Boat Trip Day 3 and 4

"The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart."

-Helen Keller



See photos from Boat Trip:

Boat Trip Day 3

Boat Trip Day 4


Day 3

We docked at a small island and hiked up the top of the mountain. It took some time getting used to the overwhelming beauty that lay before us. The mountains poking out of turquoise waters and clear blue skies serving as a backdrop to the stunning ocean scape that beckoned our eyeballs!

Much time was spent taking in the view until again we were torn away to go back to the boat.


Our next stop was Komodo National Park. We were told that no tourists had been killed by Komodo Dragons since the 70s but a villager was killed only a month prior. Was this supposed to be comforting?

We did our small hike around the island and no sign of Komodos but were told that we may have better luck at the next island – Rinca. We were really excited to find public restrooms with real toilets and running water. This was the first time any of us had seen ourselves in the mirror. I have to say, it was quite freeing not having a reflection of yourself to deal with – an excellent excuse to be au naturel and we were all in the 'same boat'.


Back on the boat, we made our way into a little cove just in time to watch the sun set behind the the large mounds surrounding us. Marj and I took this as an opportunity to go swimming. We were told to do so at our own risk as there is always a chance that Jaws could be lurking beneath. The water was deep and we were quite literally in the middle of nowhere but it was so much fun that we had little time to worry about it. I love Marj for always bringing out the little girl in me!


Day 4

I woke up the next morning and watched the sun rise. The sea was rough and the wind whipping. My hair blew all over my face and I laid their on the deck peering out to sea in complete bliss before anyone else awoke. I love being near, in or on the ocean and the experiences with her on this trip had been deep and memorable..I counted my many blessings. I thought of my mom and dad a lot on that boat because I was there only because of their unending support.

We were called to breakfast (banana fritters!) and set off for a hike around Rinca Island where we got a healthy dose of Komodo Dragons seriously getting down with their bad selves! Even if we hadn’t seen them, the island itself was uniquely beautiful – a landscape that I could not liken to any other.

Komodo Island National Park, a World Heritage Site, is 200 nautical miles east of Bali and is located between the islands of Sumbawa and Flores, all of which are part of Nusa Tenggara. About 3 to 5,000 Komodo dragons live on the islands of Komodo, Gila Motang, Rinca, and Flores. The species is in endangered status due to a lack of females for reproduction, human encroachment, natural disasters and of course poaching.




Komodos can live up to 50 years. The first 5 years of their lives are spent high up in a tree where their mother cares for them - after that they are on their own, spending most of their time solitary, until mating season arrives. Males outnumber females 4 to 1 (sounds much like Kuta!)...so come mating season - the women look a little worse for wear.

Komodos lie in wait for their prey camouflaged in the grass. When the unlucky victim wanders by, the dragon flings its serrated teeth and sharp claws at its prey. If its prey escapes, its luck will run out within about 24 hours for it is not the bite that will kill them but the saliva, which has over 50 strains of bacteria. Komodos will follow their dying prey for miles until blood poisoning sets in.

A Komodo dragon can eat up to 80 percent of its body weight in a single feeding and males can measure up to 9 feet and weigh 550 pounds after a hefty meal.

Marj and I spent most of the rest of the afternoon under the sea in a plethora of multi-coloured sea life. Our interests are so similar it makes it ridiculously easy to have fun with her. If you are ever in need of constant giggling and high spirits – Marj is your go to girl!

We got to Flores, our final destination, in the late afternoon and set out to find accommodations. Even though the situation had grown more favourable due to the boat being in the harbour without the wind, constant yammering of the boat engine and random wave spilling over us, none of us were too keen to sleep on deck again.

Despite its name, Flores was not what I had hoped. It reminded me of the Asia I dislike – the garbage. The concept of putting garbage in a receptacle just isn't a high priority. Their was only a handful of guest houses to choose from and after walking around for almost 3 hours, we accepted defeat and looked forward to another FIRM sleep on old faithful!

Our disappointment was offset by a having a nice little dinner together filled with laughter and chattering. Ernesto tried to teach Marj and I ze French accent – frustrating for Ernesto, funny for us! It warmed my heart to be part of this little group. I couldn't remember the last time I had felt this happy.


The sleep was not surprisingly much deeper when the boat was still, and we were awoken at 5:30 AM by the crew. On the bright side, this was prime picture taking time and I took full advantage of it.

We had breakfast and got transport out to the hotel that we booked the night before which was out of town. We watched the sunset and took photos of the fishermen on the beach that night and all the kids running amok. I had to take a moment to remind myself how lucky I am to have had this experience. I thought of what I would be doing in Vancouver at that moment....and didn’t miss that life one teensy smidgen of a little tiny bit.

"Travelling is like flirting with life. It's like saying, 'I would stay and love you, but I have to go; this is my station.'"

-Lisa St. Aubin de Teran

Ro and Dunc Visit, Marj Returns, the Gillis and the Boat Trip!

...life is short and the world is wide.

- Simon Raven

Click below to view photo albums: 

Ro and Dunc Visit, Marj Returns and the Gilli Islands

Boat Trip Day 1 and 2

Ro and Dunc Visit

Rosie and Duncan, the couple I had met in the Perhentian Islands, Malaysia, had arrived in Indonesia and popped down to Kuta from Ubud for a little overnight visit. They met me at d'Kubu for lunch and Duncan delivered another one of his CLASSIC phrases!

He had gone to look for a guest house while Rosie and I finished up lunch. When he came back, he looked quite traumatized and serious, caught his breath and announced, 'I have seen some THINGS...!!'. Rosie and I thought he had come upon an extra especially dirty guest house? But alas, it was more traumatizing than that. Many of you may know that when dogs mate sometimes well, things get...stuck. For someone who has not seen or heard of this – it can be a confusing scene.

It went something like this - Duncan was walking down one of the Poppies Lanes when he heard a surfer let out a dramatic, disgusted, 'Duuuuuuuuuuude!'. Duncan turned to see what dude was 'Duuude-ing' about and it was 2 dogs running awkwardly stuck together seemingly trying to disengage...I can only picture this in my head and what I see is not pretty!

We spent a good deal of time trying to figure out how this situation came about. Being a cat owner all my life, I had no idea what had gone on, but have since gained the knowledge - I am sure many of you know. For those that don't, here is a more detailed explanation (warning: it is a very detailed and graphical explanation): http://ezinearticles.com/?Why-Do-Dogs-Get-Stuck-Together-When-Breeding?&id=1872658

The three of us caught up on our travels since we last saw each other in Malaysia and spent the afternoon cruising around Kuta and later watching the sunset at the beach. That night, I took them to Ocean Beach for dinner where we met up with some other friends from the UK they had met prior. We got a great table with cozy cushions and watched a couple of the nightly shows that Ocean Beach puts on – traditional Balinese dancing, fire shows, hip hop, gymnasts etc. After watching the spectacle, we carried on to the usual places – Poppy's, The Bounty and finished off the night dancing at Sky Garden.

The next day, I learned that Marj would be returning from Thailand! This had not been in her original plan so I was surprised and delighted to hear the news. I sadly said goodbye to Rosie and Duncan with hopes of seeing them in Australia or New Zealand, as we were all going to be settling in one of the two places eventually.

Marj Returns

When Marj arrived back to d'Kubu the next day, we went for dinner and caught up on all the happenings over tuna steaks and cokes! We went out and met Levi and Murray and their friends at Sky Garden and danced like crazy women, followed by more crazy women dancing at Paddy’s and Bounty into the wee early morning hours - another STELLAR night.

"We should consider every day lost in which we do not Dance at least once." - Nietzsche

We decided we would meet the Belgians (Ernesto, Julien and Tom) at Gili Trawangan, where they had gone the day before. We booked our flights and went to the beach in the late aft for sunset...as we always did, then to Sky Garden for espresso drinking and emailing friends and family..I know it sounds lame but somehow Marj and I had oodles of fun just doing nothing.

Gili Trawangan

The next morning we flew off to the Gillis! The views were stunning - white billowy clouds and a volcano looming in the background. We landed in the Lombok airport but then had to take a taxi to the ferry, which would take us to Gilli Trawangan. Things got a little ugly here, but I won't go into details – no different than any other trip in SE Asia – someone always wanting to 'take you for a ride'!

Marj and I found a guest house and went straight to the beach. The currents there are really strong, so you could float a mile down the beach without swimming – kinda dangerous, but supah fun! Tom started talking about a boat trip they were thinking of taking that included Komodo island and asked if we would join them. Marj and I were up for anything – we both wanted to see more of Indonesia and she especially wanted to see the 'Red Beach', so we booked the tickets that night to leave early the next morning.

Ernesto, Julien, Marj and I walked to the end of the island to watch the sunset and took many photos – we were like a little camera club. Another beautiful Asian sunset shared amongst international friends.

We went off to have a fresh seafood buffet at a laid back restaurant just off the beach – where you could sit on cushions and just chill. The 5 of us had many laughs and shared many stories. I went to bed very excited for what was to come. Unfortunately, Marj and I were kept awake most of the night by loud chanting (was a Muslim holiday) into a megaphone and then a rooster cock-a-doodle-dooing at our front door (T.IA. - This Is Asia)...

The Boat Trip

We met the boys in the morning at the boats to head back over to Lombock and then to the capital of the island, Mataram. We got groceries for the boat and bought our plane tickets to fly back from Flores – our final destination (and found out later that we were each overcharged $50!).

We finally arrived to our home/boat for the next 4 days. This was no luxury boat my friends. It had a common area/deck and above the kitchen was another deck that had a canopy over it – the sleeping area. The only privacy anyone could have was in the bathroom, which was basically a hole in the floor with an enclosure around it. There was no shower, no soap, no faucet, no mattresses, no fresh water. None of this bothered me however I wasn’t too keen on the probability of looking like a hairy mammoth by the end of the trip!

We all sat a little dumbfounded on the deck trying to absorb that this was going to be where we were living for the next 96 hours and that we better well learn to like it if we didn't yet! And then we set forth out into the 'mighty ocean' (as said by the Mango on SNL). The 5 of us hit the front of the boat and took many a photo for there was little else to do!

That night, we thought we would sleep on the bottom deck, while everyone else slept on the top deck. There wasn’t a lot of room upstairs so we thought this was a good idea. It wasn’t. Because we were travelling through the night on rough waters, Marj, who was closest to the bow was getting splashed by each tall wave we encountered and had to move to the top at some point in the middle of the night. We were all a little worse for the wear after our first night at sea but each of us was slowly getting our sea legs.

That day, we docked at a magnificent, isolated island and hiked to a waterfall. Ernesto, Marj and I climbed to the top of it and found a pool of freshwater to go swimming in. Ernesto took pics of us posing and swimming until we got called back to the boat. I could have spent the entire day there. The water temperature was perfect and the pond was surrounded by lush greenery with little sparks of sunlight darting though.

We spent most of the rest of the day travelling to get to Komodo Island with a stop at a huge saltwater lake. Marj and I were a couple of jellyfish for almost an hour giggling, talking shit and telling secrets – it's what we do! It is so amazing to have a friend like Marj who is totally in the moment with you and offers unending support, no matter what.

I made myself at home at the front of the boat with my book and some tea when we got back. Ernesto came and joined me and soon enough we were both asleep in the sun.... until a huge wave came and splashed over us filling our temporary makeshift sleeping sanctuary into a shallow pool. Ernesto laughed very heartily at me as I had not a dry spot on me! It was at this point that I felt what seasick was like but recovered after watching the sea's horizon for awhile. Everybody either read or took naps that whole afternoon.

That night, we all had dinner on the deck – all of us sitting in a circle surrounding the food under a full moon! I wondered where on the Indian Ocean we were and then decided that it didn't matter. There was no other place I would rather be.

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails.

Explore. Dream. Discover.

- Mark Twain

Bali-mania!

“And suddenly, out there where a big smoker lifts skyward, rising like a sea-god from out of the welter of spume and churning white, on the giddy, toppling, overhanging and downfalling, precarious crest appears the dark head of a man. Swiftly he rises through the rushing white. His black shoulders, his chest, his loins, his limbs -- all is abruptly projected on one's vision. Where but the moment before was only the wide desolation and invincible roar, is now a man, erect, full-statured, not struggling frantically in that wild movement, not buried and crushed and buffeted by those mighty monsters, but standing above them all, calm and superb, poised on the giddy summit, his feet buried in the churning foam, the salt smoke rising to his knees, and all the rest of him in the free air and flashing sunlight, and he is flying through the air, flying forward, flying fast as the surge on which he stands. He is a Mercury -- a brown Mercury.....”

Jack London
The Cruise of the Snark
Chapter VI - A Royal Sport

To view photos from around Kuta, click here.

To view photos from our day trip, click here.

Marj and I arrived back in Kuta and continued our everyday pilgrimage to Kuta Beach to practice our new craft and meet up with our friend Dan!

Despite our surf school being well esteemed, whenever the surf instructors had a moment to spare, they were asking us out to dinner, if we were married... boyfriends?? We lied. One said he could ‘teach me how to surf’ later in the day 'pro bono', when the waves were more ‘optimal’ – oh how nice of him. Another said he could get me a good deal with his cousin on renting a surfboard if I agreed to lunch with him.....hmmmmm – is that a bribe? Every Western girl that comes within a 5 foot radius is a moving target.

Marj and I were walking home from dinner one night and a guy on a moto with a helmet driving towards us came within an inch of both of us and hit poor Marjie on the boob! A few days later, I was walking home and the same thing ALMOST happened but I jumped out of the way. The worst of it was that you couldn’t see their faces, so really they could just go around hit and running and no one would ever be able to identify them – a guy with a helmet on a moto – their are thousands!

We settled into our little guesthouse, again – the only time we really spent there was to change or to sleep - but nonetheless, it was always nice to go back. Our neighbours consisted of:

• 2 surfers from Germany, properly tattooed that enjoyed the nightlife Kuta had to offer even more so than the surfing – we had many good times with these 2 – they knew how to rip it up be it on a board or a dance floor.

• Paul, originally from the states but had lived in Germany a good portion of his life, divided his time working construction in Perth, Australia and surfing in Bali. The likes of Jimi Hendrix, Chili Peppers and Rage Against the Machine could be heard blasting through his speakers while he chilled on his front doorstep with his surfboard always close by and beer in hand. He had long black dreads that suited him perfectly but surprisingly still looked like the crazy rock n' roll surfer we all knew and loved when he shaved them off. The words 'Endless Summer' tattooed across his chest spoke volumes about Paul. This guy knew how to enjoy life and I was elated to have him as my next door neighbour.

• Didier, a retired cook from France, now lives part of the year in Bali and the other in Thailand. His days were occupied by writing a book and we saw him for dinner every night at 8 PM sharp, usually followed by dancing and people watching at Poppy's Nightclub

• I had met Levi, a girl from London, UK, at the beginning of my travels in Northern Thailand. We had gone on a jungle trek and overnighted with a hill tribe, both fresh from quitting our jobs back home, enchanted by the unknown adventures that would lie ahead for us. We bumped into each other in Phu Quoc Island, Vietnam and now here we were again, staying in the same guesthouse. Levi had met Murray, also from the UK, in her travels who was an avid surfer and so the two of them could usually be found in the surf or on the beach!

• Rikard, from Sweden, blessed us with his habitation in between visiting his beautiful Balinese girlfriend, Ratih, in Ubud. He is the epitome of the typical strapping Scandinavian. His presence was always palpable with brooding shoulders and an underlying gentle pride and strength that reminded me of the men in my family and made me miss and think of them often.

• And last but by far not least, Ernesto. I stopped dead in my tracks the first time I saw him standing there with sun bleached hair falling over his dark blue eyes, talking to Didier in the pathway at d'Kubu. I of course pretended I didn't notice his ridiculous good looks but as soon as I had a moment alone with Marj, I affectionately referred to him, in jest, as my 'new boyfriend' (particularly amusing considering my long running status as a loner)!
  

Ernesto is an unassuming doctor from Belgium of Italian and Hungarian decent. His love for surfing was so passionate that he had turned down several of our invitations to go dancing so he could be up early to hit the surf. But finally one night, he met us at our favourite pre-Legian street club, Ocean Beach. This was the night Marj was leaving to go to Thailand to meet a friend (I was very sad) but the beginning of Ernesto and I's friendship.

After Marj left, Ernesto ensured that I was always included in coming for dinner each evening with him and the boys. The boys originally consisted of just Rikkard and Didier, but 2 new additions were about to arrive – Julien and Tom – 2 of Ernesto's closest friends from Belgium. And so it began...a new chapter for me in Bali – a Marj-less chapter but a fabulous one, nonetheless.

Julien spent most of his time on the beach soaking in the warm Bali sun. He was our age as well and had the most gentle disposition I have seen in anyone I know. Julien also had not spoken English in over a decade. So needless to say, there was many a miscommunication within our little group. Julien is one of those people who doesn't speak unless he has something worthwhile to say and it usually was at the expense of Tom or Ernesto!

Tom spoke English extremely well but would get so irritated with me when I asked 'WHAT?' or 'QUOI' all the time. He would have to repeat himself and then I would say, 'Aaaaaaah you mean _______!'. Which was exactly what he had said the first time, but with his French accent it sounded like a completely different language!

My days in Kuta began with checking the tide so I could plan my schedule around optimal surf conditions before moving onto breakfast, which consisted of: 1 banana pancake, 2 boiled eggs, 'potato country' (translated: country potatoes) and a fresh unsweetened coconut juice. After that, on my walk down to Kuta Square, I would pick up orphaned frangipani flowers that had fallen from the trees and put one behind my ear as well as save one to give as a Hindu offering when I got to my destination – Gloria Jean's.

The first time I walked into Gloria Jean's, I was immediately greeted with smiling, friendly Balinese faces. I could tell right off the bat that Frank, the Australian owner, was a modern day saint – he greeted me with some friendly chit chat during my stay and I overheard him display the same charm and eloquence with his other customers. It was plain to see his absolute natural ease with people and it was because of him and the coziness I felt there that marked the beginning of my loyalty to GJ's in Kuta.

I went every day possible to work on my laptop and have my espresso and banana cake (which I enjoyed immensely!). Frank and his staff helped me to get my business cards from Hong Kong and called in their IT guy when I was having laptop issues and as if that wasn't enough, my last day before venturing off to NZ, Frank took myself, his manager and I to lunch to see me off:) I now refer to Frank to my own family and friends as my 'Bali Dad' because of the support and congeniality I received when I was there! So if you ever go to Kuta – please pass on some hugs from me.

After my work/coffee session, I went back to my guesthouse to put on my 'swimming costume' as the Brits call it and hit the surf for a couple of hours. I desperately missed my surf sister Marj, but there was always someone from d'Kubu on the beach or in the waves and I never felt like I was out there on my own.

Ernesto elected to teach me a thing or two about surfing which also inadvertently became a French lesson. Ernesto had not spoken any English since high school and now being 33 surrounded by English speakers, was trying to regain what he had lost. So when he told me to 'paddle hard' or 'stand up!' it usually came out in French rather than English and I had to reach deep down into the annals of my mind and pull out what I remembered from Mr. Mareschal's French classes in junior high!

After several days of checking out Kuta Beach, Tom, Julien and Ernesto decided to absorb some Balinese culture and invited me out on a day trip. We rented a driver and car that picked us up in the morning to take us to various temples, rice fields and villages. You would think the traveler in me would be quite excited about all of this but I am ashamed to admit that I was actually quite bored with it all. It wasn't at all the company as I always had a ton of fun with my new Belgian friends but I think after seeing so many wats, monuments, temples, sanctuaries etc, I had had my fill, for the interim at least, because all I could think about was getting myself back on a board and into the salty water....

“His heels are winged, and in them is the swiftness of the sea. In truth, from out of the sea he has leaped upon the back of the sea, and he is riding the sea that roars and bellows and cannot shake him from its back. But no frantic outreaching and balancing is his. He is impassive, motionless as a statue carved suddenly by some miracle out of the sea's depth from which he rose. And straight on toward shore he flies on his winged heels and the white crest of the breaker. There is a wild burst of foam, a long tumultuous rushing sound as the breaker falls futile and spent on the beach at your feet; and there, at your feet steps calmly ashore a Kanaka, burnt golden and brown by the tropic sun...”

Jack London
The Cruise of the Snark
Chapter VI - A Royal Sport

Kuta Surfin' and Ubud 'Love', Bali

A journey is like marriage. The certain way to be wrong is to think you control it.

- John Steinbecke



To view photos from Kuta, click here.

To view photos from Ubud, click here.

I got off the plane and lined up in front of the taxi booth in Denpasar airport, Bali. To cut down on the expense, I turned around to see if there was anyone who wanted to share a cab. The girl behind me just happened to be the one and only Marjorie Green! Little did I know that meeting this tall, crazy, kind hearted, fabulous blue-eyed blonde was going to make the rest of my stay in Bali the most unforgettable and fun-filled in Asia yet! 

At this point, I had been travelling SE Asia for 4 months and Marj for 2 so we were a touch overwhelmed by the many familiar signs from home: Starbuck’s, McDonald’s, Dolce and Gabbana, Crocs and every surf name in the book – Ripcurl, Billabong, Roxy etc. The cabbie dropped us off on Poppies Lane I. Kuta has two Poppies Lanes (aptly named I and II). This is where a good majority of the guesthouses, restaurants and non-brand name/local shopping is...and just metres from the famous surf beach – Kuta!

We were ecstatic with the amenities at our hotel – New Arena. We shared a double room that had a real bathroom with a door and bathtub and a patio overlooking a garden and swimming pool. This was not at all what I had expected. I knew Bali was a major vacation destination for Australians and had expected that it would be really expensive compared to where I had been. Luckily, I was quite wrong. We stayed in this proper hotel for only $7 each/night. We spent 4 nights there before we started feeling a little like high rollers so I took a jaunt to see what else I could find. 

If I had blinked I would have missed this place but luckily for me it caught the corner of my eye – it was called d’Kubu Homestay. This place had a good vibe from the get-go. There was a tiny little courtyard surrounded by 8 guesthouse rooms. Marj and I’s room had 2 single beds with a cold shower for $5/night – splendid! Little did we know that we were going to call d’Kubu home for the next 2 months. 

Marj and I got our feet wet in Kuta by trying to resist all the fabulous shopping. I had done really well not to buy much besides food along the way so as not to weigh myself down but this was going to be like trying to keep honey away from a bee! Everything is SO ‘cheap cheap’!

Our first sunset at Kuta Beach was truly spectacular. There are ridiculous amounts of people on the beach at that time – mostly Indonesian. The last thing anyone native to SE Asia wants is a tan so most of them don’t come out in the sun until it is just about to set. Marj and I were enjoying a nice walk down the beach when we were surrounded by gaggles of Balinese teenagers wanting to take pictures with us. Marj was the star of the show – they REALLY dig blonde hair and blue eyes. She might as well have been Cameron Diaz walking down the beach – this is something we just expected after some time but it took some getting used to.

Marj’s friend Dan who she had met earlier on the backpacker trail was coming to Kuta so we went out for dinner with him one evening. This was the beginning of a beautiful friendship – translated: the three of us having one hell of a time together. We watched the sunset at Kuta Beach every night we could and met for dinner before going over to Legian street (famous for its clubs) to watch the debauchery at Espresso – a bar overflowing with overserved surfers rocking out to covers of Nirvana and AC/DC. Once we had our fill of that, we would go to one of the many popular clubs there: Embargo, Sky Garden or the legendary Bounty. 

Since developing my mega allergy to alcohol (it has now been over 3 years since I have purposely had an alcoholic beverage due to a harsh reaction from even one drop of alcohol!) it has been hard for me to adjust to going out without being able to imbibe a little. It has been a long road of lifestyle adjustment but Kuta really helped that along. I was surrounded by people in Kuta drinking alcohol almost non-stop. It got to a point where I didn’t even notice I was the only one not drinking, which was a really good thing as I normally feel like a pariah.

The first nights out dancing at the Bounty were a bit awkward for me at first seeing as EVERYONE in that place can barely see straight from all the cheap drinks. The fabulous thing about not being able to drink is staying out dancing til dawn and waking up fresh as a flower to go surfing for the rest of the day. And so this eventually became our routine. Dance til the wee hours of the night, sleep all morning, head over to Macaroni for the lunch special and email checking and over to the beach to surf. Sunset usually came along shortly after that – then dinner, dancing – REPEAT! All of this costing – including accommodation – about $8/day.

I had thought I would stay in Bali for a couple weeks at the most. I had been so tired and was keen to get to New Zealand to see Tash already! But meeting Marj altered this course drastically. Having much of the same interests – especially our passion for surfing – bonded us together like sisters. We caught waves together, danced together, fought off googly eyed overzealous suitors together, but most of the time was filled with laughter. When one is having the time of their life one finds it hard not to find everything hilariously, deliciously humorous! The littlest thing could happen and Marj and I giggled over it for days.

After a couple of weeks in Kuta, we decided it was time for a little change of pace. I had wanted to go up to Ubud after reading Elizabeth Gilbert's ‘Eat, Pray, Love’. I had planned to go and see Wayan the Healer and Ketut the Medicine Man and do some yoga and cleansing to get my neck and back realigned and my game on for tackling bigger waves.

Instead, Marj and I shopped (mostly without buying anything save for a great deal on a couple of silk dresses!), made some jewellery, went to the monkey sanctuary (where I was attacked and came within inches of my life!), and sat on the front porch of our guesthouse enjoying our free breakfast and tea while playing with the floppy haired wild rabbit half the day and/or drinking coffee at one of the many cozy little restaurants. After 5 days in Ubud sans surf and dancing we decided it was time to return to Kuta, but not before paying a visit to Wayan and Ketut.

Ketut and Wayan - Eat-Pray-Love - Images by Tracey Tomtene

Marj and I had the full meal deal at Wayan’s Traditional Balinese Healing Shop. She was exactly as I pictured her from the description in the book. Of course now since her shop has been featured on Oprah and talked about by virtually every woman in North America infatuated with travel, adventure and happy endings (after reading Eat, Pray, Love), her price had gone up drastically. As with everything in Asia, with a little negotiating we managed to get a price we were all comfortable with.

So Marj and I spent most of the entire next day getting massaged, drinking herbs and juices, receiving a body reading and finally the ever popular vitamin lunch to end the 5 hours we spent getting pampered there.

You’d think the two of us would be feeling fabulous after that but we both ended up getting sick and in the end we blamed all the herbs she was giving us on empty stomachs:(

The next day, we visited Ketut the Medicine Man! We had been told by some ladies we met at Wayan’s that there was a 3 hour wait to see him but we thought we’d take a chance anyway. To our delight, Ketut was chilling on his front step – exactly the way Elizabeth Gilbert found him in the book. We spent a good hour chatting with him. He read my palm and kept saying what a ‘good girl’ I was. According to Ketut, I will have one deep love in my life and 2 kids. I am also going to be bankrupt, but only for 25 days and after that a successful photographer. Oh and I am going to live to 102, so I have lots of time for all of this. 

So I didn’t get to my yoga or cleansing but I figured with the amount of dancing we would do every night, not to mention the surfing all day, would make up for what I missed out on yoga in Ubud. Totally justifiable I think - and so back to Kuta we went!