My favorite spot in Bali

I have been back for over 2 weeks and the first question that most people ask me is "what was your favorite spot?" I loved many parts of India, Jaipur, the elephant sanctuary, the full moon on the Ganges River in Varanasi but my favorite 3 days was my trip to Amed a small beach town in Bali. We drove about 2 hours east to the this tiny town. Found a place called "Good Karma" with little houses built right on the beach. I could put on my snorkel and mask and swim an amazing reef right in front of the resort. At low tide, the coral came al the way to the waters edge. We could see great coral everywhere. The fish were colorful and plentiful! I swam for hours every day. One day we drove about an hour on a new road. Village children ran to wave at us as we drove by. We found a small restaurant with a covered table built over the sea. Issac ordered for us. First we had mango lassies (smoothies) and lunch took a while. On the property, was a small fresh water pond and the owner caught our fish while we sipped our lassies! Simple, delicious, FRESH fish!

Back at the Good Karma, I enjoyed my "do nothing "place. A view of the sea and a hand full of other quiet tourist, the perfect place to think, journal, meditate and do nothing. I felt that after 60 plus days of travel that I finally unwound. I have had time to heal. I fell complete with this part of my sabbatical. I have 3 more days in paradise. More later.

Jogjakarta November 28, 2008

I am in a place I have never heard of with a new friend, Issac Zikri. Issac was the coordinator for parts of my Yoga trip in Bali. He is a fantastic handler. He speaks 7 languages and knows his way around the block. He offered to show me Jogjakarta, a city about one hour flight away. We went to a typical local place for breakfast that had a great local band, at 9:00AM. Then we drove to Borobudur, a 6th century Buddhist Temple that was covered for hundreds of years by volcanic ash. Excavation began about one hundred years ago. It is built so that you can climb it. Steep steps up to a circular walk way, once or twice around you see wonderful Buddhas. The walls tell stories of family life, religious ceremonies, deities, nature, animals all in stone work. Amazing. I meditated and did some yoga and tried to see what it must have been like 1500 years ago.

That night we went to an AIDS/HIV fund raiser at the University. The hottest Indonesian female singer performed for hours. Her name is Syaharani and you can see her at Queenfireworks.com. Lot's of energy and very spirited.

The next day we toured the palace. We were treated to a wonderful puppet show with very ornate Indonesian puppets and classic music accompaniment. So the history of the kings in painting and photographs-then a bicycle rickshaw ride.

Our next stop is Prambanan, a world famous Hindu Temple built around the 8th century. It is beautiful and crowded with hochers try to sell you anything. It's really hot we see what we want to and decided to talk a walk away from the crowds. Issac found a nice quiet shady spot for a rest and I decided to wonder on. I discovered another quiet Hindu Temple with no other tourist. I found a stone room up about 15 steep steps the perfect size for meditation. Because it was stone, it was cool inside. I felt myself able to float into a deep and profound meditation and tuned into the ancient energy of this sacred place. I then continued through the garden and discovered another ancient Buddhist temple. No tourist. It has only recently been re discovered and proclaimed a World Heritage site. Excavation began in 1999 and they are still working on it. I felt that I was living a Indian Jones movie! A very exciting and culturally rich experience! Next we visited a Muslim Mosque and a Catholic Church. Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim and Christian , in each place I prayed for World peace and was touched by the spiritually committed people I met. We had a great 2 days and we are back to Bali.

I'm back!

I have been back a week and have found myself at Pro Mortgage most days. Tasha and Paula Macenski have been rubbing things while I was gone. I see that things have changed in the industry. I see lots of opportunity and great rates and programs available for the well qualified borrower. Seems to be a buyers market with lots of properties for sale.

I love being with Kat and Carlos and Paolo and we have Roderick this week end.

I want to finish my story here and plan to do some entries from the last week of my trip and to add pictures so stay tuned...

Quick message from China

I'm on my way home. Happily, I was able to reroute myself away from Bangkok and I am transiting through Taiwan. It feels very different here. Serious, sterile, the workers wear face masks. The computer keys are in Chinese. I have a short lay over and then a very long flight to San Francisco 2 days early. Looking forward to seeing Kat at the airport and a weekend in Marin. Anyone up for a walk around Phoenix Lake? I have been 66 days out of America. It seems as if the world has changed since I have been gone. As CFI slogan says "let the world change you". I know that the world has changed me. My knowledge of world geography has improved. The amazing sights and sounds of India will always be a part of my internal slide show. The calm, happy people of Bali softened my spirit. (the $8 dolloeas massages helped too) I have enjoyed my sabbatical so far. Have met and connected with delightful people from all over the world. Had time to meditate and do yoga and swim and do nothing. I will write about my last week in Bali that was so fun filled I did not have time to post but I have kept my daily journal and will update and post more pictures soon. Thanks for the emails and comments. With a happy heart, I am on my way home. Namaste.