Active Mind, Creative Spirit
The Bat Temple
I find bats intriguing rather than scary or freaky, and due to an incident in Central America years ago, I’ve had the rabies vaccinations, so unless it’s vampire bats, I’m good to go. This day was one of the most fun for me personally,…
Latest Travels
March and April of 2013 took me to Nepal for a second time, where I got elbow-deep in volunteer work and learning more about the culture. Mary Beth and I hiked through Solu, the region just below Everest, but the foothills and in the…
The Villa
I’ve run down how we got to this villa and to Bali altogether, so here is the posh, high society bit. The villa we stayed in for a week (of our 15 days) was pretty fantastic. It’s in a quaint village that hasn’t quite…
The White Temple – Lempuyang
It’s said that there are over 10,000 temples on the island of Bali. After paying attention to the buildings along the roads for hours, I can actually believe that. They are scattered everywhere like stray dogs – varying sizes and levels of importance –…
Good Eats
Hungry? It’s time for the delectable entry from Bali. I took photos of much of the food we ate. A photographic tour of Balinese food! Grab a napkin and pull up a chair. Right off we got a hold of our first fresh, passionfruit…
Pet a Tiger on the Tummy
For those of you who have never traveled abroad, there are a fair number of things that the good ole US of A doesn’t allow that some of the rest of the world is okay with. I first learned of this disparity when I…
Intro to Balinese Hinduism or, Where I Met the Garuda Bird
Get comfy, this one’s a little thick. (If you must, skip the fat text and see the photo-story at the bottom.) We were in Bali for twenty four hours before we entered our first Hindu temple. That’s a long time! It’s said that there…
Flora of the Island
I was going to wait and make this pretty post later in the line up, but the flowers in Bali are unbelievable. Many were familiar from my past trips to Central America and Hawaii, but so many were new that I have numbered the…
Foul Familiar Foreign Fragrances and Monkeys
I lived in Michigan during my twenties and that was the first time I learned what piles of burning leaves smelled like. People would get nostalgic every fall when the leaves fell and everyone raked them into piles and set them ablaze. There were…
First Impressions of Bali
There is nothing that makes you appreciate a place more than having to fly for 25 hours (with 2 kids) to get there. It was 87 degrees when we landed, but not as steamy as I imagined. I kicked off this set of blog…