Gunung Agung...BOOYAH

11:30 p.m.: Ready to Go

2:00 a.m.: Hike up the stairs to Puri Agung begins…At the temple our guides bring offerings, and we begin our trek.

3:00 a.m.: Takin’ a breather! One of many to sit back and watch the stars. I have never seen a night sky like this before. Headlamp off, and the shooting stars take off in all directions.

5:30 a.m.: The sky becomes a bit lighter in the distance. We’re above treeline, but can still only see the light from our headlamps in front of us…all starting to wonder how much further since our guide keeps repeating the same time over and over. (He also had a unique pattern of bolting ahead of us, then taking a nap while we caught up. I have never seen guides sleep on the job, let alone on a volcano)

6:00 a.m.: SUMMIT! We made it! And it’s freezing! But beautiful!

7:00 a.m.: OK, too cold now. And down we go…

7:15 a.m.: You can see literally all of southern Bali, east and west coast as well as the two islands Nusa Lembongan and Nusa Pendida. It is so beautiful…minus my wheezing from smoking too many clove cigarettes. Ugh.

10:30 a.m.: Still not there…lava flow from 1968 eruption.

11:00 a.m.: Pain in knees is beginning to become slightly irritating. So I sat and watched a sweet bug, some monkeys, and the beautiful flowers around me.

11:30 a.m.: FINALLY MADE IT.

GUNUNG AGUNG…check! Which peak’s next?

LOMBOK/GILI TRAWANGAN

So I was able to visit paradise this weekend with Astrid....

Our trip to Lombok began Friday before dawn. First to the Port Padangbai, where we caught a slow (and very cheap) ferry (extremely indo style) to Lombok. We rented a mattress to sleep on the deck for the same price as the ferry ticket....

After 4.5 hours of sleeping in the shade on the deck, I was burnt to a crisp. Awesome.

Finally, feel like I actually am in a muslim country! It has been interesting because the architecture is so different between Bali and Lombok because of the religions.

Awesome huts on the water at the port in Lembar.

Gili T in the background! Almost there!

A beautiful beach in Lombok. There is so much land for sale. And apparently its being bought up by the Saudis and being turned into the next hot vaca spot. They are currently constructing a major international aiport in Lombok as well to service the new resorts. Many locals were pushed off their land or paid virtually nothing for it.

Beach at Senggigi. We spent the night here before heading to Gili T. We woke up to the 6.4 Mag earthquake...glorious wake up.

After being tossed around at sea, Astrid is extremely happy to be back on land...GILI we made it!

Um...amazing.

Oh, and a rainbow...thank you god.

Ship off the coast...cool black sails?

Sweet Dr. Suess trees on the water. anyone know what kind they are?

Inviting.

even more inviting...

Offerings at Sea

Girl selling postcards...

Goa Lawah, Bat Cave Temple...smells like bat droppings...

Poor dog...

At the largest Temple in Bali, Besakih

On the beach outside the Bat Cave

Children playing the beach were putting on a show for us...

EARTHQUAKE

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/recenteqsww/Quakes/us2009lgba.php

I felt it! ...barely. But regardless, it was my first!

Photos from Kuta

We went to Sky Garden in Kuta. They have performers on every floor, in every room, its incredible. The video is of fire dancers who performed in intervals throughout the evening. Since I'm terrified of fire, you can imagine how much fun this must have been for me...they perform within inches of an inebriated audience, packed into a tight corner of the bar. So this scene was to my right and to my left were cirque du soleil type acrobats. The evening continued with "angel" victoria's secret model dancers who strutted across the bar pouring drinks into peoples mouths.

Some Recent Photos

I had a living companion whom I haven't shared with everyone. I kicked him out...

But he came back a few hours later...poor guy. I know I was a great roommate, he was even potty trained. I would catch him on his way back home behind my armoire from the bathroom.

Relevant/Recent News

Interesting article Mama Resnick sent me the other day...the article has some valid points, but also some arguments that seem a bit unrealistic.

NYT: Indonesia's Security Burdens

It also made me think, for how awful the road conditions are here, how many motorcyclists dont wear helmets, how the only real rule for driving is that "the bravest goes first"...I think I have only heard ambulance or police sirens maybe once or twice since arriving. The other day we saw the Polisi pulling over motocyclists and asking for paperwork, but I do not know if this is a regular thing. It was almost like a checkpoint system they have in the US on major holidays, except in the middle of the day, and not very systematic.

Seminyak Sundays

Needed a bit or rest and relaxation after the weekend!

Seminyak/Legian Beach was our destination today, and it was so wonderful to take a dip in the ocean!

The beach is extremely crowded if you happen to come down Double Six (Street) and make a left. There are strips of bars and restaurants along that side if you are in the mood for something that caters to tourists. BUT, if you head right, the beach is quieter, with a few warung (cafe) shacks that are beach side. We sat at one for hours, they grilled all sorts of fish in a huge pit and there was plenty of food for all around!

Kuta is exactly what I expected!

Imagine Dewey Beach, but replace the people with Europeans and Australians.

Oh, and add a few more "classy" clubs in the mix...wow, this place is really nothing like the Bali I know.

It was worth the trip, though.

I don't know if I had previously explained the phenomenal transportation device: The Bemo.

Take a VW Bus (except here its not VW, rather some Asian Brand no one in the western world would recognize), strip the interior down to nothing, and put in two benches as seats.

This is the greatest thing known to mankind. I wish they had these in every major city. The only major issue is that the drivers tend to rip off tourists since the fair is always up for negotiation.

Well after having the same guy drive us back to our hotel, we got his name and number and he now comes at our beck and call. He is a great guy, fun-loving, but lacks a sound system in his Bemo. We are considering a fund to buy him a stereo...we also considered submitting his bemo to "Pimp my Ride"...

(I think there are only 6 or seven in this photo, but we have actually managed 11 people before)

(Negotiating price...)

FRIDAY

This week flew by!

I finished Sexus, and am not sure how much more Henry Miller I want to read at the moment.

Today is the new moon. The word for moon and month is the same. The Balinese calendar is lunar and every new moon, half moon, etc. they celebrate. Tonight the Balinese people will meditate all night with family and friends. Some will fast.

The full moon is called Bulan Purnama.

I know I haven't been writing religiously! I apologize!

Short Update: Following the 7.1 Magnitude earthquake off the coast of Java, I would like to report that all of the IACS participants are ok. The tsunami warning has been revoked as well.

As for me, I am working hard on refining my Balinese dancing skills and attempting to play the gamelon in the same tempo as everyone else...

This past weekend we traveled to the famous Bedulgul Temple in Northern Bali. Along the way we stopped at an amazing Eco-tourist resort for lunch with an amazing view. Fried bananas and honey are a staple buffet item here and never cease to amaze me!

We were only at the temple for a short while before heading off to another Monkey Forest. Unfortunately, the monkeys here didn't look very healthy. Many of them were blind or clearly hurt. I wonder if there is a way that tourism can create a positive economic impact in these villages without such negative spillover effects. Also went to a traditional pasar for some fruit. my new favorite: terong belanda. I have been trying to figure out what it is...i know it is a species of nightshade, but it tastes citrusy. It is the red fruit in the front row on the far left, next to the mangosteen.


From there we headed to Tanah Lot again to finally catch the sunset!


Also, Astrid and I decided to try something a little bit different on Saturday...She is a horseback rider and saw a pamphlet for riding here in Bali. I haven't ridden a horse in quite a long time, but that didn't stop me! It was absolutely amazing! We rode along the breath taking black sand each in Canggu. It was only her and I and two guides who were extremely friendly and helpful. We stopped to check out a shrine in a bat cave as well as a temple on the cliff above the cave.

Apparently its also a great fishing locale! We headed back through a small village, where we got "hellos!" and waves left and right. We headed back, fording a river, and across the beach towards Tanah Lot. Astrid was impressed with how clean and well kept the horses and stables were, so we hung around a bit after and chatted with the owner, Natalie. She is Australian and has been living in Bali for two years now. She is a photographer who fell in love with Bali and has a gallery in Kuta that I cannot wait to go see!



I really need to go to sleep at a reasonable hour tonight...and hopefully Umberto, my previous living companion, is no longer knocking on my door!