First I must thank all of my beautiful friends and family for being so supportive! I love all of you. I want to keep this journal both as a record to reflect upon later, and as a way to share some the adventures, lessons, and growth that I experiance while travelling and studying.
These first days in Bali have been very beautiful, and filled with divine synchronicitys that generally go hand in hand with traveling solo. After the long flights, I arrived in Denpasar, and changed some money, and took a taxi to Ubud. The Balinese Rupea is about 9,000 to the US dollar, so if you have 110 bucks you are a millionaire! All the Zeros can be very confusing. Anyway, when i arrived in Ubud, I turned down an offer for lodging from a greasy looking Balinese guy, and soon after found a "Home stay" at a beautiful little place called Warji House 2 near the rice patty. I posted some great Photos of the house and yard and the rice patty... and I think there is one of my friendly landlord Katut.
I love how all of the homes in Bali have a temple in them... there are actually more temples than homes on Bali!!
I Have found some really really good food here. There are even places where you get an organic meal or even enjoy a raw vegan dish :) And the eggs here are very good, i have been eating quite a few of them raw, and I feel great!
In the 2 and a half days that o have been here i have already taken 4 yoga classes... There is an awesome place called Yoga Barn http://www.theyogabarn.com/
I have been really enjoying the comical misspellings that are commonplace here in Bali. Two prime examples that I have seen so far: Automotive Repair = Otomotif Repair. And this one was really good: 20kg Cement Bag = 20kg Semen Bag... can you imagine?
On a deeper level, I am feeling free and boundless, but part of me misses the deep connection that i share with so many of my good friends and family... I see this loneliness as an opportunity to cultivate complete contentment with the present moment. This of course is much easier said than done, but i helps to bring ones awareness to such things.
I went to the Monkey forest yesterday morning... i was up really early because of jet lag. It was before they even opened the park, and before the monkeys had been feed there breakfast. I walked in and everything was very peaceful and quit... after a few hundred feet i saw a little monkey hanging out on a nearby tree. Then as i walked in farther i started hearing some very weird noises coming from the dense foliage. I walking across the bridge to the temple when a old Balinese man who was coming to fill up his water bottles from the sacred spring befriended me. He told me that the monkeys are grumpy before they have been feed and they often fight, and that the cazy noises was them all fighting. But he said that he was friends with the monkeys so it was no problem. I took a few photos and followed him back across the bridge. Monkeys started appearing on the staircase above us, but the friendly old guy just kept on walking. There was 25 or 30 monkeys in the courtyard above, some of them fighting, but most of them just monkeying around. We just kept walking and eventually left the monkey infested area. I learned later that most of the monkeys, dogs, and bats on Bali have Rabies, and that it is a very bad idea to go near them especially if they are feeling ill tempered. It all worked out great though, and i gave the old guy a ride back to his house on the back of my motorbike.
Thats all for now,
Love,
-Logan
