Arriving......

hello everyone :)

 

melissa and i have landed safe and sound in bali. the travel day was nice and smooth, transferring planes in kuala lumpur, malaysia (where the petronus towers are)...then heading off to bali. the flights was pretty nice, puncuated by a big storm right near the end of the flight in which we were eye level with lightning strikes that lit up the sky over the wing of the plane. being somewhat afraid of flying, i spooked myself a couple times thinking that the storm was overtaking us when actually it was just the blinking lights on the wing of the plane. we landed, went through customs, and then had someone waiting for us at the airport with our names on a handwritten sign to pick us up. it's about an hour from the airport to Ubud, where we currently are...it's on the hillside of a mountain. the ride was very nice, with our driver telling us loads about the island and giving us a nice friendly welcome. he dropped us at a place called the ninth house, which is a 15 minutes further out of ubud. we parked on the side of the road and then walked another 5 minutes down a brick lined concrete footpath..lightning bugs floating on either side of us. and there was the immaculate place we are staying. it's three stories, with the topmost level being accessed by a winding circular wooden staircase that opens up into a yoga space that is lined with windows that have views of the mountains and rice paddies and a 20 foot peaked ceiling that's bamboo thatched. our room has a four poster bed with mosquito net (very romantic like) and nice windows that look out over the rice paddies. our friend chloe who we met in thailand is also staying at the 9th house and arranged for our taxi and accomodation for us. she made us dinner when we got there, a pumpkin style curry with spinach and local red rice, and we hung out in the outdoor kitchen and talked with her and the creator of the house and some of the other people who are staying there. in bali, it seems as though almost everyone is an artist, and it shows through and through in the 9th. almost everywhere there was some wood carving, or a stone statue, or gardens manicured, or air vents with intricately carved features, or tile work with stones interlaced, or the door that is the entrance to the inner courtyard is a style of metal with inlay carving. paintings everywhere, pottery bowls, utensils that are handcrafted, etc. and at the 9th, every single building material for the art or the foundation or anything, was also carried the 5 minute walk from the street down the stone walkway. i almost started crying when i found this out as it's the most detail oriented house i've ever been in. ahhh...we slept well in our room and i woke up this morning and laid in bed and looked out over the rice paddies and watched people work in the fields, older woman that balanced baskets on their heads and tons of dragonflies buzzing around the air. everything is green, lush, vibrant as it's the end of the rainy season. today we were given a tour from this man doug and his friend from java, an island nearby, to get acquainted with the city. doug is in his 50's, and fell in love with bali two years ago and it changed his life, gave him his life. he was great about showing us around and helped us get a cell phone (!) to use around here so we can get a hold of people we meet.. and then scootered around the city, showed us some of the key places to know including an amazing co-op, a great cafe that we had lunch at (and saw michael franti of spearhead who is playing at an upcoming festival) and the monkey forest..where over 300 macaque monkeys live. we walked through it and fed them bananas and watched them groom each other and nurse their little babies and almost attack people for bananas, but gently peel them when they finally got their incredibly human like hands on them. it was pretty amazing...

 

in a couple days is the balinese new year, in which their is 24 hours of total silence. no shops are open, everyone stays at home so there are no cars on the road, no working, no gambling.. it is a day that the spirits come down to the island, and everyone is completely silent so that they think there is no one there..and eventually leave after the 24 hours. a time of rebirth, re-energy, a new year! the day before is a huge celebration, and we are going to get sarongs and head wraps to participate with the festivities. they are building enormous figures, 12 feet tall to parade from the soccer field to the temple, and after which they burn them. we're very lucky to be here for the festivities.

 

also, the bali spirit festival is taking place which includes yoga, dance, and music from people all over the world. we are going to volunteer for that in a week so that we can paritcipate with that as well. we're really excited! we'll be helping out with workshops. you can google bali spirit festival to find out more about it.

 

all in all, it's been a pretty amazing 24 hours! somehow thailand already feels like a distant memory even though we were there for three months. this place has been really nice to come to for the end of our trip and just chill...enjoy amazing organic food all over the place that's really well prepared (burrito with brown rice, black beans, cheese, guac, sour cream, tomato's, wheat tortilla, oven baked.... steamed veggies with red rice and lemon tahini dressing on top... and to be tried next time, free range burger with caramelized onions and homemade friends..yes!) and an organic farm/restaurant right near our place that delivers! it's really sweet here, and bali the island has so much else to offer...tons of adventures to be had! hope everyone is doing great, looking forward to seeing you all soon! love,

carson