happy holidays

Greetings from paradise! Happy Solstice, Merry Christmas, and Joyful Winter to all... We are still on the happy little island of Gili Trawangan, where it's hot, usually sunny, and extremely friendly. Brandon and I took a scuba refresher course, and we've been diving along the coral reefs. We've seen several sea turtles, the camouflaged scorpion fish, a moray eel, nudibranches, trigger fish, and thousands of other brilliantly colored sea treasures. It's pretty fun to have a tab at the diving place, so we can just wander on over there, grab some gear, hop on a boat, spend an hour underwater looking at fish, have some fruit and tea, and then walk back home- so easy!

It doesn't take long for everyone to know your name, or at least to holler out “America!” when you walk by. People know where you like to eat, they know what you've bought before, and what you might buy again. It's the kind of place where you can say “See ya tomorrow”, and there's a 90% chance you will- no planning necessary. There's one major street that runs along the east coast of the island, and you'll find everything you need on it. Convenience stores, restaurants, swanky bars with big cushions or lounge chairs on the sand, where you can sip cocktails and watch the turquoise surf. There's even little pods where you can order food or drinks and watch a movie on TV with a friend or two...

We've found other fire dancers, and we spun some poi outside one of the bars a few nights ago. And I had the great pleasure of joining a group of local kids, probably aged 4-11, in some gymnastic playtime in the sand. They showed me some breakdance moves, and I showed them a couple moves I learned in my capoeira class. It was pretty funny- they all got excited and there were little brown boys jumping and flipping and somersaulting all over the place. I wished so badly that I had had a camera with me- it was hysterical.

Brandon and I have decided that we were followed by an evil spirit from Bali, as we continue to struggle with our bodies, and we seem to take turns. First it was food poisoning for me, then food poisoning for Brandon, then a nasty fever and infection for me, then some strange muscle cramp that made it hard for Brandon to breath deeply, then a day of stomach cramps and a night of fever for me, and now Brandon's strange muscle cramps have moved to the other side of his body. So weird. We're thinking that we'll buy some Balinese offerings and offer them up to appease whatever ill-tempered spirit that haunts us.

Despite the troubles with health, we're managing to have a great time...I guess if you're gonna get sick, might as well do it somewhere where you can rest all day, cool off in an ocean or swimming pool, and watch movies on the beach...We hear that there's lots of snow back home, so throw a snowball for us and have a great holiday season!

Much love to all our friends and family who have sent love, stayed in touch, and especially to those who have helped us ward off the evil spirits of reality... making phone calls and running errands for us and attending to the little complications that are hard to deal with on your own when you're on the other side of the world... Couldn't ask for a better home team...THANK YOU!

The (almost) sweet life of Gili T

We left our home sweet home of Ubud in search of an ocean paradise, and I do believe we've found it. Not, however, without some (ouch!) unpleasant bumps in the road... Of course, there's always the mini-bumps of budget travel- figuring out the shuttles and ferries, cramped conditions with poor ventilation, and the inevitable repulsive traveler that's seated nearby (in this case, a very seasick woman on a crowded ferry)- but those tend to be the entertaining adventures that we expect and sometimes seek out in travels. We decided to up the ante by bringing in some technical difficulties involving banks, credit cards, phones, etc., a grueling search for the "perfect place" (don't worry, we discovered- just like you- that it doesn't actually exist), and some immense bodily angst in the form of food poisoning. But it all has a happy ending: we're settling into a cute and clean little room on the beach of Gili Trawangan, I can walk upright again, and the world seems to be spinning at about the same speed it always has been. Actually, maybe a little bit slower, as we're on island-time now.

While I was recovering from my body's "emergency evacuation drill", I was taking long floats in the warm ocean, where there's nothing to do but look around and appreciate what a beautiful little paradise this is. We're on a tiny island just east of Bali, where there's no motorized vehicles. Yes, that's right. Not a one. The fastest thing coming down these roads are jingly pony carts. The ocean is warm, and there's coral reef with snorkeling just off shore. White sands, turquoise water, and colorful boats everywhere. There's great bars and restaurants, and a nightlife that sees the dawn on most nights. (not that I've seen any of it yet...) Everyone's friendly, and the island is so small that you see the same people everywhere, making it quite easy to make friends. We've already been invited to Christmas dinner, with some Canadian girls we've been hanging out with.

We have a great little room with an accommodating host, our front step has a tiny bit of lawn for hackysack and other such fun, and we're a barefoot walk to the ocean. We also found a great big lawn to play on. It's actually the grounds for a bungalow establishment, but our Canadian friends are staying there, and the staff invited us to come play on the lawn any time we want. And I'm sure we will...as soon as we overcome the last little bump. Which is that now Brandon isn't feeling well. Oh well, i guess it's good we took turns. Personally, I think it's some form of sympathy sickness, so hopefully I can inspire him to get on the contagious health track instead, now that I'm feeling better.

Nobody likes super-long travel blogs, so that's all for now. Love!

New Video

check us out in our first ever Acro-Yoga flow!

New Video

check us out in our first ever Acro-Yoga flow!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OA0No6hSHpY

Life in Ubud...

Haven't written much lately, because there hasn't been a whole lot to write. Days melt together into late mornings with fresh fruit breakfasts (it feels late anyway....who knows what the time is...), workouts, motorcycle wanderings around town where we shop for groceries, spend hours in cafes where Brandon uses the internet to conduct business, and take the occasional foray into the bustling open-air market to haggle for garlic or apples (from Washington- weird.)

We did have an exciting evening last Saturday, as there was a big rock-concert in the football field, right down the street from where we live. It started with Gamelan (a traditional style of percussion music) and traditional dances, and moved into a pretty cool fire-dance show (great costumes!), complete with a fire-hula-hooper. Needless to say, we were pleased. Several more acts followed, with Indonesian rock stars in skimpy matching outfits singing and dancing, and a grand finale of a punk-rock band called 4WD. We threaded our way to the front, which was a big mud pit where young men were throwing mud and jumping around..SO much fun. It definitely was a dose of the familiar, with the festival vending, blinky lights and crowds. I will say that the Indonesian folks (few of us whiteys were present) are certainly well behaved. We saw very little drunkenness or belligerence, and people were polite and patient in crowds. Very refreshing.

On Sunday we took a long motorcycle ride up to the volcano and lake in the northeastern part of Bali. It was beautiful scenery, and nice to get out of the hustle and bustle of Ubud. We checked out some hot springs, but decided not to swim, as we were plenty hot already. This week has found us back in our happy little routine of living in our comfortable little place, watching the daily shift in ant routes, listening to the geckos and watching them crawl all over the walls, running up and down the stairs (or walking, in my case), cooking food and dining at the cheap little restaurants up and down the streets. Today was a pleasant break in the routine, as I finally indulged in a spa treatment. A one-hour massage, followed by a sea salt scrub- and they mean SCRUB- and a bath completely filled with flower petals, complete with a cup of tea and some fresh fruit. Very nice. For $8, it's hard not to do that everyday...

Cruisin in Bali

Here's us zooming around outside of Ubud on our $3 a day motor scooter!

Riverside adventure

Click the picture to see more photos!

Yesterday we decided to go for a walk in the morning. The guidebook makes that sound easy, but by the time we wandered into a private pool area for an expensive bungalow (thankfully unoccupied, as far as we know), encountered a young man who helped us find the real trail, and came upon the first gate through a small rice field and farm, where an old woman required some money for our passage, we realized that guides are probably just a better idea. The young man who had shown us to the trail had quietly followed us to the gate, where he explained that we either needed to pay at every gate, or maybe a better idea would be to pay him to guide us, and he would handle the trail finding and gates. Good idea.

And we're so glad we did! He showed us vanilla plants that were growing, pointed out the sweet potato, spinach, and cassava fields, showed us mangosteens, papaya trees, sugar palms, jackfruits, durians, and some delightful little plants that fold up their leaves when you touch them. He explained the system of canals and dams for irrigation to the rice fields, and told us about how they process the palms into sugar and alcohol. He climbed a tree (full of ants) to get us a fresh cacao pod, which he broke open so we could try sucking the sweet goo off of the fresh beans. We found pineapple and chili growing wild, and as we waited to ford the river to get back to where we started, he harvested us two coconuts so we could drink the fresh coconut water before we waded waist-deep through a strong current to reach the other side of the river... well worth the money!

We've decided to stay in Ubud for at least 3 weeks, because it is so ideal for our needs right now.. Brandon has about 20 internet connections to choose from, for all the computer work he needs to do to keep his business running, and our spacious two room apartment is ideal for acroyoga and poi practice. So now we have a home, and a motorbike that we've rented by the week, and we've settled in a bit.

New pictures here

We've moved into our new place- which is beautiful and spacious.. It's hard not to be overwhelmed by paradise all the time. We went to see the monkey forest today. I (Amy) always thought monkeys were kind of, well, I don't know, unattractive? But darn, they sure were cute and interesting today. Especially all snuggled up in the roots of strangler figs...

Beyond that, apparently we're internet junkies... I blame this on the importance of Brandon getting connected for business purposes. But it's fun to indulge, I'll admit it.

We're trying real hard to learn some Indoensian language, so we'll be prepared to buy food at the market tomorrow...

And we just found Indonesian micro-brew! This place is like living in the artsiest of resort towns in a tropical climate, with prices all divided by about 7. I love vacation.

Go see our trip photos

We are posting all the photos of our trip on Flickr.

Click here to see them

Arrived in Ubud

Click on the Picture to See More Pictures!!!!!

After two days in the touristy frenzy of Kuta, we took a shuttle bus to Ubud, the "cultural center" of Bali. It's a relief to be here in many respects... a slower pace, wider streets, cooler climate (although still hot and sweaty), and different scenery. There are dances and shows every night, and accomodating hosts at the hotels- who will get you anything and everything you need. It's a bit strange how western the main streets of Ubud are though- filled with expensive shops like Ralph Lauren, Polo, Dolce & Gabana (I don't even know how to spell fancy brands like that..) I guess they're truly multi-cultural here, and they want to include 5th Avenue in their repertoire.

We arrived in a downpour, and as usual, someone on the street led us straight down a brick footpath to a cute and cheap little bungalow, with a HUGE bed and a hot shower, and my favorite, a little fishy pond with a tiny footbridge over it.

Last night we saw a performance of Kecak- which is monkey chanting, (lots of men in a circle chanting and singing and swaying in unison and in complex rhythms and layers) and Balinese dance. The costumes are impressive, and the dance is quite graceful.

We spent today searching for the "perfect hotel", and turned up a spacious 2-room place with a roof-top temple, grassy grounds for playing with our acrobatics and hoops, and even a small kitchenette (refridgerator and range). All for about $9/night. Wow. Thank you, exchange rate. We booked a week there, so we can take the time to explore Ubud, and figure out if we want to stay here, or perhaps head east to the coast and Lombok.

Amy's first...

Cool, Brandon just showed me how to use this, so I'm excited. Pretty soon here, we'll have pictures to post, and more stories to tell. So far, it's just been lazy mornings of sleeping off jetlag, swimming in the warm ocean, wandering narrow streets, and enjoying delicious food... not so bad.... Needless to say, we made it here just fine and we're having a great time so far!

Landed in Bali

We got into Bali yesterday after 23 hours of travel time. Wow, your butt can get soar sitting on a plane for 13.5 hours. Watched a few good movies, played some cards, impressed people in the Hong Kong airport with our acro-yoga postures and even got some applause!

We are staying in Kuta beach right now, absorbing the warm ocean water and tropical sun.

Amy's off sleeping right now and that's all I got until we go adventuring.