Bali - Island of Love

  

  If you like being surrounded by green, you will like Bali.  The island is so lush and vibrant!  It is also humid and steamy hot!   I arrived in a light rain.  Two of every three days since I have been here we have had rain.  The people I speak with who have lived here for the last 2 years say there has not been a dry season as has been usual in the past.  This has created some problem for the rice fields as the rice needs at least 10 hours of dryness  for a certain period which it is not getting.  This causes the grains to break and the price of the rice to be reduced by about half. 

  Kuta was my first destination for 4 nights as part of the trip I won.  It is a wonderful place if you want to enjoy the beach scene and shop, eat or drink.  My spa resort was very beautiful and thankfully at the far end of the 'strip'.  I took the opportunity to rest the first day and catch up on my sleep.  I did not shop!!!

   The second day I took an excursion to the northern coast of the island to see the black sand beach and get a feel for the island's geography.  I went with Deborah who I had met at dinner with her daughter.   We saw an amazingly beautiful Buddhist temple partially built in a lake, visited hot springs, and the largest waterfall on Bali.  The drive into the mountains and around twin lakes among rice fields and mountain mists was spectacular.  The traffic on the 2 lane road up & back was endless.  We also stopped at a market known for it's local strawberries - yum!  We left Kuta about 9 am and returned about 8 pm - a full day but so rewarding.   The path of steep steps down to the waterfall challenged my capabilities but I made it!  And had my cardio workout!  Thank goodness I had toured so many monuments in India as training!

   Day 3 was my spa day.  I had a wonderful massage, and rose scented body scrub!  I used the opportunity to meditate and release not only body aches but any associated energies no longer serving me so that I could move to another level of being.    The trip prize didn't include a handsome love interest and since Kurt was not able to meet me to fill that role in person here, I have made it my misson while in Bali to delve deeper into how to better love myself, forgive myself, and express love and joy in my life to a greater degree.

                               An auspicious day for a ceremony.  We passed two on this trip!!



    My last day in Kuta was spent packing, researching lodging in Ubud-my next destination, and communication with the people I wanted to meet there: Mary Wilson, Jeni Ambrose and Anne Entus.

Tuk - Tuk

   My day in Agra seeing the Taj Mahal was the highlight of my India trip!   The day was pure bliss!  I did not realize until I was on the grounds how I had longed to see the Taj since I was a small girl.


  I was happy to return to my hotel tired but savoring every moment of the day and the images which felt like they were imprinted in my soul.  After a simple dinner in the hotel's restaurant, I headed for the computer off the lobby.   And then it happened............   I asked how much it was to use the computer.   I don't remember what figure I was given, but I knew it was at least 300 times the amount it cost in a neighborhood internet place.  That was too much for frugal Karen.  Off I went to the front gate and out into the night street.  I knew the ATM was only a few buildings away so asked the guard at the gate, where the closest internet place was.  He did not have a quick response.    However, another man volunteered the locations of about 3 places, all of varying distances from the hotel.

Not only did he give me directions, he offered to take me there in his tuk-tuk.  So I began the process of determining his price, for the closest one - which may or may not work you know.  And also his price for reaching the second and third and of course we needed to negotiate the return fare as well.  By now I was in too deep to go back into the lobby and use the hotel computer.  (all the while, I am trying to calculate in my head the hotel rate versus the tuk-tuk rate and whether there would be any cost saving in this endeavor).   It seems I would still save about 50% so why not?  I agreed and got into the tuk-tuk!


The driver was chatty and proceeded to arrive quickly at the first location.  He accompanied me into the place only to find that there was a long line of young men waiting for their turn on a computer.     Okay, I thought,  we made it here easily, let's go for the next one, I was becoming more determined and feeling more confident.  So back in the tuk-tuk.

Perhaps I should take a moment to describe what a tuk-tuk actually is.  In much of India, including Delhi, perhaps all of India, tuk-tuk's are the local means of transport.  They function like a taxi, some even have meters, but are built on what we would call a 3-wheeled motor bike.  There is the seat for the driver, and a seat behind for passengers.  Both are bench seats.  The rest is a sort of kiddie car.  Tuk-tuks carry anywhere from one to about 10 passengers.  I'd say the ideal capacity is 4!  Use your imagination until I get a picture for you.

I'd ridden in a rickshaw in Varanasi and in the old Delhi market, but never was ready for negotiating a tuk-tuk until tonight.  As we set out for the 2nd internet place, I realized it was quite a distance farther than I had anticipated.  By now we had made too many turns for me to keep straight in my head, and I realized I was totally at the mercy of or in the skilled hands of my driver.  I wasn't sure which one!  The street near my hotel was relatively quiet traffic wise, but now we were on very busy streets and crossing lanes of traffic.  Thankfully, we arrived safely at the second computer place and I was able to get off a short e-mail.   My eagerness to communicate had ended and my eagerness to be safely back at my hotel had increased.

Remember India was to be the pray part of my trip.  Well I took it to heart in earnest now and got back in the tuk-tuk!   There was nothing else to do but pray & trust!  As you may guess, I made it safely back.  I certainly did not feel as cocky and stubborn as when I left.   I said my prayers of thanks and vowed not to be so stubborn in the future!  

Tranquil Moment in Varanasi

Karen with offering for the Holy Ganga - mother

Morning prayer time to greet & give thanks to the sun!

Also for washing away your bad karma in the river...or simply washing your clothes - a man's job in this culture.

Delhi & Varanasi Pictures

This is the evening Arti ceremony at the river Ganges in Varanasi every night.  It lasts about an hour or so. 

    I'm using my last evening in Delhi to see if I can get photos from my camera into my blog for all of you.  This is a test!

Delhi metro has the first car reserved for women only so they don't get harrassed by the men.   There are a spattering of women on other cars only occasionally.

This is me with Harish Singh at the Varanasi train station.  He was a lifesaver in terms of meeting me at the airport & getting me on the train in the fright car & berth.   He was prepared to accomodate me at his house if the train had been delayed in parting.

Getting very tired, friends and I'm departing tomorrow.  Pictures take a while to download.  So this is all for now!  Enjoy!

If you haven't sent me your mailing address for a postcard, time is getting short!