Indo in the Rearview Mirror...

Hello Friends!

And welcome back to the blog. I've got lots of stories for you today (two blogs!) and some news as well. First off, Desirae made it home safe and sound. We'll miss her - and we know she'll miss us too! :) Secondly, being home is starting to sound pretty good to Lisa and I as well. We have made our plans to return back to the US of A after our trips through Cambodia and Laos. But don't you worry - I am so far behind on my blog that I might be writing for years to come!
But enough jibber-jabber. Here's the first blog for today - and the last blog from Indonesia...

My last memories of Indonesia were dramatically different from those first impressions made a month earlier on Kuta’s city streets. We left Ubud’s artsy atmosphere behind as we traveled to Lovina on the northern shores of Bali. The place was barren of tourist when we arrived so our presence (and our money) was very sought after by the local business people. We found the town to be unremarkable perhaps explaining its unsustainable tourism industry.
Our only highlight was the sunrise dolphin viewing from a local colorful longboat. It was more of a dolphin chase as a swarm of boats powered by noisy, converted car motors headed seaward at dawns first light and proceeded to chase several pods of dolphins to the grim delight of the passengers. The sunrise was indeed pristine, the water calm and fair, and the dolphins were as graceful as one expects these athletic seafaring mammals to be. But the sight of so many loud boats chasing these animals with reckless abandon was somewhat obscene. Adding to the tainted experience was the overwhelming presence of floating trash and debris even when we were far from the shore line. We humans do have a knack for making a perfect mess of things.

Needless to say we didn’t tarry long but were soon headed to our last stop – the surfer’s idyllic paradise of Ulu Watu and the surrounding shoreline. In route we spent another night in Kuta, Bali and found it to be just as brightly lit and soulless as we remembered but it proved to be a perfect prelude to contrast the relaxed atmosphere of Ulu Watu’s shores.
We spoiled ourselves with an immaculate bungalow and spent our final days in Indonesia happily watching surfers carve up impossible waves from the viewing post of small restaurants set on the cliff sides for just that purpose. There were sunsets with cold Bintang beer, a temple inhabited by grumpy monkeys, and a fruitless search for Mexican food. A wedding party of Canadians and Americans staying at our guest house provided endless entertainment and we even decided to give the waves a try – an exercise in futility and humility as we were in over our heads so to speak.
A final uneventful night in Kuta before we headed for the airport at the break of day. The scent of incense still lingered as we entered and prepared to board. My first introduction to South East Asia was a booming success. I had fallen in love with the people, the food and the culture without a second thought. It could have been the rich smiles of the poor people in Lombock, the sunrise on Rinjani, the deep crystal blue of the ocean from Gili’s shores, or the at ease atmosphere and hectic market mornings in Ubud…Or it could have been the feeling that my soul had finally found it’s “definition” of travel for which I had been searching for so long.

I hope you are all doing well in your corners of the world. Lisa and I currently reside in the quaint city of Chiang Mai several hundred miles north of Bangkok. I love this city and it's lush green country side, oddly preserved city wall and moat, and seemingly small town liveliness in its big city setting.
Wishing you all health and happiness. Love from the road...