I came. I saw. I conquered Bali. Well! At least the roads. When we made our plans for this trip, my recollection was that the roads here were good quality and the traffic was tame. But I would not drive in Java. To congested. Crazy drivers. Well, now I realize it has been 30 years since I was last here and Bali is the new Java! So I'm driving a mini size passenger van, stick shift with right hand drive--they drive on the left here. What a site. Me. Impeding for space on the road with millions os motorcycles, overloaded trucks, and a few cars. I got my bearings pretty quickly, bit it was Helena who was looking down the steep cliff as we were navigating a very narrow road with two way traffic along the edge of ancient volcanic craters! What an adventure. Something I can look back on and say, "I did it!" but would rather not do again. And I won't have to as we will have drivers for the next two legs of our trip. Bali is as beautiful as I remember it, despite the traffic, and the hoards of tourists. The town of Ubud was our second stop after overnighting not far from the airport near the beach. Ubud is lush, so green, and is in many ways the cultural center of Bali. It was a sleepy village 30years years ago and now is cheek by jowl with tourists. But in typical Balinese fashion, you only have to get off the main roads to see the beauty of the place. We walked through several villages, stopped to listen at a kids music class where per-teens were practicing the gamelan music that we had hear the night before at the dance that Helena mentioned. The kids were amazing. Then we took another walk in the highland town of Munduk. The quiet of the villages that we walked through reminded me very much of the little town of Talisayan in the Philippines where I lived as a Peace Corps Volunteer. Just the wind through the trees, roosters crowing, occasional conversation coming from the front steps of small huts. So beautiful! But as Helena said to me! "I can see how you sometimes went a little stir crazy." she was right, but these were sights and sounds that that are so peaceful and not to be experienced at home. The closest thing might be backpacking in the backcountry outside of Steamboat Springs! Now we are on the north shore of Bali where the tourist seldom come to. We have a day to sit by the beach! Swim and snorkel, and watch the final od the European football championships this afternoon! Go Spain! Tomorrow we get picked up by a guide and driver for two days of exploring the volcanic mountains of East Java, and then on to the big cities of Solo and Jogjakarta for more music, dances, and the ancient Hindu and Buddhist temples. Our accommodations have been wonderful, cottage style resorts. Food is great and plentiful. We took a bit of a risk in using an Internet travel service. But so far there has not been a single glitch and all is well. The only "problem" is that my Blackberry won't charge up here. So I can't read my work email. Too bad. I guess this will be a real vacation. The iPad charges up fine though (thank you Apple) so we can get gmail and post these blogs. So we are not completely out of touch. That's it for now. I am off to the beach! Steve

Please quote Steve as "having conquered" Bali's roads. the drive from Ubud to Munduk was easily the most harrowing experience for each of us. check the map to see the ridge that he drove , which was possibly the easy part, before the sharp descent to Puri Lumbung cottages in Mundul. a real white -knuckle ride but when we arrived, how utterly beautiful. still unable to get to a place that allows me to load pictures, but we were at an elevation of about 3,000 ft., overlooking rice paddies, coffee, clove, vanilla and coca trees, and could see the coast in the distance, on which the sun set last night.

our waterfall hike this morning took us along the trails and roads that wind through all those trees and our guide pointed out so many wonderful plants and spices, and flowers as we walked for a couple of hours before heading to this town of Permuteran. in the absence of our own pictures, I refer you to the Web page that may show the beach we were on today. WWW.balitamansari.com. When we pulled into the parking area, Steve was pretty happy that it was the last driving he will have to do while we are in Indonesia. as the locals all keep saying "hati-hati". ("careful!") We stay here for two nights, and will walk ( of course!) swim, snorkel and sleep.

This has really been a magical week, with each place we see more surprising and thrilling than the last.

"This was a really small, sleepy village!" Steve was amazed at the changes to Ubud, and the hassle in driving through the main streets, with the traffic coming from all directions, and no place to stop, park, or steer clear. we parked the car 36 hours ago, and have walked everywhere, or taken the shuttle since. the pictures are going to have to wait another day or so, since the computer does not like my USB drive. pity, too, since everywhere I turn is dazzling. Bali is the home of many many artists, both painters ans sculptors, to say nothing of the dancers. We have been fortunate to see the studios of several painters, and every corner has temples and shrines with elaborate carvings on them, and then last night we watched a dance performance featuring magic monkeys. Today we walked around on the trekking path and went past rice paddies, and walked along the hilly ridge between two rivers, with agreat view of the valleys and the palm trees that line the hillsides. Plenty of gentle rain to cool us down.

Here we are!  It takes a very long time to get to paradise, but reports of its beauty and delight are not overdone.  When we got to Denpasar after our 16 + 5-hour flights to Hong Kong and then here, a driver greeted us and got us to the Bali Hyatt.  A nice swim in the ankle-deep water and then the pool were a great change from the plane seats.  Dusk falls early here and the starlight is a beautiful sight as we ate dinner with the cool breezes surrounding us.

So much beautiful sculpture everywhere I turn!  There are goddesses, temples and shrines with little offerings all over the hotel, and all over the streets.  Steve and I are looking forward to a good night's rest and a fresh start for more natural and artistic beauty tomorrow.

Many months of planning bring us to this day, when we depart for JFK and fly through Hong Kong to Denpasar. (Bali)  Steve and I are looking forward to seeing the country he lived in for 4.5 years in the early 1980's, and there are sure to be significant changes for him.  For me, it will be the first time I go somewhere that I can't even decipher the signs.  Steve did buy me a dictionary.  I look forward to the natural sights, and to seeing Steve see Indonesia for the first time in 28 years.