Legian Paradiso Hotel Bali Kuta

... area with the surfing beaches and luxury brand name hotels. Gary was to get some dental work done, as it was a western trained dentist and much cheaper than the states. Late afternoon we find the hotel...yuck. Gary said it wasn't too bad, but I thought it was dirty and dark. We checked in and went for a walk, as the streets here are one lane - cars motorbikes and people all in competition for space among the cheep eateries and ...

... of silverware in the center of the table and a variety of sweet teriyaki, soy sauces and fire-hot sambal on the tables...The atmosphere makes for the perfect place to meet other travelers.

Back to Lovina. A few days after our discovery of Barakuda Warung, Ari and I return to the restaurant along with out two travel companions Robyn (a Canadian who spends summers on Orcas Island when she isn't traveling the world or scaling mountainous peaks in New Zealand) and Anna ...

... und dabei soo **schwinglich.

Aus Sicht d** Einheimischen ist das Leben vielleicht nicht ganz so golden. Sie sind üb**wiegend eingebunden in eine noch ziemlich intakte dörfliche und religiöse Gemeinschaft in die sie sich einfügen müssen. Das schränkt ein, ab** es gibt auch Sich**heit. Man hilft sich gegenseitig. Und manche Fragen nach einem **füllten und glücklichen Leben stellen sich einfach gar nicht.

Wahyu zum Beispiel, Mitte zwanzig, mittl**e Statur und freundliches ...

... answering the barrage of questions regarding my race, my hair, my family, how much I paid for stuff and whether or not I liked Obama. Finally the mini van came after about an hour, said goodbye to my crew and we loaded up. Sitting there in the bus like sardines in the heat and the mini-van wont start. So what do we do now? Get out and get into another van or what? Problem solved, the other drivers give us a push start. Yeah. On the way up the mountain the van stalled ...

... ever seen on a person...and all done by his brother, good choice Jav!! After spending ages looking at the different styles of dragon I could get I finally selected one for my leg which I thought would look sweet....the anticipation of getting a piece done is something which cannot be beaten. After thrashing out a decent price (2 Million Rupiah, which is about 120quid) the master set to work. Now having not had a tat done in a while, I had forgotten just how intense it is ...

... a big bonfire at the end of the procession...oh well, maybe we'll see that next Nyepi Day. The best part of this festival was that it was authentic...it was done by the Balinese for the Balinese, and would have happened regardless of the presence of tourists. It was a refreshing change from some of the "cultural shows" we have experienced elsewhere. Nyepi Day itself was less restrictive (at least for us Fat Yogi inmates) than we had anticipated. Yes ...

... The Campuan Ridge" walk. We had to hike about one kilometer to where the official hike began, which was another seven kilometers in total. The walk started in a deep ridge but quickly rose to take us through the middle of some farmland where we could see rice cultivation everywhere. I was surprised to see that even the ridge walls that approached a 70 degree pitch were used for growing rice, without terraces in some places. It was a hot, humid and sunny day and ...

... medieval Islander-style Hindu temples around every corner, a cloud shrouded volcano on the horizon... paradise in every sense of the word. It was enough to numb the pain of me having just missed the cremation ceremony. Can't win them all I guess. I wandered around Ubud for a bit, but there wasn't much else to do here besides watch a Balinese traditional dance (not taking place at the moment) and soak in the atmosphere, so I hitched a ride on another ...

(Jim) Since we arrived in Bali, a lot of our time here at Alam Indah has been spent in the pool, which lies right below our Gardenia Suite. Yesterday Amy decided to walk to the library in the heat of the day. The kids and I stayed at the hotel and went for a swim. When we got down to the pool, most of the chaise lounges were taken up by the group of French tourists who had arrived the day ...

... Saturday for those keeping my calendar) I did not do much, and I napped from 2:30 to 8:00 p.m., before going to one of the supposed best "haute Indonesian cuisine" restaurants in town. Good stuff. Prawn and quail egg satays as an appetizer, and rice bombs (cooked six hours and denser than tofu) with six different curries, in a cool outside atmosphere around a pool. $12 before wine. That started a long, much more interesting and ...