waterfall called Sing Sing. Several locals greeted us at the car and we said that we did think we needed guides. They laughed and came anyway. We are off the beaten path in minutes and very glad to have our guides. I have always loved rock walking and this path really gave us the chance. Back and forth across the creek we come to the first waterfall. We uhhh and ahhh a bit and they point up a steep rockie path and say let's go. At this point I am very happy to hold hands with my guide as he carefully shows me the way and pulls me over the rough spots. We are delighted with a 40 foot crashing waterfall and big swimming hole. We enjoyed a lovely cool shower Bali style. After the barefoot climb back down we are delighted to pay our guides $5.

The next stop is a remote Chinese Buddhist Temple and monastery. It is quiet and serene, filled with reclining Buddha, Buddhas adorned with flowers and other offerings and lots of cushions for meditation. I enjoyed this sacred place and practiced my favorite 2 minute meditation that I learned from Swami Rama.

A few minutes down the road we stopped at a hot springs that reminded me alot of Harbin. Lot's of locals and a few tourist (all with clothes on) enjoyed the warm healing waters.

At last we arrive at the Sea Breeze, a darling little resort owned by an Australian couple. It is calm. We relaxed by the pool and walked the beach at sunset. Then enjoyed fresh tuna and Bintang beers. A local group of musician entertained us. Early to bed and early to rise, we take a small motorized canoe to a great snorkeling site. The coral is sadly dieing but the fish are amazing. I feel like I am living with Nemo and all his friends. Paolo would love this! Tiny blue fish, schools of black fish, clown fish, angel fish, colorful fish all easy to see from the surface. A few hundred feet away we can see Balinese fisherman standing in thigh high water fishing for our lunch. We are driven back and forth from our dive site on the back of motorcycles. A taxi was not on option.

Before we head back to Ubud our Australian hosts wants to talk real estate and walks me down the street to meet his real estate agent. For less than $100,000 you too can own a piece of paradise. Tempting! Can I call this a business trip?