Tag: gratitude

Hello!

It’s been too long and I apologize. I’ve been sidetracked…in Bali! If you follow me on instagram you know that already from the pictures. The trip just came up. A can’t refuse it flight price popped up on the screen when I least expected it and when the universe does that for me I say YES! And suddenly, there I was walking in the rice paddy’s near Ubud, viewing the temples and getting to know the Balenese way of life, listening to the pounding surf at Bingin Beach, barefooting it on Gili Meno and snorkling next to a big old surprised sea turtle.

How glorious the sun felt on my cold, rain glazed skin. This winter was harsh on Vancouver Island! I was pale before I left and olive skinned girls just feel like something is missing when they are pale. It was quite a change to be in the intense, humid heat and with no time to prep the palid skin, I admit, I got a little burnt. No worries, Mate. Did I mention that Aussies are everywhere in that part of the world? Canadians aren’t.

We flew down on this new Chinese Airline called Xiamen with a few other Canadians taking advantage of the deal but Bali is a long way away from us Canadians. Twenty hours of flight each way from Vancouver. The dateline does essentially cancel the travel time out. Your butt, however, may not agree with that rationale. Mine definitely felt all twenty hours and it wasn’t super appreciative.

Bali isn’t a very big island and it’s populated. Traffic is heavy, but unusually polite. We witnessed no accidents but saw some gaping scrap wounds on the limbs of scootering tourists. It’s people are truly beautiful. Lovely to the sight, lovely to the heart. They are full of gratitude and ease, and are friendly and helpful. The island is struggling with the huge influx of tourism these past few years. Sewage smells, bottled drinking water, a ridiculous plastic product problem, and poorly planned development are visible symptoms of this. The beauty of another time can still be found, but you have work to do to find it.

For me, Bali did not trigger a soul connection the way the sacred valley did. Perhaps it was timing. Perhaps I should have visited longtimeago. I was twinged momentarily in Ubud as I gazed on the jungle as the sun lowered its gaze, and in the hot sun one day when when I found a moments salvation in the shade of a tree on the high side of the gorge. Bali just didn’t pull me into it’s arms, perhaps too many are asking too much of it already. Even places need boundaries.