The Oasis Nusa Dua

... Australian Hawaii?) but it seemed to fit the requirements for us at this time and hey, it wouldn't be too tough. After a quick review of Lonely Planet, it seemed there should be enough balance between western luxury (something we wanted a taste of at this point), culture and adventure. Though when I spoke enthusiastically of climbing Gunung Rinjani on nearby Lombok – a 3726 meter volcano, even Andy didn’t show much enthusiasm and you can ...

... angry, greedy, lazy, busy, etc. Anyways, we have such a good time here that it is not our last. For now-we are in a hotel in Seminyak-back to the ocean- we are on our last two days in Bali, and have to catch a plane to Singapore tomorrow morning. I have more to write about Ubud, cycling through rice fields, etc, but we also have a 20 hr flight from Singapore to Chicago in two days when I will have time to catch you all up. Ta ta for now

... artistic interpretation that is fascinating, beautiful and fitting for religious buildings on an equatorial tropical island. Additionally, rather than the typical reed based instrument and drums heard in Indian Hindu temples, the harmonious ringing of Gamelan is heard throughout Bali (and Java as well). Gamelan, an instrument I studied and played while at Berkeley, is a series of percussion based instruments that are both rhythmic as well as melodic ...

... a few of the local dances, semi plays - they are amazing, lots of chanting, serious faces plus some funny bits in, one part showed a man spanking another mans bottom with some wood and another where he was dressed as a monkey with his tail between his legs and on his back making out that it was his "you know what!!!" very good though. Med dance and chant round the ...

... I am running over a bridge and I feel waves of nausea. Under the bridge is a trash dump, my weak stomach can't think the smell and I honestly think I will get sick. I try to just breathe in and out of my mouth. Oh god, it is awful. The rest of my run is spent counting songs and trying not the breathe in my nose. I finally get back to the gardens and I realize that I can still make it in about 2 hours. I finish the race strong ...

... where little maqaces (sp?), like the rascal in indiana jones, went about their business, playing, thieving, grooming each other, and in many ways behaving like people. i also scoped some balinese art, which is very intricate and resembles indian artwork. anyway, tomorrow i head for java and g-land on a 10 day surf package tour. itll be nice to have someone else taking care of things, and hopefully theres some good surf. more then.

... Chak chak chak" while other actors dressed in exquisite costumes acted out the Rayamana - a Hindu myth. We have no idea what was going on, but the chanting chorus and all the eloborate costumes and over the top acting was great fun to watch. It finished with a possessed guy walking on and then kicking burning coals at us. You can't beat that for $5 each. Brilliant! We wandered off for some dinner ...

... and it's exhausting constantly bargaining for things, especially when you get 50,000 off the price of a statue and it's only $5 to begin with! It's not worth the effort of bargaining to save the pennies, but what can you do? So I've set our itinerary for tomorrow to see the Bird Sanctuary, and two different Animal parks. They are opposite sides of the volcano, so I should get some nice views while driving of the landscape and rice patties. Each park has ...

... and built to perfection. There are over 700 staff here, and they are all immaculate and appear genuinely happy, you are made very welcome at all levels. Away from the hotel is a small shopping mall, which includes Boots and M&S, and has some great restaurants each with a different choice of me and at incredible prices. I enjoyed a great steak in one for less than 10 usd including cocktail. My first night I ate in the beach restaurant ...

New day, new van, new driver, same friendly guide. Our first stop was Batubulan to watch the Barong dance. It is more theatrical, than it is a dance. Thankfully they handed out a sheet of paper, explaining what it was about, because for the entire hour it lasted, I had no clue what was going on. It didn't help that the place was visited primarily by Japanese tourists, who found it hilarious and couldn't stop laughing. The powerful Barong dance basically displays the eternal fight between ...